Global Citizen, a social action platform, and The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF), recently launched the Global Citizen Indian platform. The platform will comprise a distinctive mix of events, grassroots activism, media campaigning and online activation, to catalyse India’s journey towards achieving the Global Goals for Sustainable Development, and to bring about the end of extreme poverty.

The inaugural Global Citizen Festival India, to be held in Mumbai on 19^th November 2016, will be Global Citizen India’s first initiative, and will be headlined by Coldplay, Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Ranveer Singh, Katrina Kaif, AR Rahman, Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Arijit Singh, DiaMirza, Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Monali Thakur. Several major artists and international guests will be announced at different stages of the campaign.

Starting 13^th September 2016, free tickets to the festival can be earned through the new online platform, www.globalcitizen.in, by signing up to become a Global Citizen and completing the festival’s Action Journey. In its first year, Global Citizen India will offer a wide cross-section of content and actions focused on creating meaningful impact in three key areas: Quality Education, Gender Equality, and Clean Water & Sanitation. Achieving impact across these interlinked issues is a critical first step on the journey to focus positive pressure on major players to influence dialogue, policy and social change in India. One of the first actions people can take is to call on their Chief Ministers to adopt a comprehensive action plan to achieve the Global Goals. So far, only one state has adopted a framework to act upon these Goals.

Shiv Khemka, Chairman, The Global Education and Leadership Foundation (tGELF) believes that India and its 800 million young people must play a vital role in the mission to achieve the Global Goals: “Young people are starting to engage with the challenges facing our country and the planet, and are becoming increasingly committed to taking action for social change. TGELF’s mission is to nurture and support ethical, altruistic and decisive leadership amongst young people at schools and colleges. Each one of us is responsible for our actions and the power of each action taken collectively can help achieve the global goals.”

Global Citizen, which has mobilized millions since its inception in New York City in 2012, has a unique capacity to amplify the voices of Global Citizens through social media. In the past four years of this movement, actions taken by Global Citizens has led to commitments from governments, corporates and partners are set to affect the lives of 656 million people. The Global Citizen Festival is a platform created by Global Citizen, which leverages the voices of Global Citizens to influence world leaders and decision makers to enact policy changes and commit significant resources to help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges.

“The years I spent living and working in India as a teenager were a key catalyst of my passion for challenging the status quo of poverty alleviation. So bringing the Global Citizen movement to India is a moment many years in the making. Sixty-five percent of India’s population is under the age of 35 – that's 800 million young people who can drive serious change for generations to come. Global Citizen India will engage these young people to drive behavioural change at scale through their individual actions, impact policy through commitments by governments, and amplify India’s voice to the world in its commitment to achieving the Global Goals for Sustainable Development." - Hugh Evans, CEO, Global Citizen

The Government of Maharashtra is the host partner for the inaugural Global Citizen Festival India, and the Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis has extended his complete support to the initiative: “Global Citizen is an important initiative given its ability to engage citizens and engage them in crucial issues.The Global Education and Leadership Foundation's focus on ethical altruistic leadership is important work that involves investing in our demographic dividend. The synergy of these promises exciting outcomes. The power of a digital India is unmatched. Connected individuals can amplify their collective voice and express their views on critical issues that people across the country face. The commitments raised over the last 5 editions of the festival are remarkable and the work done to get citizens to take action is unique. I believe this is an interesting night an innovative approach to achieve important goals. Maharashtra looks forward to lead this movement across India. We are proud to bring this initiative to the country and be the voice of India to the world.”

Poonam Mahajan, Member of Parliament said, “As a Mumbaikar, I am pleased to welcome Global Citizen to Mumbai, the home of entertainment and popular culture. The confluence of popular culture, ethical leadership and public policy will add more power to the voice of young India. It will drive responsible decision making. As a cosmopolitan city, Mumbai brings diverse people together. This unique movement will add to the vibrancy of our city and help Mumbai and Maharashtra lead the efforts to drive meaningful change across the country. Mumbai has always been India's gateway to the world and it is only natural that it takes the lead in ensuring India is committed to achieving the Global Goals. Only collaborative action at scale can help improve the planet for future generations.”

