Lauryn Hill, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jungkook of the group BTS shone on Saturday at the Global Citizen festival in New York

Thousands of people gathered on Saturday (September 23) to attend concerts by Lauryn Hill, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jungkook in Central Park, New York, as part of the Global Citizen festival in support of international development aid , in order to fight in particular against poverty and climate change.

Lauryn Hill and the Fugees

Rap icon Lauryn Hill took the stage for the 25th anniversary of her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hillperforming his famous song Doo Wop (That Thing) and bringing together the group The Fugees. The legendary hip-hop trio performed tracks such as Killing Me Softly And Ready Or Not.

“Africa must control its own natural resources. Haiti must control its own natural resources. The whole world must end famine“, declared to cheers one of the members of this group Wyclef Jean, of Haitian origin.

Highlight of the evening: the performance of BTS singer Jungkook

Covered in a poncho, to protect themselves from the rain and the cold, the spectators went wild when Jungkook, from the K-pop phenomenon group BTS, performed his most famous hits, including Still With You. Dressed in faded jeans and a brown shirt, the South Korean megastar reminded his fans of the need to “make an impact together to ensure that everyone, everywhere has access to basic rights like food and education“.

Even though he wasn’t announced as a headliner, Jungkook’s performance was one of the highlights of the evening. Many soaked spectators left the Manhattan park just at the end of his time on stage, while the festival was still scheduled to last three hours.

Earlier, top Brazilian pop star Anitta let loose on stage with her impressive twerks and dance show, performing hits such as her recent Funk Rave. The singer drew attention to the importance of protecting the Amazon rainforest, recalling that it is “the lung of our planet“She called on governments to do more to “protect the people there, the indigenous peoples, the communities… whose only reality is the Amazon“.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers closing

Rappers such as Busta Rhymes and Common paid tribute to hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, which is one of several events held in New York in recent months. The Red Hot Chili Peppers closed the evening by covering their classics, including Can’t Stop, Scar Tissue, Dani California, Snow (Hey Oh) and Californication.

The Global Citizen festival, which has taken place since 2012 when world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, offers free tickets to activists who commit to taking action, such as writing to their leaders to call for an increase in international development aid.

Mr. Macron announces payment of $150 million to IFAD

French President Emmanuel Macron announced via video at the festival the payment of $150 million to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which is currently the highest amount pledged by a government. “We must fight together against poverty, climate change and for biodiversity“, Mr. Macron said. “This is why we also want to play our role“.

IFAD, headquartered in Rome, is a United Nations agency whose mission is to fight poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.

Global Citizen welcomed the French commitment in a press release, adding that “much more needs to be done to provide crucial support to millions of smallholder farmers around the world, who produce 70% of food in low- and middle-income countries“. The NGO also announced that Norway had committed $90 million to IFAD.