The six-part National Geographic ACTIVATE: THE GLOBAL CITIZEN MOVEMENT documentary series premieres on 8 September, 2019, at 8pm. All courtesy of National Geographic and Procter & Gamble, co-produced by Global Citizen and RadicalMedia.
ACTIVATE is a storytelling partnership and documentary series bolstered by content distributed across National Geographic’s social, digital, linear and print channels. It raises awareness about extreme poverty, inequality and sustainability issues to mobilize Global Citizens to drive meaningful change on the Global Citizen platform.
Each episode delves into a different issue connected to the root causes of extreme poverty, following a specific Global Citizen campaign and the organizers, amplifiers, grassroots activists, action takers and people whose lives are being changed.
ACTIVATE takes audiences from the Global Citizen Festival stages to the front lines of change around the world while spotlighting real-time efforts to address issues related to extreme poverty. Through the eyes of activists including Hugh Jackman, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Becky G, Usher, Common, Rachel Brosnahan, Gayle King, Bonang Matheba, Pharrell Williams, Darren Criss and Uzo Aduba, and told through the iconic storytelling lens of National Geographic.
The series has been filmed in Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, the Philippines and South Africa, and across the United States in California, New York, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.
The storytelling partnership also expands to a 10-page custom print section in the September issue of National Geographic magazine, as well as custom story stretches aligned to each episode, custom digital articles and social media moments highlighting various issues within ACTIVATE.
ACTIVATE: THE GLOBAL CITIZEN MOVEMENT Episodes
ACTIVATE: Eradicating Extreme Poverty
Hugh Jackman, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Becky G join Global Citizen in campaigns to push world leaders into enacting policy changes that would end extreme poverty. As Jackman prepares for the massive Central Park festival, Becky G travels to Mexico to amplify Global Citizen’s campaign to push companies to support women-owned businesses.
ACTIVATE: Ending Cash Bail
Artists and activists Common and Usher team up with Global Citizen and grassroots organizers as they attempt to achieve historic criminal justice reform by ending the use of cash bail in New York state.
ACTIVATE: Education Cannot Wait
Rachel Brosnahan travels to the border of Peru to see what happens to children’s education during conflicts and natural disasters. After an emotional experience with displaced families, Brosnahan and Global Citizen return to the U.S., where they urge Ireland, the U.K. and the U.S. to pledge millions to Education Cannot Wait, a global fund for education during crises.
ACTIVATE: Keeping Girls in School
Priyanka Chopra Jonas joins Global Citizen and activists as they campaign to break down barriers to girls’ education. Meanwhile, Gayle King and Bonang Matheba rally people to call on the South African government to commit $58 million toward ending “period poverty” and providing girls with the menstrual education and resources they need to stay in school.
ACTIVATE: Ending Plastic Pollution
Pharrell Williams joins Global Citizen’s push to get governments, companies and individuals to solve the ocean plastic pollution crisis. Meanwhile, Darren Criss travels to the Philippines to witness plastic’s impact on people living in extreme poverty and calls on global citizens to urge their mayors to commit their cities to zero-waste futures.
ACTIVATE: Clean Water
Orange Is the New Black star Uzo Aduba rallies to push for clean drinking water and proper sanitation for the world’s most vulnerable people. They travel to Aduba’s parents’ homeland of Nigeria, where they urge governors to commit state funds to eradicate the contaminated water and open defecation crises.
What: ACTIVATE: THE GLOBAL CITIZEN MOVEMENT
Broadcast slot: Sundays, 8pm from 8 September 2019 (6 x 60’), National Geographic
Digital hubs: NatGeo.com and GlobalCitizen.org
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