07/09/11

Herbie Hancock to Be Named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

Hancock Chosen Promote Mutual Understanding Among Cultures

By Jeff Tamarkin

Herbie Hancock will be named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in a ceremony at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on July 22. Recognizing Hancock’s “dedication to the promotion of peace through dialogue, culture and the arts,” Director-General Irina Bokova has asked the celebrated jazz musician “to contribute to UNESCO’s efforts to promote mutual understanding among cultures, with a particular emphasis on fostering the emergence of new and creative ideas amongst youth, to find solutions to global problems, as well as on ensuring equal access to the diversity of artistic expressions.”

UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassadors are celebrity advocates who have agreed to help focus attention on the objectives and aims of UNESCO’s work in its fields of competence: education, culture, science and communication/information.