UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated American
filmmaker and actor George Clooney as a UN Messenger of Peace, the
UN chief's spokeswoman said Friday.
Clooney will join eight other internationally renowned
individuals as messengers to raise global awareness of the world
body's ideals and activities, with a special focus on UN
peacekeeping efforts, Michele Montas said.
"Recognized for focusing public attention on crucial
international political and social issues, Mr. Clooney joins eight
other United Nations Messengers of Peace who advocate on behalf of
the organization," Montas said.
U.S. actor George Clooney
holds the 2007 Peace Summit Award which he and fellow actor Don
Cheadle received during a ceremony at the city hall in Rome in this
Dec. 13, 2007. (file photo: Xinhua/Reuters)
Clooney will visit the UN headquarters on Jan. 31 to receive the
designation and meet with officials from countries contributing to
UN peacekeeping efforts.
Messengers of Peace are individuals who possess widely
recognized talents in the fields of art, film, literature, music
and sports, help raise worldwide awareness of the UN's ideals and
activities, the spokeswoman said.
"Through their public appearances, contacts with the
international media and humanitarian work, they expand public
understanding of how the United Nations helps to improve the lives
of billions of people everywhere," she said.
Current Messengers of Peace and their areas of focus are
Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, for Millennium Development
Goals and hunger; conductor Daniel Barenboim, for peace and
tolerance; author Paulo Coelho, for intercultural dialogue; actor
Michael Douglas, for disarmament and peace and security;
primatologist Jane Goodall, for the environment; violinist Midori
Goto, for Millennium Development Goals and youth; cellist Yo-Yo Ma,
for youth; and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, for human rights and the
Holocaust.
U.S. actor George Clooney
(L) sits with his girlfriend Sarah Larson during the 2007 Peace
Summit in Rome Dec. 13, 2007. (file photo:
Xinhua/Reuters)
(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2008)
