“The Glue of Humanity is Empathy” - EU Delegation hosts rock legend Bob Geldof for the launch of the International Human Rights Music Festival
On 29 September, the EU Delegation to the UN hosted the launch of the International Human Rights Music Festival at the EU Ambassador's residence in Geneva.
The festival aims to bring music into spaces where human rights are discussed and decided, using its ability to convey memory, testimony and lived experience. The first "Showcase for Change" brought together representatives of the diplomatic and human rights worlds alongside musical artists, with Irish rock legend Bob Geldof as guest of honour.
Welcoming guests, Ambassador Michele Cervone d'Urso, Chargé d'Affaires of the EU Delegation, reflected on the long-standing relationship between music and human rights.
"When words fail or are forbidden, music speaks. It has always been a universal megaphone for human rights — a tool of expression, of protest, of solidarity. Its power to mobilise people is unparalleled." EU Ambassador Michele Cervone d'Urso
But it is precisely this power that can make music and artistic expression a target. Ambassador Cervone d'Urso highlighted how censorship and restrictions on artistic freedom are used to silence voices, pointing to the situation of women in Afghanistan as an example.
The evening's keynote address was delivered by musician and activist Sir Bob Geldof, who has used music throughout decades of advocacy to mobilise support for humanitarian causes and global justice. Reflecting on what connects people across borders and experiences, he captured a central message of the evening in a few words:
"The glue of humanity is empathy." Bob Geldof
His speech was a strong appeal for the international community to keep empathy at the centre of its actions, despite the current challenges the world is facing.
Ambassador Matthew Anthony Wilson from Barbados announced that his country will host the next "Showcase for Change" event of the festival, underscoring the strong role Barbados plays in shaping music history: "We in the Caribbean have created a movement bigger than our physical space on this planet."
“We are all equal in the music. It has been a source of joy, a way we celebrate. A way we grieve. A way we remember. A way we express ourselves, even when our voices are silenced." Ambassador Matthew Anthony Wilson, Barbados
Mexican Ambassador Francisca E. Méndez Escobar highlighted how the arts, and in particular music, of Indigenous Peoples shape Mexican culture.
Veronica Birga, Chief of Staff at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), underlined how the UN Human Rights Office uses music to make the sometimes abstract notion of human rights accessible to people across the world, and highlighted the importance of cooperation with partners such as the Global Alliance for Human Rights in amplifying that message.
Swiss vocalist Alice Auclair closed the programme with a musical performance, putting into practice the idea at the heart of the festival: that music can complement dialogue on human rights by creating a space for connection and shared experience.
As Ambassador Cervone d'Urso underlined, the evening was ultimately a celebration of "the power of music to bring people together and to mobilise support for the daily struggle for human rights."