UN to declare August 11 World Steelpan Day

On July 24 the UN is expected to adopt a draft resolution for August 11 to be declared World Steelpan Day and be annually observed on the UN's calendar.

This comes as Pan Trinbago gets set to celebrate Pan Month in August.

Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell is expected to speak at a UN sitting in New York on July 24. He will lead a delegation that includes Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore, pannist Ray Holman and a National Steel Symphony Orchestra representative. The sitting is part of the 77th UN General Assembly. The UN website says the General Assembly meets annually in regular session, intensively from September to December, and resumes in January until all issues on the agenda are addressed.

The draft resolution is scheduled for action/adoption on that day and Mitchell is expected to deliver a statement to introduce it.

The draft resolution received co-sponsorship from 27 member states, and a document received by Sunday Newsday said TT's permanent mission to the UN in New York was "assiduously lobbying" other member states to join the list of co-sponsors.

In the UN's guidelines for the preparation, co-sponsorship and submission of proposals for consideration in the plenary of the General Assembly said a draft resolution or draft decision will remain open for co-sponsorship until the moment of adoption at a plenary meeting of the General Assembly.

In June, the permanent mission confirmed a concept note titled Designation of August 11 as World Steelpan Day, and a draft resolution was submitted to the UN General Assembly for consideration on behalf of the Government. An informal consultation was held with member states on June 29 in which "overall support was expressed for the draft resolution and there were no proposed amendments to the text," the document said.

"In this context, the draft resolution was formally submitted to the secretariat for processing...Due to its historical significance, the steelpan has created and cemented linkages to the arts, tourism, culture, education, as well as science, technology and engineering sectors.

"It has become a musical instrument with substantive cross border recognition throughout the world contributing to sustainable development as the playing of the steelpan can positively impact on gender equality, mental health and wellbeing, youth empowerment, socio-economic development and sustainability," the document said.

The steelpan market is a subset of the global music products sales market, which the Business Research Company estimated in 2021 to be valued at US$13 billion.