On United Nations Day, Oct. 24, international musician Xander Pratt addresses artists and leaders worldwide to unite with a universal message of peace at Rizal Park - a backdrop of the Filipino national hero, an artist and writer himself. 
 
“We must protect the next generation of leaders, who are honest, open-minded and responsible, the next generation of believers, who share the goodness of one God across all peoples, and the next generation of artists who will create new narratives of change,” Pratt said.
 
Pratt, based between Marrakesh and Manila, also spoke about prioritizing youth education, with schools being safe spaces for them to learn who they are and who we are all together. His foundation, the Who Are You (WAY), has been in talks with the Department of Education for a series of book clubs and campus talk about art as a tool for self-discovery, community building, resilience, and poverty reduction through livelihood. 
 
As Gawad Pilipino’s recent Ambassador of Tourism, Culture, and Peace, he is expected to continue mobilizing the creative industries as a non-violent weapon to win the global wars against climate change and other social ills. 

Following the SDG Resiliart exhibition with Earthsavers UNESCO artist for peace, he was honored by the indigenous Manubu royalty of Cotabato as the first-ever Afro-Asian Dato. Having been awarded by the Malaysia International Youth Center as Artist of the Year, he was also hosted by the Mayor of Isabela, Basilan, from the Muslim south of the Philippines, where he shot his first three music videos, and finished the screenplay for the first black-produced African superhero movie. 

“I listen. Therefore I am guided. And I stand here today as an appointed Black Sultan in Asia, yet I am African. You are only showing that the sound of destiny will never fall on closed ears. Silence the noise so that you can listen to your divine calling. Open your mind, open your heart, open your arms, and
embrace the world and all the possibilities it has in store for you,” Pratt shared.
 
Xander’s tour leads up to the artist’s collective movement: the Global South Initiative, through which he chairs the triad media project AsiaTV-AfricaTV-LatinTV, earlier launched in the Philippines, Morocco, and soon Brazil with producer Regine Guevara, the new Philippine secretariat of the UNESCO International Theatre Institute.  
 
Pratt collaborates with local artists and businesses around the country, from Manila to Benguet, Clark, Cebu, Siargao, Basilan, and this UN Day weekend at Runik, Siquijor. For tour details, kindly email  [email protected] .