Prime Minister Joseph Muscat joined thousands of people in Central Park, New York, during a Global Citizen Festival held while the United Nations general assembly was taking place.

Beyonce, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran took part in the fourth edition of the festival together with Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and footballer Kaka, who is a UN ambassador on hunger.

Dr Muscat was among those who were invited to address the crowd. In his speech, Dr Muscat spoke about the need to eradicate polio which is a disease linked with poverty.

The efforts made in the past years mean that 19,000 fewer children die of polio than they did in 1990. He said that the Commonwealth Heads of State meeting to be held in Malta will address the issue and will commit to tackle the disease.