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STORY: OCHA / BEYONCE HUMANITARIAN DAY
TRT: 5.00
SOURCE: UNTV / OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 21 AUGUST 2012 NEW YORK / RECENT 2012
FILE – 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
21 AUGUST 2012 NEW YORK
2. Wide shot, UN Spokesperson, Martin Nesirky enters briefing room
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General:
“The World Humanitarian Day 2012 campaign made social media history by sharing more than one billion messages on 19 August, encouraging people to do something good for someone else. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the campaign numbers soared following the release of the ‘I Was Here’ music video by Beyoncé on 18 August. Her support and that of other celebrities and major brands put this campaign on the global stage.”
RECENT 2012, NEW YORK
5. Video, Beyoncé sings her song “I was Here” at a special stage set up at the UN General Assembly
A global United Nations campaign to highlight the impact that humanitarian acts, however big or small, can have on the world has been heralded as a success by its organizers, with more than one billion messages of hope encouraging people to do something good for someone else shared, via social media, on World Humanitarian Day.
United Nations spokesperson, Martin Nesirky today (21 August) said that The World Humanitarian Day 2012 campaign had made social media history by sharing more than one billion messages by 19 August, encouraging people to do something good for someone else.
He also said that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that the campaign numbers soared following the release of the ‘I Was Here’ music video by US performing artist Beyoncé Knowles on 18 August.
The General Assembly proclaimed 19 August as World Humanitarian Day in 2008 to commemorate the 2003 bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, which claimed the lives of 22 UN staff members, including the world body's top envoy to the Middle Eastern country, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounded more than 150 people.
For this year's observance of the Day, which falls on 19 August, the UN launched a campaign, also entitled 'I Was Here,' aimed at reaching one billion people through social media, encouraging them to pledge a humanitarian action, and share their individual actions with others through an interactive website, www.whd-iwashere.org.
Beyoncé, along with songwriter Diane Warren, donated the song to the campaign. Her contribution also included filming a video for the song at the General Assembly Hall at UN Headquarters in New York. The music video's release included displays on big screens in Dubai, Geneva, Addis Ababa, as well as in New York City's Times Square, among other locales.
The Day aims to honour all those who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and those who continue to bring assistance and relief to millions, in addition to drawing attention to humanitarian needs worldwide and the importance of international cooperation in meeting those needs.
