On Monday 8 June, the United Nations will launch its second-ever fully digital rendition of its annual World Oceans Day event in celebration of its 2021 theme, The Ocean: Life and Livelihoods. Produced in partnership with the non-profit organization Oceanic Global, presented by Blancpain and supported by La Mer, United Nations World Oceans Day 2021 (UNWOD) will be a day-long event featuring keynote speeches, panels, presentations and musical performances kicked off by the United Nations Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly.
Afrobeat and world music artist Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 will be performing songs from his most recent album Black Times as well as a brand-new song entitled “Move” during the event’s closing concert, Concert For The Oceans, a collection of musical performances that will unite people from home in celebration of oceans, raise awareness and highlight the need to create a sustainable and inclusive ocean space. From 4:00PM-5:30pm (EDT) the closing concert will feature additional performances by international musicians including Angélique Kidjo, Bomba Estéreo, Little Dragon, Valerie June, and Penguin Cafe.
“I’m proud to lend our voices to the UN’s call for responsible stewardship of our oceans,” Kuti says. “We and our fellow performers on the world stage hope to make that world more generous, kinder and more livable to its underrepresented people, who bear the brunt of catastrophic environmental degradation.”
While traditionally an in-person event at the UN Headquarters in New York City, due to COVID-19, UNWOD became fully virtual and open-to-the-public for the first time in 2020. This year’s celebration will again be open to the world by livestream from 10:00AM-5:30PM (EDT) on the United Nations World Oceans Day website and at https://oceanic.global, with the content reshared on the social channels @unworldoceansday.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central