Comedian Colbert to host New York anti-poverty concert

Leading US comedian and talk-show presenter Stephen Colbert was announced Thursday as a host of the Global Citizens Festival in New York, which aims to fight extreme poverty.

The Central Park show on September 26 -- which is free for fans who take action to support development -- already announced headlining musical acts who include Beyonce, Pearl Jam, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran.

Colbert, who takes over September 8 as the host of CBS television's "Late Show" after gaining acclaim as an acerbic satirist, will be among co-hosts along with Mexican-born actress Salma Hayek and Australian actor Hugh Jackman.

"I am honored and thrilled to join Global Citizen in urging world leaders to commit to ending extreme poverty. Finally, all that UN traffic will have a purpose!" Colbert said, joking of the notorious congestion in New York when world leaders converge for the annual UN General Assembly.

Launched in 2012, the Global Citizen Festival coincides with the UN summit in hopes of putting poverty high on the agenda.

This year's festival, which will be broadcast internationally for the first time, comes as the United Nations announces new targets at the end of its 15-year push known as the Millennium Development Goals.

Since the headliners were announced a month ago, the Global Citizen Festival says it has seen some 500,000 actions, which include pressing governments on foreign development aid.

One key goal is to urge governments to direct more than half of foreign aid to the least developed countries -- a figure that stands at around 32 percent in the United States.