Sitar legend Ravi Shankar has been awarded the inaugural George Harrison Humanitarian Award.
The award is given for work saving the lives of children and comes from the US Fund for UNICEF and the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.Shankar was presented with the award after his concert on November 10 at Carnegie Hall in New York.
“George Harrison and Ravi Shankar have been stalwart advocates on behalf of the world's children their entire careers,” said Caryl Stern, President and CEO, U.S. Fund for UNICEF in a press release. “Every day 24,000 children die of preventable causes. We are pleased to honor Ravi Shankar with the George Harrison Humanitarian Award for his commitment to reducing that number and believing in zero.”
"The Concert for Bangladesh was one of the most ambitious humanitarian efforts in rock music history," said Olivia Harrison, Founder of The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. "The concert focused global attention on the crisis in Bangladesh and raised the consciousness of other musicians and millions of their young fans to a new awareness of UNICEF and its mission in doing whatever it takes to save a child.”??Shankar was the inspiration for the Concert for Bangladesh, after asking George Harrison to use his stature to help the dire situation in what was then known as East Pakistan. It was the first time contemporary acts united to raise money for charity.
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