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Richard Curtis calls for radio stations to unite in anti-poverty campaign Richard Curtis calls for radio stations to unite in anti-poverty campaign
(about 1 hour later)
Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis has called on the BBC and commercial radio to join forces for an unprecedented seven-day global campaign to promote a new United Nations bill of rights to end extreme poverty.Comic Relief founder Richard Curtis has called on the BBC and commercial radio to join forces for an unprecedented seven-day global campaign to promote a new United Nations bill of rights to end extreme poverty.
Curtis, whose Comic Relief campaign is set to pass the £1bn fund-raising mark in its 20th year next year, wants the entire radio industry to unite to create a global platform to reach 7bn people around the world, a project he called “Radio Everyone”.Curtis, whose Comic Relief campaign is set to pass the £1bn fund-raising mark in its 20th year next year, wants the entire radio industry to unite to create a global platform to reach 7bn people around the world, a project he called “Radio Everyone”.
The new United Nations set of goals, due to be published in September 2015, comes a decade and a half after its Millennium Development Goals and were described by Curtis as a “checklist for the world”.The new United Nations set of goals, due to be published in September 2015, comes a decade and a half after its Millennium Development Goals and were described by Curtis as a “checklist for the world”.
“I got very obsessed with these new goals that are a kind of to-do list for the planet, a declaration of planetary rights,” Curtis told the Radio Festival in Salford on Wednesday.“I got very obsessed with these new goals that are a kind of to-do list for the planet, a declaration of planetary rights,” Curtis told the Radio Festival in Salford on Wednesday.
“It would be an unbelievably useful thing for everyone in the world to know what they are. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could say to people, this is the optimistic version of the future, the first generation to live without extreme poverty and the first and last generation to live with climate change.”“It would be an unbelievably useful thing for everyone in the world to know what they are. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could say to people, this is the optimistic version of the future, the first generation to live without extreme poverty and the first and last generation to live with climate change.”
Curtis said he wanted “every single listener to radio in the UK and to radio around the world to know what these goals are” in the seven days after they are published.Curtis said he wanted “every single listener to radio in the UK and to radio around the world to know what these goals are” in the seven days after they are published.
A seven-day “pop-up radio station” spanning the BBC and commercial radio as well as community stations, the project will be part of a global campaign including Wikipedia, which has agreed to translate the goals into 293 languages.A seven-day “pop-up radio station” spanning the BBC and commercial radio as well as community stations, the project will be part of a global campaign including Wikipedia, which has agreed to translate the goals into 293 languages.
“The idea is to make seven days of programming available and free to the world and of an incredibly high standard,” he said.“The idea is to make seven days of programming available and free to the world and of an incredibly high standard,” he said.
“It could be a special thing that Chris Martin has recorded ... the most glamorous, the most interesting, the cleverest and funniest demonstration of all these things possible to anyone who wants to listen to it or any radio station that wants to take any part of it, so that you get it into the ears of the world.”“It could be a special thing that Chris Martin has recorded ... the most glamorous, the most interesting, the cleverest and funniest demonstration of all these things possible to anyone who wants to listen to it or any radio station that wants to take any part of it, so that you get it into the ears of the world.”
Comic Relief will also launch in the US in May next year on NBC.Comic Relief will also launch in the US in May next year on NBC.
Curtis said it could be the first step in taking the charity brand international. “I do think there is a possibility that suddenly Comic Relief may get more international,” he said.Curtis said it could be the first step in taking the charity brand international. “I do think there is a possibility that suddenly Comic Relief may get more international,” he said.
“It’s impossible to hide this stuff because it all goes out on the net. One Direction’s documentary last year had 63 million viewers online, 48 million from the US, but we didn’t have the payment mechanism.”“It’s impossible to hide this stuff because it all goes out on the net. One Direction’s documentary last year had 63 million viewers online, 48 million from the US, but we didn’t have the payment mechanism.”
Curtis said Comic Relief’s fund-raising total would pass the £1bn mark next year “unless a horrible scandal occurs and it turns out Lenny [Henry] has been killing and eating children”.
Curtis said he hoped next year’s appeal, which will feature celebrity editions of the Great British Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing, would also see a shift from fund-raising to talking about the importance of rights and building partnerships.
“I hope it will be an amazing year when we change the paradigm and change it to talk about partnerships and rights, and we begin to harness new technology and the way people engage with life,” he said.
“It’s a good moment to say, not ‘here’s an old person they need your help’ but ‘isn’t disability a question of rights, aren’t women and girls’ issues a question of rights, isn’t the way we work with people in Africa and Asia, isn’t that now a question of partnerships?”
He said Comic Relief had been “obsessed” with trying to use digital media but “everyone said it can’t be done because we haven’t got a payment mechanism sorted out”.
But he said the success of the Ice Bucket challenge had shown “You don’t need a payment mechanism”.
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