{"id":130893,"date":"2018-03-23T15:39:55","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T15:39:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=130893"},"modified":"2018-04-05T15:28:48","modified_gmt":"2018-04-05T19:28:48","slug":"2017-arab-idol-winner-yacoub-shaheen-and-unicef-run-for-children-at-the-palestine-marathon-unicef-press-release","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/2017-arab-idol-winner-yacoub-shaheen-and-unicef-run-for-children-at-the-palestine-marathon-unicef-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 Arab Idol Winner Yacoub Shaheen and UNICEF Run for Children at the Palestine Marathon – UNICEF Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"

The singer and 13 children coming from marginalized communities across Palestine performed a new song before joining the race in support of children\u2019s rights.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

BETHLEHEM,\u00a0<\/span>State of Palestine, 23 March 2018 \u2013 2017 Arab Idol Winner\u00a0Yacoub Shaheen\u00a0<\/span>and<\/p>\n

children and adolescents coming from across the State of Palestine joined forces today to give the sixth international Palestine Marathon a rousing send off.<\/p>\n

The children, who had travelled from different communities of the West Bank, including East<\/p>\n

Jerusalem, sang the new song \u2018Dreams alone are not enough\u2019 together with Shaheen on the stage of Manger Square in Bethlehem minutes before the Marathon started. Shaheen, who grew up in the city, came to show support to children\u2019s rights and promote healthy lifestyles.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone knows that exercise is good for you,\u201d said Shaheen. \u201cToday is also about having fun, singing and running with children and many other people, it is a great experience,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Many Palestinian girls and boys lack the chance to access quality learning and grow through sport and play, robbing them of some of the most important experiences of childhood. Insecurity, lack of adequate facilities and structured activities all impact on children\u2019s opportunities to be more active.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe<\/span>\u2019re here today with our own children to run for children in the State of Palestine,\u201d said Genevieve Boutin, UNICEF\u2019s Special Representative State of Palestine. \u201cFor children and young<\/p>\n

people still developing, the physical and mental benefits of sport and play set the foundation for healthy development and life-long learning. It also gives them an opportunity to express themselves in a positive setting,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The song, \u2018Dreams alone are not enough\u2018<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>which was composed especially for the event, includes lyrics written by 19 children in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Its concept was developed by the\u00a0pop star, Shaheen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The six children living in Gaza were not able to travel to Bethlehem and meet their Idol due to permit-related issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt important when I came to this studio to record the song,\u201d said\u00a0Obada,\u00a0<\/span>a 16-year old boy from Hebron.\u00a0\u201cWhen I grow up, I want to be like Yacoub Shaheen.\u201d<\/p>\n

After performing the song, Shaheen, the children and UNICEF staff joined the race to express their support for children\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n

About UNICEF<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNICEF works in some of the world\u2019s toughest places, to reach the world\u2019s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children visit\u00a0www.unicef.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow UNICEF Palestine on\u00a0<\/span>Twitter<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For further information<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0and photos \/ video footage,\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>please contact:<\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span>Catherine Weibel:<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>cweibel@unicef.org<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0or+<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>972 54 778 7604<\/span><\/p>\n

Monica Awad,\u00a0<\/span>mawad@unicef.org<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0or +972 54 778 7605<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The singer and 13 children coming from marginalized communities across Palestine performed a new song before joining the race in support of children\u2019s rights. BETHLEHEM,\u00a0State of Palestine, 23 March 2018 \u2013 2017 Arab Idol Winner\u00a0Yacoub Shaheen\u00a0and children and adolescents coming from across the State of Palestine joined forces today to give the sixth international Palestine […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[1329],"document-source":[2105],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2033,2441],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-130893","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-press-release","document-source-united-nations-childrens-fund-unicef","document-subject-children","document-subject-education-and-culture","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/130893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/130893\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=130893"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=130893"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=130893"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=130893"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=130893"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=130893"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=130893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}