Event Title
Making a Global Difference – One Musician’s Experiences at the United Nations
Date of Publication
3-26-2021
Document Type
Paper
Abstract / Program Notes
In October of 1945 representatives from 51 nations ratified the United Nations Charter. In 1949 an American music organization, the National Federation of Music Clubs, was accredited by the UN as a Non-Governmental Organization and was the first music organization associated with what would become the Department of Public Information. And in the fall of 2016, I was appointed to serve as the National Federation of Music Clubs Representative to the United Nations Department of Public Information, now the Department of Global Communications. This presentation will introduce attendees to the work of the DGC and will focus on the history and implementation of United Nations Agenda 2030, approved in 2015 by 193 world leaders, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Time will be taken to explore all of the SDGs but will focus on my work supporting SDG #3, to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, specifically through music participation of older persons. During this time of global pandemic, attendees will learn how the United Nations and World Health Organization are responding to COVID-19. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, “We need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.” Advice will be offered so that attendees can learn more about the UN SDGs and gain insight into how to become more involved on the local, regional, and global levels.
Biography
Liana Valente is the Classical Voice Area Coordinator at Howard University where she teaches vocal pedagogy, song literature, lyric diction and applied voice and directs the opera theater workshop. She has a long history of supporting philanthropies, including building houses with Habitat for Humanity, volunteering with Sierra Club, and serving as a citizen scientist studying the migratory patterns of monarch butterflies. For six years she directed the Sigma Alpha Iota People-to-People Project, providing instruments, music, books and other much needed materials to music organizations, schools and music teachers across the globe. In 2016, Valente was appointed as the National Federation of Music Clubs Representative to the United Nations Department of Public Information, now the Department of Global Communications. As the NFMC representative, Valente shares the organization’s commitment to reaffirming music as a universal language and enhancing the musical path of mutual understanding through cultural enrichment at all levels, amateur or professional. NFMC fully supports UN Agenda 2030 and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and Valente’s research focuses on quality of life issues for older persons, specifically that music participation can improve the quality of life for older persons, a topic directly related to UN SDG #3. She has presented at the Aging and Society Research Network 7th Interdisciplinary Conference and served as a panelist at Sound Diplomacy’s Music Cities Conference in Lafayette, LA. She will present at the American Society on Aging virtual conference with CMS colleague Dr. Lisa Lehmberg in April, 2021.
Keywords
United Nations, Department of Global Communications, music
Making a Global Difference – One Musician’s Experiences at the United Nations
In October of 1945 representatives from 51 nations ratified the United Nations Charter. In 1949 an American music organization, the National Federation of Music Clubs, was accredited by the UN as a Non-Governmental Organization and was the first music organization associated with what would become the Department of Public Information. And in the fall of 2016, I was appointed to serve as the National Federation of Music Clubs Representative to the United Nations Department of Public Information, now the Department of Global Communications. This presentation will introduce attendees to the work of the DGC and will focus on the history and implementation of United Nations Agenda 2030, approved in 2015 by 193 world leaders, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Time will be taken to explore all of the SDGs but will focus on my work supporting SDG #3, to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, specifically through music participation of older persons. During this time of global pandemic, attendees will learn how the United Nations and World Health Organization are responding to COVID-19. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated, “We need to turn the recovery into a real opportunity to do things right for the future.” Advice will be offered so that attendees can learn more about the UN SDGs and gain insight into how to become more involved on the local, regional, and global levels.