Rihanna Helps World Leaders Raise Over Two Billion For Education
Rihanna: actress, singer, dancer, beauty and fashion mogul, and big-time philanthropist, The multi-talented icon added a splash of celebrity to this weekend’s fundraising conference for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) in Senegal, Africa. The GPE is is a multinational effort to fund education in developing countries, and the Barbados-born Rihanna is the organization’s “global ambassador.”
At Friday’s conference, Rihanna addressed the crowd, which included “African heads of state and World Bank president Jim Yong Kim,” per ABC News. The event was co-hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron and Senegalese president Macky Sall, whom Rihanna thanked in her remarks before saying, “This is what we’ve wanted all along. We’ve made tremendous progress today but of course our work is never done. We have a long way to go. And this is a fight we’re never going to stop fighting until every body and every girl has access to education.”
According to a tweet from Rihanna’s Clara Lionel foundation *, the event raised over two billion dollars.
“Rihanna appeared on behalf of her Clara Lionel foundation, which works in impoverished nations to provide healthcare and education programs,” wrote The Hill. This isn’t the first time that the singer and president have worked together; the same article added that “Macron and Rihanna previously met in Paris last summer where the two discussed education and her charitable foundation to promote education worldwide.”
Rihanna also used her Twitter platform to solicit donations, calling on the leaders of Great Britain, Australia, France and Norway to pledge money to the fund.
In a video from the event posted to his Twitter page, Macron and Rihanna discuss putting pressure on other leaders and the private sector to continue the fight for global education.
Two world leaders. Nothing but respect for my president (Rihanna).
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