Today students and young leaders from Canada, the United States, Finland, Kenya, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Pakistan, gathered to celebrate Global Dignity Day with a good old-fashioned virtual Acadian kitchen party.
More than one hundred locations of students participated in the event via the YouTube live-stream.
“The voices of our living ecosystems led by future generations rising together in a quest for shared dialogue and harmony; this, to me, is the sound of global dignity and today, we start to orchestrate it together, as one family,”
Tara Baswani
“Our international Canadian kitchen party celebrated three things: music, food and dignity,” said Terry Godwaldt, Global Dignity National Event Chair, Executive Director for The Center for Global Education and lead singer of the east coast Fiddle Street Band. “These are three life forces that flow through every human. Sustaining us, nourishing us and binding all of humanity as a family.”
The event linked six elementary and high school sites with influencers and creative change makers via Zoom from the comfort of their kitchens. Participants were invited to play homemade instruments and learn the traditional Canadian Voyageur folk song En roulant from world class musicians including internationally-acclaimed performers Tara Baswani and Morris Hayes.
“I am so delighted to take part in my very first Canadian kitchen party!” said singer songwriter, Morris Hayes, former musical director for the late artist, Prince, and founder of Global Groove for Peace.
The day’s events were also recognized in a statement by the Prime Minister of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau.
“This event brings dignity and peace to the world through a globally-infused, modern symphony, masterfully orchestrated by youth across continents.”
Morris Hayes
Global Dignity is an independent, non-profit, non-political organization with the aim to instill a positive, inclusive and interconnected sense of value in young people that will guide them as they grow, as well as promote the idea that every human being has the universal right to lead a dignified life.
The organization supports 3 million youth in 80 countries.
“The voices of our living ecosystems led by future generations rising together in a quest for shared dialogue and harmony; this, to me, is the sound of global dignity and today, we start to orchestrated it together, as one family,” said Tara Baswani, internationally acclaimed performing artist, composer, Co-Founder of entertainment for impact agency, LembasWorks and entertainment innovator for Cirque du Soleil.
“You can’t have harmony if everyone is singing the same note. We need diversity and dignity. That’s why I’m happy to join the Global Dignity Day Canada all the way from Finland!” said Perttu Polonen, futurist, musician and author.
The event featured an opening Indigenous prayer of thanksgiving and a performance of The Voice of Freedom by University of Alberta Ph.D. student, Anna Wilson.
Global Dignity’s National Role Model and Indigenous Cultural Ambassador, Amy Lacroix, shared her dignity story about cultural inclusion, sacred traditions and the great value of understanding one’s roots.
“I come from a lineage of Sixties Scoop, residential school and foster care survivors,” said Ms. Lacroix. “Learning about my heritage led me to understand where I came from, and how the dignity a person feels can be closely connected to identity. Meeting my family gave me pride in myself knowing that I come from an outstanding nation, and that who I am deserves dignity.”
This year’s Global Dignity Day celebrations were also honoured with a statement by the Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.
“On this day, we reaffirm that everyone – regardless of who they are or where they come from – deserves a fair and equal chance at success, and acknowledge that together, we still have a lot of work to do in achieving a fairer and more inclusive world.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I applaud all those involved in the Global Dignity movement for their passion and hard work, and wish them success with this year’s activities.”
Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
“As Canada and the world continue the fight against COVID-19, let us remember that we must all do what we can to uphold and respect the dignity of every human life,” said the Prime Minister.
“That includes ensuring Canadians can put food on the table, pay their bills, and have access to the supports they need to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy. During this difficult time, Canada will also continue to work with our partners to help build a world guided by compassion, equality, and dignity – because we know that we can’t end the pandemic in Canada without ending it everywhere.
Together, we can build a more resilient Canada and a world that is fairer, safer, and more inclusive for everyone.”
Join the movement to #UniteKindness and #InclusionNorthernResearch
Global Dignity is inviting youth around the world to contribute to building a world with more dignity by taking action with its #UniteKindness campaign.
Unite Kindness aggregates and showcases kindness campaigns from around the world all in one place. The goal is to make it easy for children and youth to join the extraordinary global kindness movement underway — alive in everyday acts of kindness, communities, workplaces, public spaces, on TV, the internet — and everywhere in between.
Since the launch of the Unite Kindness campaign, close to 600,000 acts of kindness have been aggregated across 20 kindness campaigns, with a goal of reaching one million acts of kindness by the end of the year. It is being led internationally by Global Dignity’s Canadian Chair and International Board Member, Giovanna Mingarelli.
As one of Global Dignity’s National Role Models, Prime Minister Trudeau called on Canadians and everyone around the world to “rally behind young people and to show that, by working together as a global community, we can help advance human rights and dignity for all.”
Established in 2005, by HRH Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO John Hope Bryant and Professor Pekka Himanen, Global Dignity is linked to the 2020 process of the World Economic Forum, in which leaders from politics, business, academia, and civil society join efforts to improve the state of the world.
