Pharrell Partners With UN for 'International Day of Happiness'

Still riding the success of his global hit "Happy," Pharrell Williams is partnering with the United Nations Foundation to celebrate International Day of Happiness on March 20th. Established in 2012 by the United Nations General Assembly, the day acknowledges that "the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental human goal" and recognizes "the need for a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to economic growth that promotes sustainable development, poverty eradication, happiness and the well-being of all peoples," according to the resolution.

Beginning on Monday, March 10th, fans are encouraged to post YouTube videos of themselves "demonstrating their happiness" to Pharrell's track with the hashtag #HAPPYDAY and submitting it to Pharrell's new site 24 Hours of Happiness. On March 20th, the producer will spotlight the best submissions at noon in each time zone.

In addition to promoting his latest album Girl, Pharrell is also enouraging fans to make donations to the Central Emergency Response Fund, a fund established to "support critical aid operations for people affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts" and to "provide fast and reliable humanitarian assistance," according to the charity's website.

Pharrell recently performed "Happy" at the Academy Awards wearing ruby slipper sneakers and his now-ubiquitous oversize hat. The song lost for Best Original Song to Frozen's "Let It Go," but the singer's performance, inspired by the 1950s fashion of Grease, found Pharrell leaving the stage to dance with front-row actresses Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Lupita Nyong'o.

Girl has reached Number One in more than 75 countries since its release and is Spotify's Number One album worldwide. "Happy" has topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, Billboard's Digital Songs and Billboard's Radio Songs and is Number One on the iTunes chart in more than 90 countries.

Reference

• http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/pharrell-partners-with-un-for-international-day-of-happiness-20140307

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Let's make this the year!

Kofi Annan calls on global leaders to take climate change seriously.

Let’s make 2014 the year when we seriously take action on climate change.

We join Kofi Annan in imploring the world to pay attention to the reality of climate change and the disastrous effects it will have on future generations, as well as those already less well off.


In a recent article, Annan urges governments and corporate leaders to take action now, rather than focusing on short-sighted endeavours and self-interest. “Every year the world fails to act brings us closer to the tipping point when scientists fear that climate change may become irreversible. This is a terrible gamble with the future of the planet and with life itself.”

The former UN Secretary-General is currently a member of The Elders, “an independent group of global leaders who work together for peace and human rights”, formed in 2007 by Nelson Mandela, who are currently campaigning for a carbon-neutral world by 2050. In his article, Annan goes on to say that the richer nations that have caused most of the greenhouse gas emissions – “and reaped the benefits” – have a responsibility to assist the poorer nations, already seeing the effects of climate change.

This is a decisive year.

Ban Ki-moon, the current United Nations Secretary-General has repeatedly reminded us that climate change poses a direct threat to peace. “The facts are clear: climate change is real and accelerating in a dangerous manner,” he said to the UN Security Council in 2011, declaring that it “not only exacerbates threats to international peace and security; it is a threat to international peace and security”. 

Ban Ki-moon has called for a climate summit in New York in September. We add our voices to those believing ‘It is imperative that governments and corporate leaders come to this summit committed to ambitious actions on the climate if we are to stand a chance to reach an agreement in 2015 commensurate with the challenge.”

The UN is conducting a global survey asking what people believe are key factors that need to be addressed in order to create a better world -- worryingly, climate change appears to be incredibly low on most people's priorities. What are you doing to make your voice heard? 

Reference

• http://www.visionofhumanity.org

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