(AllHipHop News) French Montana has announced a partnership with Global Citizen to promote the #2BSTRONG petition campaign.
The Moroccan-born rapper and the New York-based social action advocacy group are calling on African nations to take action on child and maternal health.
An open letter to the continent’s leaders reads (in part): A strong, healthy population is essential to a country’s progress and economic prosperity. Over the past two decades, Africa has succeeded in reducing child and maternal deaths by more than half, saving millions from once widespread diseases like polio and measles. But, we cannot stop halfway and backtrack on these hard-won gains.
The #2BSTRONG agenda includes:
• adopting a national plan for better maternal and child health and make sure national, county, and district governments stick to their promises on health care
• reducing the number of women who die in childbirth by providing basic natal healthcare
• reducing the number of kids who die senselessly under-five due to diseases as basic as pneumonia and diarrhea in every country
• making sure all kids can get immunized and can access life-saving vaccines by 2020
• investing in and strengthen your own health systems, supporting health workers on the ground, so poverty is not a barrier to human beings getting the life-saving health care they need
In March, Montana traveled to Kampala, Uganda to film the video for his song “Unforgettable” featuring Swae Lee.
“When I went to Uganda, I fell in love with the kids. A lot of people say ‘happiness is within.’ Those people are rich on the inside,” the Bad Boy Records artist told Newsweek. “I saw that people weren’t able to help themselves as far as health.”
The trip inspired Montana and Mama Hope to launch the #UnforgettableDanceChallenge fundraiser campaign.
Celebrities such as Drake, DJ Khaled, Travis Scott, Diddy, Swizz Beatz, Belly, Young M.A, and others have taken part in the challenge.
Montana pledged $100,000 to help pay for ambulances, premature incubators, cribs, and a blood bank for the Suubi Health Center.
He is looking to raise another $400,000 for the Ugandan community.
To sign the Global Citizen’s #2BSTRONG petition visit globalcitizen.org.
