MUMBAI: The 2015 Global Citizen Festival, headlined by Pearl Jam, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, and Coldplay, is timed to coincide with the launch of the United Nations' new Global Goals designed to fight inequality, protect our planet and eradicate extreme poverty. Common, Tori Kelly, Sunidhi Chauhan and others will perform as special guests at the free, ticketed event. Some of the world's biggest artists, advocates and influencers will again join the Global Citizen Festival on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park on 26 September, with the goal to galvanise the largest movement to end extreme poverty by 2030.

The Host Committee of the 2015 Global Citizen Festival includes: Amani Toomer, Bill Nye, Bonnie Wright, Bridget Moynahan, Camren Bicondova, Colin Hanks, Connie Britton, Daymond John, and Erin Heatherton, along with Erin Richards, Eve Hewson, Freida Pinto, Gayle King, Isha Sesay, Jake Clemons, Jason Ralph, Katie Holmes, Laverne Cox, Malin Akerman, Miri Ben-Ari, Nev Schulman, Rachel Brosnahan, Shantell Martin, Soledad O'Brien, Sophia Bush, Tamzin Merchant, Tim Fain and Usher. Host Committee members will participate on-stage and backstage at the 'Global Citizen Action Hub,' where they will engage with fans and take actions on social media to help end extreme poverty.

The announcement of the Host Committee and special guests coincides with the Global Citizen Day of Action for girls and women's equality. Girls and women are at a disadvantage across nearly every segment of society and are disproportionately affected by lack of access to education, proper healthcare, water and sanitation, food and nutrition, and work opportunities. These factors keep girls and women trapped in a cycle of poverty, which, in turn, prevents entire communities from developing. Today, global citizens everywhere are encouraged to take action by tweeting at world leaders from Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden, as well as World Bank Group President Dr. Jim Yong Kim and asking them to invest in water, sanitation, and hygiene for girls and women.

In August, Global Citizen announced that Stephen Colbert, CHIME FOR CHANGE co-founder Salma Hayek Pinault, Deborra-Lee Furness and Hugh Jackman, Kerry Washington and Olivia Wilde will appear as the lead hosts for the Festival. MSNBC will air a live simulcast of the full concert on MSNBC and MSNBC.com. YouTube will carry the livestream. NBC will air a one-hour special of the event on Sunday, 27 September and BBC One in the UK on Monday, September 28. BBC Worldwide will serve as the global distributor for the TV special.

Proud core partners of the 2015 Global Citizen Festival include: Presenting partner Gucci and the CHIME FOR CHANGE campaign, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Citi, Unilever, YouTube, TIDAL, Google, iHeartRadio, Clear Channel Outdoor, msnbc, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, H&M, and T- Mobile. Supporting partners are BBC Worldwide, Universal Music Group Distribution, Pratt Foundation, Waislitz Foundation, The Huffington Post, Milk Studios, RYOT and Riot House.

People everywhere are invited to sign-up and take actions to be entered in the ticket lottery. The last ticket draw for free tickets to the 2015 Global Citizen Festival will take place on Thursday, 17 September.

Usher, Common, Tori Kelly, Laverne Cox, Katie Holmes, Connie Britton and Sunidhi Chauhan are among the guest performers added to the bill for the Global Citizen Festival, to be held 26 September on New York’s Great Lawn in Central Park.

They’ll join previously-announced headliners Pearl Jam, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay for a day of entertainment with a cause: to end extreme poverty by 2030.