George Clooney was named as a Messenger of Peace by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday January 18th. "I am deeply honored to receive this appointment," Clooney said in a statement. "I look forward to working with the United Nations in order to build public support for its critically important work in some of the most difficult, dangerous and dire places in the world."
Clooney joins eight other internationally renowned individuals, including fellow actor Michael Douglas and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, as Messengers whose role is to "advocate on behalf of the UN" and "focus global attention on its efforts to improve the lives of billions of people." Clooney's area of special focus will be on United Nations peacekeeping. He will receive his designation and meet with representatives from countries contributing to UN peacekeeping efforts at the Organization's Headquarters in New York on January 31st.
Clooney has been outspoken on the issue of Darfur, where, according to UN statistics, 200,000 people have been killed and another 2.2 million forced to flee their homes since fighting between government forces and rebel groups began in 2003. In 2006 he traveled to the region with his journalist father to film a series of video diaries on the problems created by the conflict, which have been compounded by years of drought. The activist actor also appeared in the documentary Darfur Now, and narrated the film Sand And Sorrow , which explores the issue.
Clooney co-founded the humanitarian non-profit Not On Our Watch with Hollywood pals Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Jerry Weintraub to raise awareness and funds to help the people of Dafur. So far the organization has raised over $9.3 million. In 2007 Clooney visited China and Egypt with Cheadle to ask for government assistance for Dafur. The pair were subsequently awarded a Summit Peace Award by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates for their efforts.
But it seems the newly appointed Messenger of Peace has found a rather unexpected role model for his work with the UN. In a recent interview, Clooney sights Spice Girl Geri Halliwell (a.k.a. Ginger Spice) as an inspiration. Halliwell became a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund in 1998. In her role with the organization she championed reproductive rights for women in developing countries.
"She was always my favorite Spice Girl; I loved her feisty approach and the fact she wasn't afraid to have an opinion," said Clooney. "Her work with UNICEF and [sexual health charity] Marie Stopes in the Third World was inspiring. And her address at a UN Youth summit in 2000 was brave - it's so easy to not get involved and she just gritted her teeth and went for it."
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