President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Erna Solberg to Join Bill and Melinda Gates at Goalkeepers Events in New York City

SEATTLE, /PRNewswire/ -- French President Emmanuel Macron will join Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at the Goalkeepers event on September 26 in New York City. In its second year, the event will highlight unprecedented progress since 1990 toward the reduction of extreme poverty and showcase what’s possible if the world invests in the health and education of its growing youth populations, particularly in Africa.

Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg will participate in the Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards on September 25, along with Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Henrietta H. Fore, executive director of UNICEF, and Ed Sheeran, British singer songwriter. In partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF, the awards will celebrate outstanding youth-focused work around the world that is directly linked to the 17 Global Goals.

Bill and Melinda Gates will also welcome emerging and established leaders, activists and performers, including:

• David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee
• Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and child rights activist
• Graça Machel, international advocate for women and children’s rights and co-founder of the Graça Machel Trust
• Loyiso Madinga, stand-up comedian and Africa correspondent on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”

They will be joined by:

• Karim Bougma, public health nutrition consultant, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Mona Chalabi, data journalist and illustrator
• Fatoumata Diawara, Malian singer and songwriter
• Jaha Dukureh, Gambian women’s rights activist and founder of Safe Hands for Girls
• Edna Adan Ismail, founder and director of the Edna Adan Hospital and University
• Maria Elena Jefferds, International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• Andrew Nalani, education reform advocate, Uganda
• Eddie Ndopu, award-winning South African activist and humanitarian
• William Wu, engineer at Africa Soil Information Service

Other performers will include world-renowned vocal band Naturally 7 and actress and singer Nicolette Robinson. Madinga will host the Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards. The Goalkeepers event will be hosted by Nancy Kacungira, award-winning BBC World News presenter, and Savannah Sellers, NBC News host.

Previously announced participants include David Sengeh, chief innovation officer for the government of Sierra Leone; Trisha Shetty, lawyer, social activist, and founder of SheSays; King Kaka, Kenyan musician and activist; Richard Curtis, writer, campaigner, and Project Everyone co-founder; Stephen Fry, actor, writer, and presenter; and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus.

The Goalkeepers campaign was launched with the release of “We the Goalkeepers,” a short film based on an original piece by spoken word poet and youth activist Aranya Johar, who will also participate in the Goalkeepers event. The film was directed by the award-winning director, Joyeeta Patpatia, and focuses on young “Goalkeepers” working around the world to advance the Global Goals.

Goalkeepers is a multiyear campaign dedicated to accelerating progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals). This year, Goalkeepers will focus on youth population growth and how it affects future world progress. Speakers will showcase how investing in “human capital"--the health and education of young people--unlocks productivity and innovation, reduces poverty, and generates prosperity.

Goalkeepers brings together a new generation of activists and leaders from all corners of the world to discuss innovative solutions for attainment of the Global Goals. Using powerful stories, data, and partnerships, Goalkeepers is designed to highlight progress achieved and hold governments accountable.

On September 18, Bill and Melinda Gates launched their Goalkeepers 2018 Data Report. Also in its second year, the report examines promising approaches in health and education, highlighting ways that young people could help transform the African continent. According to the report, investments in human capital in sub-Saharan Africa could increase GDP in the region by more than 90 percent by 2050.

Goalkeepers 2018 will be livestreamed on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Facebook channel, www.facebook.com/gatesfoundation. Maps Maponyane, founder of the bursarynetwork.com, will host the livestream.

Visit https://www.gatesfoundation.org/goalkeepers for more information. The site will be updated regularly between now and the event.

Notes to Editors

Media inquiries should be directed to media@gatesfoundation.org.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people--especially those with the fewest resources--have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

About Goalkeepers
Goalkeepers is the foundation’s campaign to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (or Global Goals). By sharing stories and data behind the Global Goals through events and an annual report, we hope to inspire a new generation of leaders--Goalkeepers who raise awareness of progress, hold their leaders accountable, and drive action to achieve the Global Goals.

About the Global Goals
On September 25, 2015, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, 193 world leaders committed to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (or Global Goals). These are a series of ambitious objectives and targets to achieve three extraordinary things by 2030: end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and fix climate change.

Project Everyone, co-creators of Goalkeepers, was founded by writer, director, and SDG Advocate Richard Curtis with the ambition to help achieve the Global Goals through raising awareness, holding leaders accountable, and driving action. Find out more at www.project-everyone.org.

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SOURCE Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation