Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be present at the event
Two Indians are among the four finalists for the USD 1,00,000 global citizen award which will be presented next week at a festival to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the landmark Central Park here.
Swapnil Chaturvedi and Anoop Jain are among the finalists for the Waislitz Global Citizen award which is presented to an individual who meets the criteria of global citizenship, impact, innovation and potential.
The winner will be announced at the Global Citizen Festival on September 27, set to be attended by Modi along with a dozen other global leaders such as UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg and Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.
As per organisers of the event, Modi will highlight the need to bring an end to open defecation at the event expected to be attended by thousands of people.
Chaturvedi and Jain have been shortlisted for their efforts to improve sanitation facilities and increase access to toilets in India.
Chaturvedi is the founder of 'Samagra Sanitation' which focuses on providing "awesome sanitation services to the urban poor" in India.
Since March 2013, 'Samagra' has been implementing its sanitation engagement platform called 'LooRewards' in two urban slums of Pune.
Jain founded 'Humanure Power' (HP) in Bihar in 2011 and builds community sanitation facilities in rural India. He believes building toilets addresses the underlying causes of poverty, which affect broader health, social, and economic change desperately needed in India.
'Humanure Power' opened its pilot community sanitation facility on July 2014, and has already seen over 17,000 users,
The other two finalists are David Auerbach who co-founded 'Sanergy' which builds low-cost, high-quality sanitation facilities and Nargis Shirazi, founder of the Wo-man Foundation, which works towards improving sexual, reproductive health and rights of women in her home country Uganda.
The festival will be hosted by Hollywood actors Hugh Jackman, Jessica Alba and Katie Holmes and will have performances by American rapper Jay Z and singer Carrie Underwood.