Published : Aug. 12, 2012 - 20:08
Beyonce performs “I Was Here” for World Humanitarian Day at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York City on Friday. (UPI-Yonhap News)
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) ― U.S. R&B singer Beyonce has recorded a video clip in the hall of the U.N. General Assembly that will be used to celebrate World Humanitarian Day Aug. 19.
The solemn chamber was transformed for the occasion Friday, with an improvised stage and a gigantic arching screen.
Clad in a white dress with sequins, the winner of 16 Grammy Awards sang one of her hits, “I was here,” before images of floods and rescuers digging through rubble after an earthquake.
The video, which the singer offered as a donation to the U.N., will be included in a campaign broadcast on the Internet at www.whd-iwashere.org, illustrating the work of humanitarian organizations around the world. The video will be accompanied by the testimonies of millions of volunteers.
“We all see the headlines and with think: ‘What can I really do to help?’ World Humanitarian Day is an opportunity for all of us to work together to make a difference,” Beyonce said in a release.
World Humanitarian Day was established in 2008 to commemorate the attack on August 19, 2003 against the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad, which claimed the lives of 22 U.N. workers, including a U.N. special envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello.