Theatre is a mirror for our national identity; an armor against social ills, a memory bank to prevent a nation’s amnesia, an engine for employment and entrepreneurship, a conscience and a lighthouse for a pathway of moral recovery and international understanding. There is a gold mine of talents that must be dug, sensitively unleashed and harnessed as a creative army for change. This is where I found meaning to serve.

Development plans will be accelerated or retarded, depending on the dynamic application of culture. This must be seen in the context of the realities and challenges faced by every country where the character, traditions, resources and capacities of its population serve as the shield in coping and overcoming the daily grind and periodic calamities

Amidst the pandemic, culture must not be forgotten; culture must have its place in our national psyche, permeated by the values of courage, compassion, solidarity and sacrifice, as a non-violent weapon to win the global war against this deadly virus, which has been compounded by climate change catastrophes and the threatening collapse of economies amidst the lockdown.

The education-for-all policy of governments, towards unlocking the gridlock of poverty, must be geared towards: invigorating tourism; building discipline to protect the environment and build disaster resilience; mitigating violence, and armed conflict , crime and corruption, drugs and disease ignorance and injustice terrorusmand tyranny undertaking climate action in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This mission can be fast-tracked through relevant and sensitive integration of cultural communications-- based on appreciation of heritage, history, habitat, human rights, language and creative industries. Therefore, in December 1 to 10, 2021, we have rescheduled, under UNESCO patronage, the International SDGs ResiliArt Festival Forum and Workshops, to promote health and well-being, peace, and climate justice.

The historic gathering means to harvest and mobilize best practices, in connecting continents as we celebrate the Quincentennial Circumnavigation of the World. We hope to reinforce and harvest methodologies that integrate social issues in artistic expressions; to popularize science, through cultural symbols which people understand; to motivate involvement in an action agenda to better the condition of all, as we reimage a post-Covid world as a global caring family.

This significant event has the support of the Senate of the Philippines, endorsed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, undertaken by the Earthsavers Dreamcenter honoured collectively as a UNESCO Artist for Peace, the ITI Social Change Network and ITI Philippine Center) with all cooperating organizations like SSCC, APPAN, World Peace federation, SMCHTV Foundation, Climate Institute.

The dececmber event in the philippines, is designed to celebrate the month of the United Nations, teachers and indigenous peoples. The host city is Manila, for its 450th founding anniversary, with regional outreach to the Visayas and Mindanao.

We welcome you warmly in our country, and hope to have a most effective intercultural interfaith dialogue, to forge a platform for action, to actualize the Sustainable Development Goals to stop violence against mankind and mother earth.

We, the engine which will produce “ SDG Resiliart Festival, Forum and Workshops for Health, Wellbeing Peace and Climate Justice “ are mindful of the crucial role which art and culture play in our lives. As Michelle Obama recently remarked”

"The arts are not just a nice thing to have or to do if there is free time or if one can afford it. Rather, paintings and poetry, music, and fashion, design and dialogue, they all define who we are as a people and provide an account of our history for the next generation"

Never has this been more true than now, as the abyss opened in the world facing pandemics. Even in the most developed countries which were able to withstand t huge blows to the economy, millions of people were severely affected by months of isolation, solitude and inability to act as social animals that we humans are. Connecting with the vast array of forms of art has proved a great comfort to many who also saw in it an opportunity to concretize the very pillar of the United Nations, the 17 sustainable development goals.

It is fitting that this major global initiative will take place in the Philippines which has been in the vanguard of artistic expression in the world, bringing the language of music to all continents with its talented cultural ambassadors. The Manila event will breathe new life in the UNESCO led concept of Resiliart and enable the world to feel the power of art to fight for peace, climate action and health.