It has been announced that at next year's ceremony taking place on 20th February, The BRIT Awards will honour War Child with the first Special Recognition Award.
The award recognises the charity's incredible work over the past two decades (2013 marks their 20th anniversary), working closely with the biggest music artists to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in war-torn countries.
From Bosnia, Chechnya and Rwanda to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo, War Child have given children the security, care, education and skills they need to build a better future for themselves. War Child is the only international organisation that concentrates on the innocent victims of war: the children.
BRITs Chairman David Joseph said: “For two decades now, War Child has worked with artists to raise funds and awareness to help children whose lives have been torn apart by war. The BRITs are proud to give recognition for their vital work as well as saying thank you to all the artists who have given their time, help and energy to something so important”.
In the last twenty years War Child has produced award winning albums, hit singles, unique musical moments and amazing concerts: in 1995 U2 recorded ‘Miss Sarajevo’ with all proceeds going to the charity; in the same year Paul McCartney, Radiohead, Blur, Manic Street Preachers, Oasis, Paul Weller and The Stone Roses amongst others joined forces to record the ‘Help’ album in an incredible 24 hours; in 2009 Coldplay, The Killers, Bono and Gary Barlow shared the stage at Shepherds Bush Empire, at a War Child concert which also marked the re-launch of the historic London venue. War Child has been supported by everyone from David Bowie to Elbow; Stevie Wonder to Muse; Luciano Pavarotti to Amy Winehouse.
War Child’s Music and Fundraising Director Ben Knowles said: “This is fantastic news for us. When we began in 1993, in response to the Bosnian conflict, we had one simple belief – that children are the innocent victims of war and no child should be affected by it. Twenty years on, our belief remains the same. Our relationship with artists and the music industry means that we’ve helped children born into some of the most violent conflicts. Music has been a powerful tool in rebuilding children’s lives. This award helps further highlight our work. Everybody who works for War Child and everybody who has helped War Child should feel fantastically proud of all our ongoing achievements”.
Supporter Paul McCartney said: “A lot of people say that music cannot change the world... I think it really can make a difference. Music can make people aware, put the issue into focus and shine a spotlight on the bad stuff. It also eats away at the horrors and alleviates some of the pain by raising the money to help these children. I have been supporting War Child since 1995. Their work saves lives. I urge everyone to support War Child”.
The decision to present this Award means that the Outstanding Contribution Award will be rested in 2013.
The winner of the Critics’ Choice and full category list will be announced on Thursday 20th December.
For further information on the BRIT Awards, head to www.brits.co.uk.
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