Priyanka Chopra Speaks On The Need To Eradicate Poverty At WEF 2020

Priyanka Chopra Jonas marked her presence at the World Economic Forum 2020 Annual Meeting in Davos. She joined the global stage as a part of a “fireside chat” with renowned personalities from across the world. Priyanka emphasized on the importance of eradicating poverty by investing in its people and young minds. She said that people with money, power and influence should invest in the country's people so that it can have the population that is worth investing in.

In her fireside chat, she was joined by world leaders like Belgium’s Deputy PM Alexander DeCroo, South African disability activist Eddie Ndopo, P&G’s Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard, Chair of the Board of Gavi Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chief Strategy Officer of Verizon Rima Qureshi, Kenyan food and nutrition activist, Wawira Njiru, Teneo CEO Declan Kelly, and Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans.

Key Takeaways:

• Priyanka Chopra Jonas attended World Economic Forum 2020 as a part of a fireside chat with renowned world leaders.
• She emphasised upon the need to eradicate poverty from the countries to have a sustainable future. 
• She said, "If countries invest in their people, they create a population others want to invest in and that is very powerful."
• Priyanka also appreciated the success of the Polio campaign in India.

The "Incestuous" cycle of poverty:

In a video from WEF 2020, Priyanka speaks about the vicious cycle of poverty that has gripped the nation and which has to be eradicated. She says, “Climate change, lack of education, the fact that some kids do not have access to school, lack of female rights altogether create an incestuous cycle of poverty. If countries invest in their people, they create a population others want to invest in and that is very powerful."

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Priyanka said, “People like Bill Gates, people like Warren Buffett have shown us that people like that can make a phenomenal impact when people just take a little bit out of their immense wealth and help us make that difference," NDTV reported.

Contributing To Change

Priyanka further reflected on how she has been contributing to this change in her role as a Goodwill Ambassador. "I might not be a billionaire that can make the kind of contributions that we’re talking about, but I know that as soon as I had a little bit of a platform when I started my work in the entertainment business almost 20 years ago, I understood the power of influence, I understood the power of keeping the conversation going. I understood the power of not letting it die down, to understand the urgency,"  TOI, quoted her.

The former Miss World also spoke about the Polio campaign in India. She said, “11 years ago, 60 per cent of the world's polio cases were in India. Five years later, eradicated. And that was because of the massive campaign that the government and almost 200 million volunteers... top-down and bottom-up, got together and said that we are going to make the change in this country," reports India Today.

Listen to young minds

Emphasising on the importance of building a capable population, she said, “Let's bring the world to a place where a child's dreams are achievable, where that child can get an education, where that child can have papers, where that child can actually have a future."

Adding further about encouraging the young minds, Priyanka cited the example of Greta Thunberg. She said, “I would love to live in a place where my children when I have them, can grow up in a world where the world leaders have listened to Greta's (Thunberg) generation. I want my kids to grow up in a place where the climate crisis is contained, if not averted. “ She also said, “India has an incredible young generation that is coming out on the streets demanding a change.”

“I want to live in a place where a woman's ability to succeed should be a basic human right and not based on geography or chance."

Women rights and empowerment

Speaking about the women's rights, Priyanka said, “Lack of opportunities made women quiet. We had to fight with each other to reach that one job while there were seven other jobs for men.” Focussing on the need of opportunities and voice, she said, “The world needs to reach to that point where everyone has the cultural beliefs and traditions but at the same, they should be given the opportunity to succeed. They don’t have to mutually exclusive.”

Picture Credit: Forbes India

Rudrani Kumari is an intern with SheThePeople.TV.

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