Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn was a tireless advocate for children’s rights. Soon after becoming a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1988, she went on a mission to Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife had caused terrible famine. After visiting UNICEF emergency operations, Audrey talked about the projects to media in the United States, Canada and Europe over several weeks, giving as many as 15 interviews a day. In 1989, Audrey Hepburn gave this passionate speech as world leaders adopted the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Messengers of Peace/Goodwill Ambassadors
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas travelled to Poland this week to meet refugee children and families who fled the war in Ukraine.
Brazilian Big Wave surfer Maya Gabeira is UNESCO's newest goodwill ambassador, appointed to the position of “UNESCO Champion for the Ocean and Youth.”
Angelina Jolie is joined in Cambodia by beekeeper Aggelina Kanellopoulou, a graduate from the 2021 cohort of the #WomenForBees Programme, to share her experiences and exchange best practices in beekeeping with the women.
"As conflict and tragedy strike Ukraine, the world is watching." Stand with UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett and donate today, to help us stay and deliver life saving aid to people fleeing Ukraine.
As we celebrate her service on our 75th anniversary, watch newfound footage showing how much UNICEF really meant to our Goodwill Ambassador Audrey Hepburn. More information on UNICEF's 75th anniversary.
Football legend Didier Drogba was appointed as the World Health Organization's Goodwill Ambassador for Sport and Health.
Thomas Pesquet, a European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and FAO Goodwill Ambassador, advocates for climate action. He promotes awareness of FAO’s science-based work with countries to transform agri-food systems and improve food security, improve access to sustainable healthy diets and tackle food waste. As an astronaut, he is in a unique position to garner his experience and knowledge on space technology to raise awareness about these issues.
Anne Hathaway, UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, at the opening session of the SDG Action Zone entitled "The Big Picture."
In the fifth episode of the UN climate action podcast No Denying It, United Nations Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall, known for her groundbreaking scientific work studying chimpanzees, interviews Xiaoyuan "Charlene" Ren.
Ms. Ren is the founder of MyH20, a network that collects drinking water data to help find solutions to improve water quality across China. Globally, two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, a figure that will only go up as infrastructure struggles to keep pace with new climate change-related weather patterns.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has appointed South Sudanese track and field athlete Yiech Pur Biel as their newest Goodwill Ambassador. A refugee, Pur was forced to flee the conflict in South Sudan in 2005, journeying alone to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya when he was only ten years old. Growing up in Kakuma, Pur devoted himself to athletic training despite the intense heat and basic facilities in the camp. He trained at the Tegla Loroupe camp in Nairobi, and began running competitively in 2015, before being part of the first Refugee Olympic Team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “It is a huge honour for me to be able to use my status as an athlete to help refugees and displaced people, to share my own story and those of other refugees like me and make sure that refugees all over the world have a voice," he says.
Actor, filmmaker and humanitarian Idris Elba and actress, model and activist Sabrina Dhowre Elba have launched a new global coronavirus relief fund on behalf of the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). With US$40 million in seed money from IFAD, the multi-donor COVID-19 Rural Poor Stimulus Facility aims to raise at least an additional $200 million from governments, foundations and the private sector to lessen the impact of COVID-19 on rural small-scale farmers and producers.
UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh weighs in on sustainable fashion. "Fashion has become more affordable, and we have more of it. But the actual costs are much higher, and much more devastating than we realize," she says. Be an informed consumer. Learn six things you didn't know about the true cost of fast fashion. Join the ActNow for Zero-Waste Fashion challenge. You can also Shop Zero Waste.
Muzoon Almellehan is an education activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Muzoon has been campaigning for children’s education in emergencies since she was forced to flee Syria in 2013 with her family. In this article in the UN Chronicle for the International Day of Education, she shares her personal story and her motivation for the work she does. "Education is the key to peace and prosperity, and the foundation of equality," she says.
