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Special Exhibits from UNICEF Archives
Concert for
Bangladesh
The 'benefit concert' phenomena began
with George Harrison and UNICEF in the 1970s. At the request of his
close friend legendary Bengali sitarist Ravi Shankar, George
Harrison spearheaded the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh at Madison
Square Garden to raise funds for East Pakistan refugees, as it was
then known. Joining George Harrison in 2 back-to-back concerts were
Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and Ringo
Starr. Financial and political necessity at the time required that
all proceeds were channeled through the US Committee for UNICEF.
Over the years $15 million was eventually raised for UNICEF through
record and film sales of the event.
George Harrison, former
Beatles musician, with Henry Labouisse, then UNICEF Executive
Director, and Kurt Waldheim, then UN Secretary-General. Photo
credit: Ruby Mera
Although many were familiar with 'Trick or Treat for UNICEF', George
Harrison really put UNICEF on the map permanently for the younger
generation. Paul B. Edwards, UNICEF Director of Information
described it "But the most important thing of what George and Ravi
did was that this was the first communication with the young people
in their lexicon. These guys reached a whole new audience for us." (New
York Post, 2 June 1972)
UNICEF subsequently tried to present George Harrison with an award,
but fearing it would appear to much like a publicity stunt, George
did not appear for even a modest ceremony. He later quietly accepted
the award at a private gathering from his manager.
"The reason we did it," Edwards said, "was because we felt the
magnitude of this act of private individuals reached so many people
and moved the whole Bangladesh tragedy into the public consciousness
before even the governments were willing to face up to it. The world
was looking on in stunned horror, not doing anything about it, when
Ravi and George drove it into their minds,
particularly. the young people's. Why, they even inspired us to get
.... to work. You should have seen how what they did affected even
the people at UNICEF." (New York Post, 2 June 1972)
Engaging youth is pivotal for UNICEF's effectiveness, and though
social media was an unheard of phenomena in the 1970s, George
Harrison ignited the benefit phenomena, touching the hearts of not
just the young but every generation, and which just continues to
grow in global impact to this day.
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