The concert will bring together 60 musicians from around the country, including the Modern Arab Orchestra of Casablanca and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Morocco, who will take the stage with Jarre.

Jarre has staged massive concerts (free to the public) in the four corners of the globe, and has been in the Guinness Book of World Records for his spectacular outdoor concerts equipped with lasers, lighting, and fireworks that have attracted millions of music fans around the world. He is a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO and promotes their causes through such events.



Jarre’s aim with this concert is to raise global awareness of the importance and scarcity of water. He says, “We want this concert to be a wake up call. We want to make people more aware of just how precious water is and the critical need to look after what we have. If everybody understood just how little water the earth has, or how many people are going without it – and dying as a result – or how much of it is being wasted, we might be able to find better ways of managing and sharing it. The problem of desertification is intimately linked to this situation and also requires urgent action.”

The UN World Water Development Report published by UNESCO states some alarming statistics:

-- 1.1 billion people do not have access to sufficient quantities of drinking water;
-- 2.6 billion people have no access to basic sanitation;
-- 6,000 children die every day because they lack of drinking water or insufficient hygiene;
-- In Africa and Asia, women travel an average eight kilometers daily to access fresh water;
-- The average African lives on less than 20 litres of water a day, while the average European consumes more than 150 litres daily and North Americans, 300 litres.
-- Four million hectares, or about one third of the planet’s land surface, are threatened by desertification.

Sources:
Maghreb Arabe Presse
UNESCO.org