With a special release on Youtube on the Playing for Change channel on Thursday, December 10th at 12 pm PST / 3 pm EST, Peace Through Music: A Global Event for Social Justice will feature artists and public figures like Aloe Blacc, Angélique Kidjo, Becky G, Brandi Carlile with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman Santana, Gabi Melim, Gary Clark Jr., Jack Johnson, Mavis Staples, Peter Gabriel, Rhiannon Giddens, Ringo Starr, Robbie Robertson, Run The Jewels with Josh Homme, Sheila E., Skip and Cedella Marley, The War and Treaty, Yo-Yo Ma and more. Billie Eilish, Killer Mike, Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird, Norman Lear and Sara Bareilles among others are scheduled to make special appearances.
The event, a collaboration between Playing For Change, an organization that aims to connect the world through music, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), presented by Corning® Gorilla® Glass and co-produced by Blackbird Presents, calls for equality, the recognition of human rights and an end to racism and discrimination.
“The things in life that divide us disappear when the music plays,” says Mark Johnson, PFC Co-Founder, “and that’s something we hope you see and feel during this event.”
A unique global broadcasting event, to coincide with UN Human Rights Day on 10 December, will promote a message of unity through music with the first-ever radio broadcast of Max Richter’s VOICES, incorporating text from the historic 1948 Declaration of Human Rights.
This special performance, produced by BBC Radio 3 and co-conceived by Richter and his creative partner Yulia Mahr, will be broadcast by 37 EBU radio channels from 34 countries, the EBU announced on 7 December 2020.
VOICES is inspired by the opening statement from the Declaration: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” A decade in the making, the piece premiered in London in February 2020, weeks before the pandemic brought unprecedented changes to the lives of citizens worldwide. With months of uncertainty still on the horizon, the recording’s uplifting messages of community and hope have particular resonance.
Max Richter and Yulia Mahr said, “Thinking back now to the premiere of VOICES in February feels like visiting another world. In these strange and anxious times, it is a great privilege to be able to mark Human Rights Day by presenting the work again, despite the pandemic. We are thrilled about the partnership with the UN Human Rights office and the collaboration with BBC Radio 3 and the EBU, which have made it possible to perform our work once more. In this challenging time in human history, the text of the Declaration is more important than ever.”
Víctor Fernández, Chief, Communications Section, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said, “Collaborating with Max Richter, BBC Radio 3 and the EBU on Human Rights Day was a natural way for the United Nations Human Rights Office to promote the global human rights message through high quality music.
“VOICES is a musical interpretation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and music, like human rights, is universal. Both have the power to unite, to inspire and to promote peace and understanding. This concert on BBC Radio 3, broadcast via the EBU, helps ensure that the principles enshrined in the Declaration reach a wide audience.”
This is the second time that the EBU has collaborated with Richter. During Easter 2020, as the world was closing down, EBU radio channels across Europe presented the composer’s eight-hour work – Sleep – to audiences in 20 countries as a moment of hope in unprecedented times. VOICES will continue that tradition.
The BBC Radio 3 broadcast of VOICES will be presented by Elizabeth Alker and features soprano Grace Davidson; violinist Viktoria Mullova as soloist; British actor Sheila Atim as the narrator; the Tenebrae choir; the Max Richter ensemble – with Richter himself on keyboards and electronics; and conductor Robert Ziegler.
Tonight, 21 May 21, at 6:00 p.m. ET, the NGO WITNESS has its virtual Un-Gala, a celebration in defense of truth and human rights, live on Facebook and YouTube.
You’ll be able to hear the activist, author and educator Angela Davis, in conversation with media activist and WITNESS’ Senior Program Coordinator Palika Makam. You’ll be hearing a new piece on COVID-19 created by WITNESS’ Founder Peter Gabriel and you can listen to the incredible voice of artist Kimberly Nichole.
The Un-Gala is free of charge but donations to WITNESS are most welcome.
