Hugh Evans, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you so much, Trevor.
Global Citizen is known as an organization
that is always fighting against the worst ills within society.
For those who don't know-- before we even get into it--
what is Global Citizen?
What are you actually doing,
and what does your organization mean?
So, Global Citizen is a worldwide movement
committed to the eradication of extreme poverty by 2030.
And we're really a membership organization.
We've got over 11 million members around the world,
and they take action and they call on governments
to make multibillion-dollar pledges
to help eradicate extreme poverty within our lifetime.
So they might pledge towards global health
or global education.
And then we hold those world leaders accountable,
to make sure they follow through on those pledges,
and ultimately, those living in extreme poverty benefit most.
There is a lot of money that Global Citizen has helped raise.
There are a lot of people's lives that you've helped impact.
But 2020 has been a year where everything shut down,
especially Global Citizen's huge events
that you used to host to get people moving forward.
Talk me through what your plans are for 2021 now,
if people cannot be outside in big groups
hanging out together, um, raising awareness
and-and pushing action.
Yeah, so... so last year,
um, immediately after the pandemic struck,
we got a phone call from Dr. Tedros,
the head of the WHO,
and he said he wanted Global Citizen to work with him
and the WHO to raise urgent funding
to provide personal protective equipment
for frontline community health workers.
And so we partnered with Lady Gaga and the WHO,
and we launched this campaign
called One World: Together at Home.
And it ended up being broadcast all over the world,
and it raised $127.9 million
to provide for frontline workers,
where, 'cause I'm proud to tell you today
that a hundred percent of that money is being fully dispersed
and is providing PPE
to community health workers all over the world now.
Um, but then in response to that,
we know that right now, a bigger challenge has emerged,
and that's the challenge of-of getting a vaccine
to everyone on the planet.
-Mm-hmm. -Because immediately after
One World: Together at Home,
we partnered with the European Commission,
and we hosted a new campaign
called Global Goal: Unite for Our Future.
And this was really calling on the G7 nations
to step up and provide urgent funding
to help fund the development of a vaccine.
And we were amazed,
because all, uh, all seven of the G7 leaders
pledged a total of $1.5 billion
that went to fund both the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
as well as the Moderna vaccines.
-Mm-hmm. -And, so, in light of that,
we now know that we have such a huge job ahead of us.
So, earlier this morning,
um, Global Citizen Ambassador Hugh Jackman
and artist Billie Eilish
together with the head of the WHO, Dr. Tedros,
and the head of the European Union
and the head of your own, um, government,
the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa,
joined us to launch what we've called
the Global Citizen Recovery Plan for the World.
This is five points
designed to really put the world back on track
-to tackle COVID and recover better together. -Right.
And, so, that's really the strategy for the year ahead.
I-It seems like a monumental task.
I mean, you know, Global Citizen is having a conversation
that some people aren't even ready to have
because of where developed nations are,
and that conversation is what is gonna be happening
to developing nations,
poorer countries who don't have the money for the vaccines,
who may not have the infrastructure
to roll out the vaccines?
You know, because many countries are saying,
"Hey, I know that, you know,
"African countries are gonna need the vaccine.
"I know that all over Asia,
"people are gonna need the vaccine.
But Americans don't even have the vaccine."
So, when you're having these conversations
getting leaders to commit portions of their vaccine
to poorer countries, how do you balance that out
with the people in those countries who are saying,
"Well, we need the vaccines. How can we be committing
some of our vaccines to other people?"
Well, as... And I think we've all seen this
with the new variants that are emerging of COVID-19.
This truly is a global challenge,
because you could get vaccinated tomorrow,
or your grandma or your mom
or your cousin could get vaccinated,
but then if a new variant emerges
from somewhere in the world
that's entirely vaccine-resistant,
what good is it?
Your vaccine will become redundant.
So, even if you're entirely selfish
and don't really care about others,
it's in your own self-interest to care
because this is a global challenge.
And, so, that's the case
we've been making to world leaders,
and, amazingly, people are starting to step up.
We saw President Macron announce yesterday
that he wanted to donate
five percent of their vaccine load
to support community health workers
in the poorest nations.
This morning, President von der Leyen
endorsed that, as well, and we're seeing
other world leaders start to endorse that
because this is a gl... this is a global challenge.
And you got to remember that these vaccines,
whether it's the Moderna vaccine,
the Pfizer vaccine,
they were funded with public money,
-so they're actually a public good. -Yes.
And, so, that's why it's not just about us,
you know, acting as a gesture of charity.
This truly is an act of equity and an act of justice
to make sure that we actually can end the pandemic
for everyone everywhere.
