Charice Pempengco sings for United Nations Women

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Charice is one of more than 20 artists from all over the world tapped by UN Women to sing its theme song for International Women's Day

CHARICE FOR WOMEN. Charice is among more than 20 artists tapped by UN Women to perform their theme song, 'One Woman.' Photo from the Charice Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines – United Nations Women (UN Women) is counting down the days until March 8, International Women’s Day, the same day they will launch a song to celebrate the courage and determination of ordinary women all over the world.

Titled “One Woman: A song for UN Women,” the song has taken a year to produce and features more than 20 artists across the world. One such artist is our very own Charice Pempengco.

Joining her are:

  • Ana Bacalhau (Portugal)
  • Angelique Kidjo (Benin)
  • Anoushka Shankar (India)
  • Bassekou Kouyate (Mali)
  • Bebel Gilberto (Brazil)
  • Beth Blatt (US)
  • Brian Finnegan (Ireland)
  • Buika (Spain)
  • Cherine Amr (Egypt)
  • Debi Nova (Costa Rica)
  • Emeline Michel (Haiti)
  • Fahan Hassan (UK)
  • Idan Raichel (Israel)
  • Jane Zhang (China)
  • Jim Diamond (UK)
  • Keith Murrell (UK)
  • Lance Ellington (UK)
  • Marta Gomez (Colombia)
  • Maria Friedman (UK)
  • Meklit Hadero (Ethiopia)
  • Rokia Traoré (Mali)
  • Vanessa Quai (Vanuatu)
  • Ximena Sariñana (Mexico) 
  • Yuna (Malaysia)

The song’s lyrics take inspiration from the stories of women helped by UN Women, the arm of the United Nations charged with fighting for women empowerment and promoting gender equality globally. Launched only in 2011, it is the most recently created UN organization in decades.

“One Woman,” the theme song for the new UN arm, was first performed at the 2011 launch of UN Women in the UN General Assembly Hall in New York.

Its lyrics were written by Beth Blatt with music by Graham Lyle (also responsible for Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It” and other hits), and British-Somali singer-songwriter Fahan Hassan.

Watch Charice perform at the 8th Annual Women’s Day Red Dress Award in New York City in 2011 here:

The countdown

As of today, those interested can visit song.unwomen.org to get a behind-the-scenes look at the year-long production of the music video of “One Woman.”

On March 8, 2013, the site will feature the entire music video. The song will then also be available for download. It will also be available on iTunes and Amazon for US$0.99. All proceeds will go to UN Women and its programs for the empowerment of women.

This year’s International Women’s Day will put the focus on ending violence against women, a human rights violation that affects up to 7 in 10 women.

“One Song” is intended to be a rallying cry to stop discrimination and abuse of women and girls.

It echoes the message of another women’s rights movement celebrated last February 14, 2013 called the “One Billion Rising” movement.

READ: One billion dancing, one billion rising

On this event, women from over 176 countries danced to protest against violence against women.

Watch the first performance of the song at the UN Women launch in 2011 here:

With so many voices calling out for the empowerment of women, hope is high that they may be heard. – With reports from Pia Ranada/Rappler.com

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