Our UN-Day 2007 Completion Report

UN-Day 2007 Completion Report

62dn Anniversary of the United Nations.


Endorsed our campaign and wrote supporting approvals.
* Prof Edgar Alistair (Academic Council of the UNsystem)
* Prof. Thomas Homer-Dixon (U of Toronto) * Prof. Tom Esakin (Prof. Sustainable Development, Cancun-Mexico)
* Mr. Justin Trudeau. (Liberal party of Canada) * Prof. Kader Asmal, Member of Parliament and former Minister of South Africa.

We received an encouraging answer from the Offices of:

Governor General of Canada Michaelle Jean.
Environmentalist Mr David Suzuki.

- Dr. -Dr AlanWolf.

- Office of Bono.

- His Excellency the Daila Lama.

- Office of The Elders.


* We received a 200 personal endorsements, as well as several interesting comments, ideas and suggestions.

* We organized a United Nations Day event at the Smith Library in Toronto on October 24th 2007.

* The proceedings of the evening were donated to UNICEF Toronto.



Some reactions on UN62

Prof Edgar Alistair:

"The UN today constitutes the first and best organization working actively around the world to promote a broad range of critical political, social, and economic, human rights and environmental goals.

In order to continue to work towards these goals, the UN needs the strongest possible support of its member States, and of the people of the world.
Initiatives such as the UN62 project are worthwhile and important in helping to promote local as well as global awareness of the centrality of the UN."



Prof Thomas Homer-Dixon:

“Humanity’s prosperity and even further survival will in large measure be determined by the success of the UN. The work of supporting individuals is vital to that success.”




Popular endorsements:

1- "UN Supporting March in all cities" Canada

2- “UN needs to be duly empowered not only be the member Nations but by the people themselves. UN does represent the aspirations of the individual and collective people's voice as well."

3- “The day should start with a gathering of the locals at a central location in the Capital City with local UN representatives addressing the underlying principles of the Charter of the UN and making the mass know of how these Charters are being implemented." Canada

4- "Let’s unite!” Philippines

5- “The UN is the only global institution truly able to stand up for the rights of humanity". Belgium

6- "It is through the United Nations that we must express our commitment to a World in one Peace under the rule of law." Canada

7- "Express humanity's necessity for and commitment to a World in One Peace under the rule of law. Dedicate ourselves to the conviction that Every Child is Our Child, and affirm our responsibility to all children to achieve a liveable World in One Peace. Canada.

8- “Hold a worldwide ceremony via TV, radio and all available means of communication affirming humanity’s determination to achieve the human right to peace and secure a world in peace under the rule of international law” Canada

9- “A Mexican wave of celebrations in every time zone, our world round... ” Y.H.

10- A global media event linking all UN countries to show their celebrations...similar to the way the world was linked in the New Year celebrations of 2000...” K.B.

11- “I would like to see a reflection of the common threads of culture throughout humanity, such as common threads found in myth and folklore as portrayed”. A.L.

12- "I am from Poland and I think that people don't know so much about UN-Day..." B.Z. Poland

13- This is the way to go !!!! Keep it up...I’m telling all my friends hoping they will sign their names to this worthy endeavour. S.J. Canada

14- “I think this is a wonderful idea. We need more of this to bring peoples and cultures together.” A.L.

15- “Happy Anniversary! We need indeed to strengthen the concept of our common humanity more than ever .” G.G. World

16- “In my world, the United Nations will become 'My' United Nation! No doubt!” Y.H. World

17- "Convocar por diversos medios de comunicación a Celebrar el día interrumpiendo a una hora determinada(12:00 m) las actividades cotidianas durante unos minutos para saludar con una bandera” O.V. Colombia

18- “Whole heartedly support it. I would like to seek membership of your Movement. I will organize Meetings to celebrate the day.” O.C. Canada

19- “I think the best would be to gather together all human rights, and humanitarian organisations without discriminating any organisation in each country." A.E.

20- "Some kind of identifier (a ribbon . Perhaps a place to meet with entertainment?" S.J.

21- It is with honour and a prayer for the future of our world and the work of the United Nations that I add my name. H.B

22- Feliz Cumple Naciones Unidas!!! La verdad se lo mercen, la organizacion ha hecho muchas cosas para el planeta, me alegra que esta organizacion este celebrado estos 62 años muchas felicidades

23- It is an excellent idea, and one that the world needs to support.

24- I remember back in my country (MEXICO) we always celebrated UN day ... Mexico

25- We need to start celebrating the UN day and our common humanity in Canada!!!




