El Sistema reaches twenty years as UNICEF Venezuela National Ambassador

Caracas, April 23, 2025.- The National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, El Sistema, was ratified for the twentieth consecutive year as the National Ambassador of UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund in Venezuela, an appointment that reaffirms this institution's commitment to promoting the rights of children and adolescents in the country.

National Goodwill Ambassadors are key actors in UNICEF's work, as they stand out as figures in the worlds of music, culture, art and sports, supporting the mobilization of wills and resources for children. El Sistema was named National Ambassador of UNICEF Venezuela in 2004, and since then, both institutions have carried out joint actions to promote the participation and rights of children and adolescents.

The ratification ceremony took place on April 22 at the National Center for Social Action through Music, in Quebrada Honda, in Caracas, headed by the executive director of El Sistema, Eduardo Méndez, and by the representative in charge of UNICEF Venezuela, José Ramón Espinoza.

In his words, Director Eduardo Méndez thanked the UNICEF representative for his presence. "El Sistema is the program that is open to everyone; that is our motto: music for everyone. And our intention is also to continue with this alliance, this honor that they give us to ratify us as Goodwill Ambassadors. For us, it is an enormous responsibility to continue this work of helping around 1.3 million children throughout the country, making use of their free time and also learning, not only a trade but a form of conduct, a series of values that prepare them to be better. That is what El Sistema is looking for."

As a UNICEF National Ambassador, El Sistema, which integrates more than one million children and adolescents in its different headquarters, its 443 nuclei and 2,531 modules, is a source, not only of inclusive musical training and education, but also of resilience and culture of peace that allows the message for the rights of children and adolescents to reach thousands of Venezuelan homes in all corners of the country with the message for the rights of children and adolescents.

The representative in charge of UNICEF Venezuela, José Ramón Espinoza, stressed in his speech the importance of the work of El Sistema in providing opportunities for inclusion and social development to children and offering them environments in which they are not only taught but also protected.

"For UNICEF, it is very important, because we live in societies that are not necessarily equitable, and El Sistema manages to equalize those opportunities. In this way, it helps to build citizenship, which is also the construction of awareness that children have rights and that there are people who have the responsibility to guarantee those rights." El Sistema, he added, gives children spaces to participate and be heard, rights that are also established by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Joint efforts

In these twenty years of collaboration, different actions in favor of the promotion of children's rights carried out by El Sistema together with UNICEF stand out, including the initiative La Música de Mi Voz, with which the members of the nuclei of El Sistema, their teachers and families, learned in depth about the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The children and adolescents of El Sistema have actively participated in campaigns on UNICEF's different platforms, including pieces in favor of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the campaign for good treatment, under the premise "For each child, only traces of good treatment". They have also been an active part of the commemoration in the country of World Children's Day, which is celebrated every November 20, and in UNICEF's Youth Advocacy network, Expression Z.

El Sistema was also the setting, in 2023, for the launch of the national campaign "Listen to our voice, protect our rights" and in that framework offered the special concert Melodies of Hope for the Rights of the Child.

At the end of the protocol ceremony, the UNICEF representative was presented with two beautiful musical pieces performed by the Ensemble of Cuatros of the Junín Nucleus: "Apure en un viaje" and "El diablo suelta". Thus, under the direction of Professor Fernando Rojas, the members José Quintero, Ámbar Alfaro, Miller Roa, Carlos Castillo, Yael López, and Sergio Ramos thrilled the audience thanks to their skill and musicality.