His Holiness Supports ‘Artists for the UN’
Dharamsala, 11 February: His Holiness the Dalai Lama has extended support to a UN initiative to encourage artists, entertainers, statesmen and stateswomen to publicly support the ideals, vision and mandate of the United Nations as the best organisation to promote peace across the globe, a UN report said. Named ‘Artists for the UN’, the scheme was launched at the world body’s Headquarters in New York last Thursday.
The UN and the Global Vision for Peace, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), have joined forces to set up Artists for the UN- a collection of artists and other public figures who will affirm the role and work of the UN.
Actress Drew Barrymore was named “A Friend of the UN” and given the Dove of Peace pin, a symbol of the Global Vision for Peace, to wear. Ms. Barrymore told reporters that she felt honoured to use her celebrity status as “an outlet to do something deeper and more important than just the fame itself.”
Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper has confirmed he will wear the Dove of Peace pin at this year’s Academy Awards ceremony, to be held on 29 February. Later this year the Audrey Hepburn Award will also be given to a “film artist who serves the higher cause of humanity and the ideal of global peace.”
His Holiness Dalai Lama is joined by five other Nobel Peace laureates, several members of the United States Congress and such artists as Robert Altman, Susan Sarandon, Kurt Vonnegut and Yoko Ono in backing the initiative.