UN Works

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The UN Works Program is a unit of the United Nations’ (UN) Educational Outreach Section (part of the Department of Public Information) that puts a human face on the work of the UN, by focusing on real people and their stories. It creates co-branded media and educational outreach with partners such as global television networks, production companies, celebrities, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, educational institutions and private sector corporate organizations.

The most pioneering efforts of The UN Works Program have been in original television programming, public service announcements, celebrity partnerships, media promotions, classroom materials, teacher’s workshops and global student conferences.

“What’s Going On?" is an original family television series created and produced by UN Works and Showtime consisting of 10 episodes, each hosted by a different celebrity such as: Angelina Jolie, Meg Ryan, Rachel Ward,Sonia Bragga, Tim Robbins,Laurence Fishburne,Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover,Richard Gere andMichael Douglas.

The goal is to explain the origins of a problem, put a human face on an issue and promote a message of tolerance and understanding.

In the fall of 2006, The UN Works Programme took part in the Water for Life campaign in collaboration with Jay-Z and MTV. This featured a documentary focusing on the world’s water crisis through the lives of young people in Africa. The documentary, titled “The Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life,” followed Jay-Z through Africa as he encountered the world’s water crisis first hand, while being guided by the co-author of the Human Development Report, Arunabha Ghosh. The startling statistics uncovered in the Human Development Report (1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water) raised awareness and multiple campaigns to combat this issue.