Global Citizen has announced that its six-week campaign, which culminated with Global Citizen Festival events in Accra, Ghana, and New York City on September 24, raised or facilitated more than $2.4 billion in pledges from public and private donors to counter extreme poverty, invest in women and girls, confront the global food crisis, and address climate change.

The End Extreme Poverty NOW campaign raised an estimated $800 million, including $440 million targeted to anti-poverty initiatives in Africa. In addition, the governments of Ghana and South Africa announced the launch of an African Prosperity Fund, which aims to deploy $1 billion in support of projects for economic inclusion and financial participation across the continent.

Commitments to assist women and girls included an $8 million partnership between GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance and Girl Effect to fight gender barriers limiting vaccine uptake in Tanzania and Ethiopia; €2.6 million ($2.49 million) from Belgium to bolster social protection measures in Senegal and Burkina Faso; and multiple pledges to the United Nations Population Fund—$47 million from Denmark, €45 million ($43.16 million) from the European Commission, and $10 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Global health initiatives receiving commitments included $150 million from Rotary International to combat polio and $1.56 billion pledged by Canada ($878.7 million) and the European Commission ($685.8 million) as part of the seventh replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

In addition to the financial pledges, Global Citizen announced that its campaign had engaged more than two million people to “take action as global citizens,” more than doubling its previous efforts.

“Amidst all the doomsday messages we hear today, hope lies in the fact that millions of citizens are rising up to take action, more than any other point in history,” said Global Citizen co-founder and CEO Hugh Evans. “[Ten] years ago, Global Citizen was just an idea—and 10 years from now we’ll see a generation of Global Citizens running for office, starting companies, and transforming communities.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images for Global Citizen)