Commenting on Viacom18’s strategic partnership with tGELF, Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO, Viacom18, said, “India is at a powerful confluence in its history. We are one of the oldest civilizations with one of the youngest populations in the world. As we work to realize ourHonorable PM Shri NarendraModiji’s vision of India emerging as the Vishwa Guru in the 21^st century, it becomes imperative for us to work with all sections of society. Viacom18, as an organization with a heart, is committed to harnessing the power of partnerships to realize this dream. Our support to tGELFis a natural extension of our work and purposeand I hope to amplify the messages around the causes of Quality Education, Gender Equality and Clean water & sanitation with this initiative.”

Speaking at the launch event, Mr Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India said: “Technology is making our world more citizen-centric and connected than we could have ever imagined. Success of the SDG agenda over the next 15 years is predicated on active, constructive, solution oriented engagement by citizens across the globe and in India, if we are to fulfil the promise of "leave no one behind.”

Shri Fadnavis was joined by celebrated Indian actors and personalities including Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor. Coldplay’s Chris Martin also shared his enthusiasm about the festival via a video message.

Amitabh Bachchan said “It is a great honour to see the words of our Hon. Prime Minister Modi at Global Citizen Festival in New York coming to light with the first edition of Global Citizen taking place in India. It is both a pleasure and honour for me to support this campaign that creates a momentum, connecting individuals globally to work together and bring about change and eradicate poverty.”

Aamir Khan urged people to follow his lead in taking their first Action Journey on Global Citizen.in: “I am so pleased to see an initiative like Global Citizen coming to India and it is an absolute honour to participate in the Global Citizen India Festival in its premiere year. This is a great social action platform that brings people together to support the UN Global Goals to eradicate poverty, not only in India but around the world. I am very delighted to lend my support to Global Citizen India’sShuruaatHoon Main Action Journey that endeavours to create a people’s movement for the betterment of our country and its citizens.”

Farhan Akhtar commented:“I am excited to be a part of the inaugural edition as India joins the Global Citizen movement. This is a great way to contribute collectively and take action to deliver change with full commitment. As a socially conscious individual and as a founder of Men Against Rape and Discrimination (M.A.R.D), I am glad to be a part of this movement to support the Global Goals to help make a difference.”

Kareena Kapoor Khan said:“As a Global Citizen this is a great opportunity to pledge my support, and connect with millions of people in India and globally through this Global Citizen India platform to address the various issues and eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. We are a nation driven by youth, so value based education and school curriculum plays an important factor in spreading this message & raising awareness in universities about the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and the fact that we all have the power to be a part of this movement and take action.”

Viacom18 will be leveraging its foremost brands across all platforms to promote the inaugural festival. While the network will use its popular channels and digital platform to promote the festival, COLORS, MTV, Vh1, COLORS Infinity and Voot will be airing the festival on their respective platforms. The Times of India Group and the Times TV Network will be leveraging the group’s print, internet and television platforms to highlight and showcase both the magic and the success of the Global Citizen India initiatives.

Google India through its Internet Saathi programme has been empowering women through technology based solutions to bridge the digital gap in rural India. Google is partnering the Global Citizen India initiative to address the issues of Gender Equality and women’s empowerment.

UPL’s partnership is focused on showcasing its vision to be a catalyst for a more equitable and inclusive society by supporting long-term sustainable transformation and social integration.

Global Citizen India is a collaboration between The Global Education & Leadership Foundation and Global Citizen. The partners include Government of Maharashtra, United Nations, Viacom18, Wizcraft International Entertainment, and Times of India Group, UPL, Google, Taj Group of Hotels, BookMyShow and MakeMyTrip.

Wizcraft commenting on the association, Sabbas Joseph, Founder-Director Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., said, “Global Citizen India movement is the first such platform wherein popular culture meets public policy. Empowered by youth it is a platform for key influencers to respond to voices of millions of people committed to making a positive impact. It is particularly exciting to work alongside the young inspired tGELF team to mobilise influencers from the government, corporate sector, non-profits and the Entertainment Industry to join the campaign. We are especially pleased to showcase the coming together of India’s most powerful entertainerswith the world’s most influential policy makers.”

People across India are invited to sign-up, take actions, and enter the prize draws for their tickets. More than eighty percent of the tickets to the festival will be given out to Global Citizens who earn them by taking action. For more information about the artists, schedules, and event, please visit www.globalcitizen.in and follow @glblctznIN on Twitter and Facebook, and on Instagram using #GlobalCitizenIndia. 80% of the tickets would be free to earn through Action Journeys.

Limited tickets would be available at BookMyShow from 15^th September, 2016 at 12 noon.