Bloomberg Philanthropies Partners with Global Citizen to Support the One World: Together At Home initiative, Commits $8 Million to World Health Organization (WHO) Solidarity Response Fund
Bloomberg Media joined as a broadcast partner, airing the special live internationally on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio
NEW YORK, NY — Bloomberg Philanthropies has partnered with Global Citizen to support the ‘One World: Together At Home’ initiative, including an $8 million contribution that will go directly to the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The funding will support providing healthcare workers across the globe with protective equipment like masks and gloves, and getting them the necessary information and training to detect and treat affected patients. The funding will also help with efforts to track and study the spread of the virus, accelerate the development of treatments, vaccines, and tests, and produce guidance on measures that the general public should take to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Launched by international advocacy organization Global Citizen, and the World Health Organization, “One World: Together At Home” was a historic, first-of-its kind global broadcast event in which celebrities, musical artists, government leaders, and activists came together to support and celebrate the brave healthcare workers doing life-saving work on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today’s event was curated by Lady Gaga and aired and streamed live around the world. A pre-taped video of Bloomberg Philanthropies Founder, and three-term mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg aired in the digital broadcast.
Bloomberg Media served as a broadcast partner, airing the special live internationally on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio.
Michael Bloomberg’s support is part of the Bloomberg Philanthropies COVID-19 Response Initiatives which were launched in March to give public health professionals and local leaders around the world the tools to protect themselves and the public, and help mitigate the kind of economic and social damage that could make this crisis even more debilitating for families and communities.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies COVID-19 Global Response Initiative supports immediate action to prevent or slow the spread of COVID-19 in vulnerable low-and middle-income countries. With Resolve to Save Lives, Vital Strategies, and the WHO, the $40 million initiative will have a strong focus on African nations and extend beyond to support additional governments around the world. The COVID-19 Local Response Initiative helps U.S. cities combat the devastating impact of coronavirus on the wellbeing of residents and local economies. Working with the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the network provides mayors with the most up-to-date information on the virus from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and crisis management support from experts at Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and other schools across Harvard. Bloomberg Philanthropies has also made significant investments in New York and London through the donation of masks and meals to health care workers, and by supporting critical nonprofits as they navigate this difficult period.
Michael Bloomberg’s $8 million contribution to the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund is in addition to support for the WHO that goes back over a decade and totals nearly $200 million. Bloomberg’s global philanthropic investments in public health total $2.5 billion and include life-saving initiatives to eradicate polio, reduce obesity, tobacco use, drowning, and improve road safety and maternal health. In 2016, he launched the Bloomberg American Health Initiative at Johns Hopkins University to tackle declining life expectancy in the United States. In 2017, while serving as WHO Global Ambassador for Noncommunicable Diseases and Injuries, Bloomberg launched the Partnership for Healthy Cities, a global network of cities committed to confronting noncommunicable diseases. This network recently shifted their primary focus from noncommunicable diseases to stemming the novel coronavirus pandemic.
For more information about Global Citizen and their campaign to support the World Health Organization COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, please visit globalcitizen.org and follow @GlblCtzn on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram using #GlobalCitizen. To learn more about WHO’s response to the pandemic and the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, please go to www.who.int/COVID-19 and follow @WHO on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.
ABOUT BLOOMBERG PHILANTHROPIES:
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in more than 570 cities and over 160 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2019, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $3.3 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.
ABOUT GLOBAL CITIZEN:
Global Citizen is the world’s largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty by 2030. With over 10 million monthly advocates, our voices have the power to drive lasting change around sustainability, equality, and humanity. We post, tweet, message, vote, sign, and call to inspire those who can make things happen to act — government leaders, businesses, philanthropists, artists, and citizens — together improving lives. By downloading our app, Global Citizens learn about the systemic causes of extreme poverty, take action on those issues, and earn rewards, which can be redeemed for tickets to concerts, events, and experiences all over the world. To date, the actions of our community, along with high-level advocacy efforts and work with partners, has resulted in commitments and policy announcements from leaders valued at over $48 billion, affecting the lives of more than 2.25 billion people by 2030. For more information, visit www.GlobalCitizen.org.
ABOUT THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION:
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations’ specialized agency for health. It is an inter-governmental organization and works in collaboration with its Member States usually through the Ministries of Health. The World Health Organization is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends. Learn more at www.who.int.