Monday 19 March, 18:30 – 21:00, Staffan de Mistura, United Nations special envoy for the Syria crisis, will give the 2018 Sergio Vieira de Mello Lecture.
Staffan de Mistura is the United Nations special envoy for the Syria crisis. Having previously served as the head of the UN missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has over thirty years’ experience of working in conflict-affected areas and within humanitarian agencies. The event is moderated by the journalist Sophie Shevardnadze and will take place at Auditorium Ivan Pictet at the Maison de la Paix in Geneva. Registration is required for this event. Register here
The annual lecture is organised by the Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation and the Graduate Institute.
Justice and Peace NL with support from the City of the Hague and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing “The Hague Defenders Days” from 5 to 10 December 2016. A wide range of activities (debates, films and even a ball) are planned culminating in the ceremony of the Tulip Award on Human Rights Day 10 December. Most activities are open to the public (but not the Tulip ceremony):
Let’s celebrate the International Human Rights – and Human Rights Defenders Days in the city of peace and justice! Take the opportunity to learn from their experiences and share your own. Meet human rights defenders, debate about your rights, think out of the box and dance at the Human Rights Ball. Discover the defender or rebel in you! Download the flyer.
PROGRAMME
Portraits of Dutch and international human rights defenders by photographers Anette Brolenius and Daniella van Bergen.
Alison Des Forges (1942-2009) was a well-known human rights defender and one of the world’s leading experts on the Rwandan genocide. She was senior adviser of Human Rights Watch at the time of her death in the crash of Continental flight 3407. HRW named its human rights award after her [see: http://www.brandsaviors.com/thedigest/award/alison-des-forges-award-extraordinary-activism]. Now the Alison L. Des Forges Memorial Committee in her native Buffalo (NY) is organizing three events in Buffalo on 23 and 24 April 2015 with as focus “Islam, Islamism, and Human Rights in Africa”:
An international symposium on April 23 featuring talks by university researchers and representatives of human rights organizations working in Africa. This event is free and open to the public.
A scholarship dinner and discussion on April 23. [reservation is required, and tickets are $100 per person. Proceeds go to the Alison Des Forges Memorial Scholarships]
A community roundtable on April 24, where university researchers will reflect on the previous day’s symposium topics: “The Interplay of Politics, Religion, Terrorism, Modernity and Human Rights”.
“In an effort to address issues of intense public concern, these events will explore in depth the recent rise of violent extremist groups in Africa,” said Dussourd, co-chair of the Alison L. Des Forges Memorial Committee. “In so doing, we will go beyond sensational media headlines to the historical roots of this phenomenon as we examine groups such as Boko Haram, Seleka and Al-Shabaab.”
Every day all over the world, unsung heroes are risking their lives to call attention to injustice and to fight for human rights. On Tuesday October 2nd, one of them will honored with the Martin Ennals Award. The Martin Ennals Award is chosen by a Jury of ten leading Human Rights organizations including: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First and others (see www.martinennalsaward.org). Thus, this prize represents the expression of the whole Human Rights movement.
The winner will be selected from three nominees, who personalize wider issues in their home countries and allow these issues to be represented through individual cases:
Venerable Sovath Luon: sometimes referred to as the “Multimedia Monk”. He challenges the widespread eviction of poor people from land they have long held but without title, often due to the destruction of records during the Khmer Rouge period.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian Lawyer serving a 6 year prison sentence in Iran for “… the offences of “acting against the national security”, “propaganda against the regime” and “membership of Human Rights Defenders Centre” – an organisation presided over by the Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.
Bahrain Center for Human Rights: Currently high on the world media agenda. Two of the main founders: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Nabeel Rajab are serving jail sentences. Zainab al-Khawaja was arrested for demonstrating against the government, while other members are regularly arrested and abused.
The ceremony is hosted by the City of Geneva in Victoria Hall. Short films commissioned by the Martin Ennals Foundation. Those who cannot attend in person may want to follow it on the internet (www.martinennalsaward.org) starting at 18h00 Geneva time.
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