The accession of the Federal Republic of Germany to UNESCO in 1951 was a major step for reintegration into the international community. As an interface between UNESCO, civil society and government, the German UNESCO Commission (DUK) has pursued UNESCO’s founding idea ever since: „to anchor peace in the human mind“.
On this occasion, a 2-hour celebration was held at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn on 25 August. Der recorded livestream can be relived under https://youtu.be/NfjFDJQFA_4.
After words of appreciation from the UNESCO Director, Ms. Audrey Azoulay (Paris), the Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Ms. Michelle Müntefering, and the Chair of the DUK, Prof. Dr. Maria Böhmer, the event was entirely dedicated to music. Music, through its tremendous uniting power across all boundaries, is at the heart of the cultural heritage of mankind and thus a UNESCO issue per se. The invited musicians made their art heard in great variety, and talked about it. What they all have in common is that they transcend borders in their art, in the best sense of the word, mix different styles and cultural influences or create something new by improvising. The music of the Hamdelaneh duo even made reference to water.
The Secretary General of DUK is i.a. member of the National Committee of the German Secretariat to the UNESCO Water Programme (IHP) at the ICWRGC.
Concurrently, DUK published its yearbook 2020-2021. Data can be downloaded here: https://www.unesco.de/sites/default/files/2021-08/DUK_70Jahre-Jahrbuch_20-21_bf.pdf
UNESCO is a specialised agency of the United Nations for education, science and culture. It has 193 member states. Its headquarters are in Paris. It is the only UN-organisation with a worldwide network of National Committees.
