This year’s Annual Meeting of UNESCO Honorary and Goodwill Ambassadors, convened by the Director-General, Irina Bokova, took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 15 June, and brought together outstanding personalities from the worlds of art, film, music, literature, charity and public affairs.

The Honorary and Goodwill Ambassadors such as Her Royal Highness Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg, Her Royal Highness Princess Firyal of Jordan, Mrs. Ivonne A-Baki, Mr. Metin Arditi, Mr. Pierre Bergé, Mrs. Claudia Cardinale, Ms. Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, Mrs. Bahia Hariri, Mr. Alain Husson-Dumoutier, Mr. Jean Michel Jarre, Mr. Cyprien Katsaris, Countess Setsuko Klossowska de Rola, Mr. Jean Malaurie, Mr. Serguei Markarov, Mrs. Mariana Nicolesco, Mr. Eijin Nimura, Mr. Ali Mahdi Nouri, Mr. Jordi Savall, Mr. Zurab Tsereteli, Mrs. Marianna Vardinoyannis, and many others joined this important gathering.

In this very special year celebrating the 70th anniversary of UNESCO, the main topics of discussion were focused on actions such as the World Education Forum 2015, UNESCO’s thought on the issues related to youth and Internet, the “UNITE4HERITAGE” campaign, as well as UNESCO’s participation at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11) to be held in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015.

The Goodwill Ambassadors also presented their work over the past year and discussed their experiences. Another highlight of this year’s meeting was the performance by the troupe “Al Buggaa”, directed by Mr. Ali Mahdi Nouri, UNESCO Artist for Peace.

The UNESCO Goodwill Ambassadors are an outstanding group of celebrity advocates who have generously accepted to use their talent and status to help focus the world’s attention on the Organization’s mission. They extend and amplify UNESCO’s work in its fields of education, culture, science, communication and information.