Publications
Partners
Johannesburg – On Thursday National Geographic hosted a number of celebrity guests at a gala dinner in Johannesburg as they launched their six-part docu-series, Activate: The Global Citizen Movement, in partnership with Global Citizen and P&G.
The show, which will air on National Geographic (DStv 181), is all about the Global Citizen movement to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 and features the likes of Hugh Jackman, Usher, and our very own, Bonang Matheba.
The fourth episode in the series will focus on Bonang and the work she has done with Global Citizen in South Africa to raise awareness around period poverty.
Speaking to Channel24 on the red carpet at the event, Bonang told us more about the Always Keeping Girls in School campaign in which she participates.
"The gist of the programme is to educate young girls around puberty [and] educate them around menstruation. What people don't know is a lot of South African girls, a lot of girls in school actually, miss school because they can't afford something as simple as sanitary towels, or they're not educated around menstruation and puberty – there's a lot of stigma around that."
The TV personality says it was in 2016, around the Fees Must Fall protests, that she started taking a serious look at women's/girl's education and then established her bursary scheme.
The star says it's important for her to use her platform to help those in need.
"When you are a media personality, you have the opportunity to be the voice for the voiceless. So I just use my platforms to share the story and let people know exactly what's happening on the ground."
Global Citizen's goal is to end extreme poverty by the year 2030, and if you're wondering what you can do to help, Chibet Chikumbu, regional director for Global Citizen Africa, says there are several platforms available to make sure you are heard.
"We've created a digital platform where global citizens can learn more about the issues that pertain to extreme poverty. Through this education, they then get to take action. And what that means is they call on the various government agencies, they tweet, they send out emails to the various government representatives. In doing so, we are putting the global citizen's voice through the hallways of political power, because we recognise that it is through us calling on government and reminding them about where they are redirecting their budgets and how they are actually addressing the causes of poverty that we will address our overall vision, which is to end extreme poverty."
Activate: The Global Citizen Movement premieres on Sunday 15 September at 20:00 on National Geographic (DStv 181).