There's no denying some of the parallels here
between, um, the COVID-19 vaccine
and antiretrovirals for, um, HIV/AIDS.
You know, there was a time when the medical community
had developed all of these antiretrovirals,
and people were excited 'cause they were like,
"Wow, we can finally fight HIV/AIDS."
But the poorer countries who were being decimated the most
couldn't afford the, you know, the amount of the...
of that drug that you needed,
and people couldn't afford to even buy it.
So, in the conversations you're having
with these drug companies, are they stepping up and saying,
"Yes, we will provide cheaper versions,
"or we will provide this at a cheaper cost
to developing nations"?
So, currently,
um, both Johnson & Johnson and Oxford-AstraZeneca
are providing nonprofit rates for their vaccines,
but other drug companies, such as Moderna,
they're simply too expensive right now.
And if you speak to some of the leading advocates
across Africa who are working so hard
to make sure that the supply chains
reach the continent,
they're extremely frustrated right now.
They're frustrated by the slow pace.
And, as you said, it has so many parallels
dating back to the '90s
when HIV/AIDS was ravaging across South Africa
and antiretroviral drugs were available in the West,
but it took years and, in some cases, decades
for them to reach the poorest nations.
Right now, there are literally 130 countries
who have not received a single vaccine.
And, so, even if we think, "Okay, great.
"My summer will open up. I'll have a vaccine,
and I can get back to life as normal,"
it's just not the case,
because a new variant will emerge
from somewhere on the planet, and that will become,
ultimately, eventually, vaccine-resistant,
and you'll have to start the process all over again.
And, so, that's why we have to act as a global community.
-Mm-hmm. -Even if we're entirely inherently nationalistic,
we have to do it for the sake of everyone.
You have thrown what I would argue
are some of the greatest, biggest, best concerts
and, I guess...
I mean, it is for charity.
It is for a good cause. It is to help people out.
But, man, those parties are amazing.
Um, in South Africa, for instance,
you had Jay-Z and Beyoncé headlining a show.
I mean, Ed Sheeran was performing
with Beyoncé onstage.
You-you had some of the biggest acts.
The question is what are you preparing
for after the pandemic ends?
Do you have, like, a... What's the...
What's a mega concert to celebrate
the fact that the world is going back to normal?
Have you... have you even thought
about what that's gonna be
and how I'm gonna be involved?
Well, firstly, I should say
you did an extraordinary job in South Africa.
Aw, thank you. Aw, you didn't even have to bring that up.
-Thank you, man. -No, I-I mean it.
You were... you were amazing. I mean, yes, it was amazing
to have Beyoncé and Jay-Z there,
but the fact that you, as a native South African,
were able to host them in your own country
was absolutely brilliant.
And, um, our plan for this year is,
once we drive home
this five-point recovery plan for the planet,
you know, once we start to see progress
on ending... on ending COVID-19
and can start to focus on health,
education, the environment and equity,
once these other points start to become online,
this September, it is our dream to unite the whole planet
with Global Citizen Live all over the world.
So, that's our goal.
We know that there's a long way to go to achieve that,
and that's why we're doubling down this May.
It's our plan to bring the whole world--
just as early as May this year--
to focus on two issues:
one, vaccine acceptance,
but two, equity.
Because, as you said earlier, you know, even if...
You know, this has so many parallels to HIV/AIDS.
-Yes. Right. -We need to make sure,
like we did with polio,
that we can eradicate this disease super quickly.
And it's gonna require two billion doses
being made available to the poorest nations this year.
And to put that into some perspective,
'cause it might seem like a lot,
if we just right now allocated half of one percent
of all the doses the G7 have already secured,
that's enough to vaccinate
every community health worker across Africa right now.
-Wow. -So it's not a lot.
You know, this is something that we can all do.
And, so, yes, we need pharmaceutical companies
to provide that nonprofit pricing we talked about earlier.
But there's also one other opportunity
I wanted to share with you.
This Friday, the G20 are meeting,
and they're gonna be making a decision about whether to unlock
$500 billion in new financing
though an IMF special purpose vehicle.
This is one of those rare opportunities like what happened
with the financial crisis where the whole world can act as one
and unlock new financing to end COVID-19.
So we want the U.S. government to step up.
We want all of the G20 to step up and make this available.
'Cause this will benefit the continent the most.
Well, it'll be exciting to see what you get up to.
Um, congratulations on all the work you've done thus far.
And hopefully the next time I see you,
we'll be crowd surfing at another Beyoncé concert.
(laughs) Thank you for everything, Trevor.
-You're amazing. -Thank you so much, Hugh. Take care.