Ok-pop megastars Seventeen stated Wednesday they had been honored to be named UNESCO goodwill ambassadors.
“We are humbled and overwhelmed to stand before you for the first time as UNESCO’s goodwill ambassadors for youth,” stated Seventeen member Joshua Hong on the Paris headquarters of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
“It is a great honor to be representing today’s young people which is a priority group for UNESCO,” he stated, including that the boy band would donate £1 million to a UNESCO youth grant scheme for inventive initiatives.
UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay stated the partnership with Seventeen “will add a tremendous momentum to our efforts”.
“They will be a fantastic bridge between us, UNESCO, our values, what we stand for, our aim for peace, and young people,” she added.
The 13-strong South Korean band based in 2015, had been second solely to Taylor Swift for international income final 12 months, in line with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
They additionally topped the IFPI album charts in 2023 with “FML” and have racked up billions of streams on-line.
The group has already been working with the group much less formally and carried out on the UNESCO Paris workplace in November. Other present ambassadors embody Brazilian footballer Vinicius, actors Rossi de Palma and Forest Whitaker, and Italian-Argentinian chef Mauro Colagreco.
© 2024 AFP