UN62 Volunteers

Loreen Lee
Edward Rwema
Cecilia Waldron
Osama Rifaat
Katia Millar
Nisha Thayan
Karin Vagiste
Cristina Soriano
Michelle Doyle
Ronaldo Barrera
Ehsan Malik
Jean-Paul Halsberghe


People assisting UN62

Jeffrey Lam
Rob Colquhoun
Tallie Rabin-Klaasen
Karin Vagiste
Viviane Deconinck
Tom Esakin

UN-Day, Our Day, Our Anthem...

Quotes

“A soothing anthem for everybody everywhere.” - New York Times

“The World Anthem is a heartfelt, catchy and dignified melody.” – Rocky Mountain News

“The World Anthem melds musical, lyrical ideas into global harmony.” – Denver Post

“The World Anthem is a magnificent piece of music that will touch souls around the world.” – Denver Mayor, Wellington and Wilma Webb

“Best song for a brave new world.” – Westword Magazine

“Imagine the impact on communities around the world by being connected through performing the World Anthem.” – Random Acts of Kindness Foundation

“Stately and inspired, dignified and compassionate. The World Anthem honors the best in humankind.” - Bloomsbury Review

“Stunning, …a brilliant piece of music that means something to us all.” – Kenny Passarelli

“Who would have thought that analyzing the world anthems would lead to a piece of such beauty.” - Dave Hanson, Professor of Music Denver University

“I appreciate the sentiments to share the World Anthem.” - Pope John Paul II




A Soothing Anthem For Everybody, by Julie Lew (New York Times)
Edited from original article by Jean-Paul Halsberghe


Before Sept. 11, John M. Guillot had composed what seemed to many a song of no commercial value. After that day, however, his song, ''The World Anthem,'' seemed to many to be a soothing antidote, and it was recorded by a 48-voice chorus with the Prague Studio Symphony Orchestra.

Now, as numerous groups work on programs to observe the anniversary of the terrorist attack, ''The World Anthem'' -- a high-tech amalgam of the world's 193 national anthems, from ''The Star Spangled Banner'' to China's ''March of the Volunteers'' to the Vatican City's ''Hymn and Pontifical March'' -- is being considered for inclusion in ceremonies by peace groups and television networks and at one point was even being considered by the White House.

The World Anthem Mission

''I knew that I wanted this to be a validated process, and one of the things I was concerned about was people's perception of who is this guy that he thinks he can write a world anthem,'' said Mr. Guillot, a composer and part-time music producer, during a recent interview at his home.

''I didn't want people to say this is some guy's interpretation of what the world anthem should be. I wanted it to write itself. It needed to be a song that was based on the observations and commonalities of all of the national anthems.''

And thus began a mission that has consumed most of Mr. Guillot's spare time and money since 1996, when he was working as a project manager for a compilation CD of 186 world anthems for the 1996 Summer Olympics.

He remembered a Time magazine cover he had seen three years earlier that showed a composite face of humanity representing all the cultures of the world.

''I thought, we can do this with music,'' Mr. Guillot recalled. ''I knew it could be done. I knew that musicologists use formula to analyze music. But because of the immense size of the project, I wanted to link up with a university or a lab that used computers.''


Support: Prof. David H Cope:

He found help from Prof. David H. Cope, who teaches music composition at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Professor Cope, who considers himself a musician first, is also a computer programmer, and has spent the past 22 years perfecting a program he first created in 1980 called, ''Experiments in Musical Intelligence.

'' The program composes music by analyzing a database that Mr. Cope puts into the computer, which then distils it and produces a new piece of music. He has generated four professional recordings with the program.

Professor Cope recalled: ''I was intrigued by the fact that John's need seemed to merge with my program's potential just perfectly. It seemed natural that a computer program that operates in a manner that a mind does was perfect for that sort of unbiased approach.''


Fruit of Cooperation

To put the 193 world anthems into Mr. Cope's program, Mr. Guillot enlisted Stephen Bigger, a Nashville composer and musician with whom he had worked on the Olympics CD, to help him convert the anthems into a format that the computer would understand.

Mr. Guillot also gathered all the lyrics, which took about three months, and sent them to Mr. Cope who then spent several months rewriting the program and putting hyphens between every syllable of all the lyrics in order for the program to work correctly.

Finally, after months of preparation and listening to each of the world anthems several times, Mr. Cope ran the program several hundred times and, in a matter of seconds, received several hundred potential world anthems.

