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PM to join Coldplay at global equality festival

Maddy Savage
Maddy Savage - [email protected]
PM to join Coldplay at global equality festival
Chris Martin (left) and Stefan Löfven. Photos: Jason Franson/Christins Ohlsson/TT

Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has been invited by musician and campaigner Chris Martin to speak at the anti poverty New York Global Citizen Festival, where he will mingle with icons including Beyonce, his press spokesperson has told The Local.

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The Social Democrat leader will be greeted by Hollywood actress Salma Hayek and will appear on stage in Central Park alongside Beyonce, where he will deliver a speech to an anticipated crowd of around 60,000 people.
 
"It is true that the Prime Minister was personally invited by Chris Martin, via a letter," Dan Lundqvist Dahlin, his press secretary, told The Local on Thursday.
 
He confirmed that the Swedish leader would focus on gender inequality, poverty and improving access to clean water and sanitation facilities in the developing world in his address at the festival, which takes place on September 26th.
 
"The Prime Minister is proud to represent Sweden, a small country that is yet so well known for its unwavering commitment to fighting inequality," he added.
 
Organisers of the Global Citizen Festival hope it will be a critical lever for achieving policy and financial commitments that will shape the success of the Global Goals of the United Nations, which are designed to tackle inequality, protect the earth in the wake of climate change and end extreme poverty by 2030.
 
The Central Park event will also include performances from veteran rockers Pearl Jam and UK star Ed Sheeran, as well as Chris Martin's band Coldplay.
 
President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Francis will also be in New York next week, where there will be a series of talks and debates focusing on inequality.
 
 
Stefan Löfven has championed a feminist foreign policy since he became Prime Minister a year ago. He became an international advocate for women's rights when he was appointed 'Impact World Champion Leader' for the United Nations' #HeForShe campaign in January. The initiative, which was later launched in Sweden, saw the Swedish leader locked in discussions with former Harry Potter actress Emma Watson at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
 
The event clearly made an impact on Löfven, who, in his first official speech in Sweden after the summer holidays homed in on gender equality and referred to the actress, as well as young Swedish artist Zara Larsson and US director Lena Dunham, as feminist pioneers and important role models.

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