The aim was to collect as much money as possible for the fight against Corona. And the virtual donor conference and the online concert did it. An unusual collaboration between politics and pop.
By Holger Romann, ARD studio Brussels
“I cry” – “Ich weine” – the latest song by R&B singer Usher was the perfect match for the benefit concert, which brought the musical end to the multi-hour donation marathon. In the musician’s home, the United States, the corona virus has been raging for weeks, especially in the Afro-American community and in economically disadvantaged areas. Sad record so far: About 2.5 million infected and more than 126,000 deaths.
Memory of the victims
Action performer Dwayne Johnson, who moderated the professionally well-composed show, initially remembered the victims of the pandemic all over the world. His message: we can only survive this crisis together.
Stopping the virus, with money or personal effort, is what artists, scientists, entrepreneurs and “normal contemporaries” have written for the benefit campaign “Unite for our Future” – “Together for our future”. The New York human rights organization “Global Citizen” had hired a number of illustrious names from music, film and sports for a good cause.
Von der Leyen: “An incredible result”
Also included: actors Hugh Jackman and Diane Kruger, top model Naomi Campbell and footballer David Beckham. In addition, pop stars such as Justin Bieber, the Britpop band Coldplay or Miley Cyrus, who interpreted the John Lennon classic “Help” in Passadena’s empty football stadium.
Help – that was the good news of the evening – is on its way. Before the virtual pop concert, that for three days too in the ARD media library can be seen, the organizers had placed another donor conference. At the initiative of the EU Commission, more than six billion euros were raised to finance a vaccine against Covid-19. Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen was impressed and spoke of an “incredible result”.
Half of what is needed
If you add the already collected around ten billion euros, the EU-led campaign, which started in early May, comes to a total of around 16 billion euros. That is about half of what experts estimate for the development and production of an active ingredient. However, it is still unclear whether and when the ongoing efforts of the pharmaceutical industry will lead to success.
The Commission, which, together with the EU member states, is contributing more than a third of the total, wants to ensure that vaccines, tests or new treatment methods are made available to as many people as possible, especially in poorer countries. “We will only defeat this pandemic if it is defeated everywhere,” said Patron von der Leyen.
Merkel pledges an additional 383 million euros
The Commission President was again supported by her political colleagues from Europe and the rest of the world. These include the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, his Spanish colleague Pedro Sanchez, France’s head of state Emanuel Macron and Angela Merkel. The Chancellor pledged an additional € 383 million to fight Corona. Also back in the game: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He had only recently experienced firsthand that the virus is not to be trifled with.
Towards the end, superstar Shakira made for more hopeful tones. Although her home continent, South America, is currently the most severely affected by the epidemic, the Colombian showed herself in her statement and also musically optimistic that the sun will soon break through the clouds again.
