One of Africa’s most sought-after entertainment personalities, Bonang Matheba, will be the lead moderator at the UN General Assembly “Leave No Girl Behind” discussion In New York today.
The esteemed group of panellists will include President of France, Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, British PM Theresa May and Norwegian PM Erna Solberg.
The discussion on Girls Education and Empowerment – titled “12 Years to Break Barriers and Leave No Girl Behind” – will cover ways of achieving quality education for all girls globally by 2030 and will also include a number of respected professionals in the field as well as advocates from Global Citizen who are arranging the panel discussion.
The multi–award winning South African media personality – who recently won an International Achievement Recognition Award for Best Media Personality – will also speak at a special Global Citizen function before attending the Global Citizen Festival in New York on September 29.
Global Citizen is a global movement of engaged citizens who use their collective voice in efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030 and its festivals bring some of the world’s top artists together to raise awareness and funds to impact lasting change.
Later this year, Bonang will also be a host at the Global Citizen Festival to take place in Johannesburg on December 2, which will see the likes of Jay Z, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Pharrel Williams and Chris Martin, Usher and more performing in honour of the Nelson Mandela Centenary. Bonang and Naomi Campbell are the official hosts for the festival.
Along with her own media career, Bonang is also a renowned philanthropist.
In response to the student uprisings in South Africa in 2016, known as #FeesMustFall, she established The Bonang Matheba Bursary Fund, which aims to provide 10 young women each year with the opportunity to further their tertiary education with a scholarship at Boston College, South Africa.
Bonang has been included as Forbes List of Top 13 African Celebrities to Watch and ranked as one of the 10 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa in 2017.
In 2016, Bonang also joined African delegates and political leaders from across the continent to speak about global poverty and education at the 2016 World Economic Forum in Durban, South Africa.
A passionate advocate for girls’ education, says Bonang: “I believe that when you educate a girl child, you actually educate a community and you educate a family. As girls tend to become the head of the household, these young ladies pay their education forward; and an education is something that nobody can take away from you. It has a generational advantage and value.”