The process was repeated with the lyrics. Mr. Cope sent three candidates of each to Mr. Guillot, and together they picked what they thought were the best.
With the musical skeleton of an anthem, Mr. Guillot and his collaborator, Randy Kartchner, a music arranger in Nashville, developed an arranged version of the song's essence.

After about six months, by spring 2000, Mr. Guillot had his anthem, and continued his task of finding an interested patron.


J.Ed Goodman: CEO Mindshare Institute and Foundation:

Then Sept. 11 happened. J. Ed Goodman a friend of Mr. Guillot's and the executive director and founder of the Mindshare Institute and Foundation in Fort Collins, Colo., a think tank that supports socially conscious ideas, remembered Mr. Guillot's desire to create a world anthem.

Mr. Goodman said, ''What the 11th did was it opened the world's mind to communication with each other in a positive way and this fit in very well with that.''

Mindshare contacted Ted King, an entertainment consultant in Los Angeles.
''My job was to take it from its basic form and create a richer, more beautiful, and more exciting piece of music,'' said Mr. King, who quickly rounded up 16 professional singers including a soloist, Aspen Miller, and the Prague Studio Symphony Orchestra.

''We wanted to give it an international flavor.''

A recording was made in one day through a broadband connection in a local studio that linked the symphony orchestra in Prague and the singers in Los Angeles, allowing them to perform as if they were all in one room, and ''The World Anthem'' came into being

The anthem does not sound like computer-generated music. It is simple enough that it can be marched to.

''I've heard it so many times, but I still like it,'' Professor Cope said. ''I can listen to it and find it interesting in new ways that I hadn't thought of before.''
Mr. Guillot now has a simple dream: ''What I'd like to see is some world-renowned artist perform this.''

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/31/arts/a-soothing-anthem-for-everybody.html?pagewanted=all&pagewanted=print

Jean-Paul Halsberghe, UN Supporting event Toronto, Canada.

2004-
Jean-Paul Halsberghe, then VP of the UN Association of Toronto, right

Allen Rock, Canadian Ambassador to the UN, middle

Event: Lecture by Mr. Allen Rock organized by the UN Association of Toronto, Canada


Allan Michael Rock, is a lawyer, former Canadian politician, diplomat and now the President of University of Ottawa. He was Canada's ambassador to the United Nations (2004-2006) and had previously served in the Cabinet of Jean Chrétien, most notably as Justice Minister (1993-1997) and Health Minister (1997-2002).

Unique Historical United Nations Day Parade 1942

The Fear of Blogging

Back in 2003, the notion of blogging was brought to my attention for the first time.

We were preparing a UN supporting action around United Nations Day.
At the time, I was still overwhelmed and paralysed with the fear of IT in general. So, the opportunity of taking a closer look of the new communication tool was discarded.

In 2005, we initiated yet another UN Day support initiative and a professional lady, Carolyn Burke, assisted in the IT department. She was, and still is, being credited for having launched the first online diaries.

Here, the understanding dawned of the tremendous opportunity potential created by online-diaries-notebooks.

2009: It still took another 4 years before overcoming the fear of IT communication. The creation of this blog being the proof.

The mantra that a fear disappears when looked into its eyes is true.

Jean-Paul

10.24 United Nations Day

Most people worldwide know the name: United Nations
Most people worldwide know its logo.
Ask most people for 3 names associated with the United Nations.
You might get a puzzled or blank stare.

Isn't that surprising?

Most people do not know there is a United Nations Day
Most people do not know when is UN-Day.

Every October 24th is United Nations Day

Hence

10.24.United Nations Day

Why this blog?

To all who visit this site, you are very much welcome.


This blog would not have existed without the need to communicate with other human beings.

So, you are very much welcome to read, reflect and comment on the topics at hand.

This blog is about supporting the United Nations by promoting UN-Day. However, as the concept of blogging is totally new for me, most of the inherent processes inherent will also be very experimental.

Thus, a longer learning curve, including some missteps, using this fabulous communication tool is to be expected.

And yet, there is already a profound wish -on longer term-, that this blog will outgrow being an experiment. There is also the hope this site will generate ripples of change in the lives of the people it reaches.

These eventual changes will reflect both in our inner and outer worlds.
- Or the world will become more harmonious, because of the positive interactions we will create;
- Or this blog will cause more inner and outer confusion, thus generating more negative vibes in the different spheres of our home planet.

In a certain sense, the way in which we will interact is thus just as important that actually making progress in realizing the purpose of this blog: Raise awareness for the UN by promoting UN-Day.

Isn't that an interesting angle to kick off this blog into the wider ether?

Godspeed, 10.24.UN-Day!