USA

Beyoncé Tapes Music Video at UN

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon speaks with Beyoncé Knowles, an American singer and songwriter, August 9, 2012, during rehearsals in the General Assembly Hall for the recording of the song, “I Was Here,” in front of a live audience.

The U.N. General Assembly hall was transformed into a stage Friday for U.S. pop star Beyoncé. She recorded a music video that will be released on August 19 to mark World Humanitarian Day.

Beyoncé performed her 2011 song I Was Here, written by Diane Warren, as images from disasters around the world and the faces of humanitarian workers flashed on screens behind her.

Beyoncé and Warren have donated the video to the campaign for World Humanitarian Day to launch a global movement aimed at reaching one billion people to encourage them to pledge online at www.whd-iwashere.org to do something good for someone in need.

The pop diva said in a statement that World Humanitarian Day is "an opportunity for all of us to work together to make a difference."

The General Assembly proclaimed August 19 World Humanitarian Day in 2008 to commemorate the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad that claimed the lives of 22 U.N. staff members and wounded more than 150 people.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.