Passing By: 'It's a Moral Responsibility. Make a Choice!'.

• Author: Moore, Lawri Lala
• Position: Brief Article

Every jazz performer knows improvisation skills are a must! When the bandleader calls a tune - in your key or not - you make the best of it. Recently, my role as President of the United Nations Staff Recreation Council (UNSRC) Jazz Society nudged me into the role of journalist. Since I am quite vocal - on and off the stage - about music, I was asked to cover a press briefing where Goodwill Ambassadors Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover intended to announce the launching of a new project - NetAid.

An image of Harry Belafonte, dancing in the aisle of the General Assembly Hall, popped into my mind. I had seen him perform a few years ago at the celebration of the Day of the African Child. But other than the "Day-O" song, what did I really know about the guy?

When in doubt, search the Internet! My query revealed that Mr. Belafonte marched with Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s, protested against apartheid in the 1980s, and was instrumental in the success of the "We Are the World" album in 1985 which benefited Africans. His humanitarian efforts at times jeopardized his career as an artist, but he held fast to his beliefs. He accepted the appointment in 1987 as Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - the second American to hold that tide.

I arrived at the conference early. A pastel-green folder, with the word "NetAid" emblazoned on the cover, was handed to me. Taking a seat in the area designated "For Press Only", I began reviewing the materials. Basically, NetAid is a programme to eradicate poverty, which integrates the fund-distribution capabilities of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the technological expertise of Cisco Systems - the San Francisco-based company that will provide the NetAid website. On 9 October 1999, it plans a global concert featuring internationally acclaimed musicians. More journalists arrived. A young woman welcomed me and jotted down my name.

Photographers positioned their cameras. The air buzzed with conversation as people filled the room. And then Djibril Diallo introduced Mr. Belafonte.

"Whenever I get a call from the UN, it means...