FC Barcelona launched a new Extreme Poverty Campaign Thursday in San Francisco, in order to raise awareness and fight global poverty. Through teaming up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Global Citizens, the global initiative is calling on Barça fans worldwide to join in the fight.
On hand to present the campaign was newly re-elected Barça President, Josep Maria Bartomeu, Kweku Mandela, the grandson of the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela and Global Citizen Ambassador, representatives of the Gates Foundation, and first team newly signed player, Arda Turan. The trio have joined together to find creative ways to keep people engaged on the important issues.
“Barça is committed to helping to create a more sensitive society to the problems that affect people,” Bartomeu said. “This is a great opportunity to act as a voice for the situation, doing so hand-in-hand with the Gates Foundation and Global Citizen is a guarantee of success.”
Through their foundation, FC Barcelona has been working with various charitable programs within Spain and around the world including Unicef on improving education, eradicating polio, and encouraging healthy living through children programs.
Hugh Evans, director general of Global Citizen, echoed Bartomeu’s comments, inviting football fans to raise their voices for the cause.
“We invite people to join www.globalcitizens.org and declare themselves as global citizens ready to act on the belief that all lives are created equal,” Evans said. “We offer them dozens of ways to which they can get involved, from tackling issues from poverty or hunger or supporting vaccines and immunizations and eradicating polio, which FC Barcelona has played a really big role in.”
2015 marks the expiration of the United Nations Millennium Development project to end poverty, something this new campaign is hoping to change. By creating a platform, they believe will influence governments to adopt policies that will help communities lift themselves up to reduce poverty.
One of Nelson Mandela’s beliefs was the importance of sport in transcending different cultures and beliefs in order to get people to engage in important global issues.
“Sports has shown around the world, particularly football, that it can transcend boundaries, colours and borders,” Kweku Mandela added. “Every time a soccer match is played, whether it’s in Spain or in Africa, you see people unite regardless of their differences.
The goal of the campaign is to lift one billion people out of extreme poverty within the next 15 years.
“Barcelona has a reach of hundreds of millions of fans around the world, not just in Europe. To bring a billion people out of extreme poverty is no easy feat, it’s something we’re going to need the football loving fans of Barcelona to join us on this journey.”
