Over 4 lakh young Indians take action and lead change on Sanitation, Education and Gender in one of India’s largest youth social movements

Mumbai, November 1, 2016: Global Citizen India today announced that over 4 lakh young Indians have signed up and taken action as part of the Global Citizen movement, making it the largest youth movement in India today. Global Citizen India is a social action platform that aims to amplify the voice of youth to push leaders to commit to positive change on Sanitation, Education and Gender issues so India can eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.

Nearly 1.5 million actions have been taken by the committed global citizens who are engaged in the world, knowledgeable about its diversity and passionate about change and who hail from around India since the movement launched in India on 12 September. This is the first time that the Global Citizen movement has moved outside of North America and Indians have embraced the movement as a powerful way to amplify their voice as well as to catalyse change.

Bhavya Bishnoi, Global Citizen India spokesperson, said: “The Global Citizen India movement is uniquely positioned to galvanise support from our 800 million young people on the issues that matter, to us and to future generations, which are key to tackling the challenges the world faces. Already, over 4 lakh youth have taken action with Global Citizen India to really embody the call #ShuruaatHoonMain, and the number is only growing with every action journey. As voices amplify, governments, corporates and NGOs are all joining our youth taking the charge to actively drive this movement by committing their time and resources. On 19 November in Mumbai, we will see many more of these leaders coming to meet the youth and hear their voices on these issues, and to commit their support to change on this unique 15-year journey to eradicate extreme poverty.”

By taking these actions, 23,000 global citizens have won free tickets to the Global Citizen Festival India, a festival where pop culture icons from Coldplay to Kareena Kapoor will join hands with public policy makers including the most senior levels of state and central government to commit to change and pledge their support to the issues that matter the most to the youth of India. The Global Citizen Festival India will be the biggest gathering of young people for a social cause that India has seen: more than 70,000 people will attend the Festival in Mumbai on 19 November.

Now live on www.globalcitizen.in, the fifth Action Journey is the last chance for global citizens to join their peers to take action and be in with the chance to win free Festival tickets. Actions include tweeting to banks to commit funds for WASH lending, lobbying world leaders to accept India into APEC and asking all Chief Ministers in India to remove the tax on menstrual hygiene products.

Vidya Balan, Global Citizen India ambassador said: “In 2014, PM Modi went on stage at the Global Citizen Festival in New York and committed to making India Open Defecation Free by 2019. His commitment is a step in the right direction, and it’s us Global Citizens who can make sure that this commitment is adhered to and encourage others to follow his lead. India has a long way to go on the journey to achieve clean water, sanitation and hygiene for all but we can surely play a part in that journey by doing our bit, by taking action for positive change.”

VK Madhavan, Chief Executive, WaterAid India, said: “The lack of adequate urban sanitation is a key challenge for India in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’ target of universal access to water and sanitation for everyone, everywhere by 2030. The impetus provided by the Swachh Bharat Mission in achieving an open defecation free India by 2019 is timely and welcome especially for towns and cities with burgeoning populations in slums without access to reliable basic services. It would be prudent to remember though that mere construction of toilets alone will not help our cities become truly open defecation free. We need to collectively work towards ensuring that the toilets that are constructed are used, maintained and most importantly all waste is safely collected, treated and disposed. For enduring success of this massive effort, we need to keep sight of the entire sanitation value chain.”

Malaika Arora Khan, Global Citizen ambassador, said: "The Sustainable Development Goals are something which every individual needs to be aware of. Moreover, each person must work towards eradicating all issues and achieving these goals. We're in 2016 and aim to transform the world by 2030 hence it is extremely necessary to spread knowledge amongst people. One of the SDG’s, which should top our priorities list, is clean water sanitation & hygiene. We need to make our environment safe & healthy not only for us but for each being living on Earth."

Trisha Shetty, Founder & CEO of SheSays, an NGO championing for women's rights and gender equality in India, said: “It is our responsibility as Global Citizens to create a world where women have guaranteed access to sanitary products without discrimination. We’re partnering with Global Citizen India to petition for Sanitary Napkins to be available tax free across India. By taxing sanitary napkins, and listing it in a “luxury” category, we are invariably discouraging an improved standard of life and encouraging discrimination based on sex. We believe in the change young people can drive, our partnership with Global Citizen India amplifies awareness on this issue and drives scope for mass impact of our message that biology should not be a barrier to equality.”

The Global Citizen Festival India is being presented by Colors Viacom18 and powered by UPL. The festival, a collaboration between The Global Education and Leadership Foundation and Global Citizen, is being hosted in Mumbai by the Government of Maharashtra and event is being produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

The inaugural Global Citizen Festival India will be held in Mumbai on 19 November 2016, and will be headlined by Coldplay, Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Arijit Singh, Arjun Kapoor, A.R. Rahman, Amitabh Bachchan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Dia Mirza, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Malaika Arora Khan, Monali Thakur, Parineeti Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Sakshi Malik, Shah Rukh Khan, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Shraddkar Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Vijender Singh.