Five Female Celebrities Who Make a Difference
For many years, the United States has appointed celebrities to serve as Goodwill Ambassadors around the world. While their fame has been an effective way to spotlight the United Nations and its many missions, the time and commitment effectively made by such men and women underscore their compassion and desire to help make a difference in a world besieged by conflict and turmoil, hunger, and deprivation, and illness…indeed, a world in grave danger of environmental damage at the hands of human greed and negligence.
KRISTIN DAVIS, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress best-known for her role as Charlotte York Goldenblatt in the HBO romantic comedy series, Sex and the City, is a Global Ambassador for Oxfam since 2004 and has worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR.)
ANNE HATHAWAY is a New York born, Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Emmy award-winning actress who was appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador in 2016 based on her advocacy for gender equality and, in 2010, teamed up with the World Bank on a program called The Girl Effect, whose mission is to empower young women.
CATE BLANCHETT has been a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees since 2015 and in 2016 became a global Goodwill Ambassador to help raise awareness of the global refugee crisis, participating in the “WithRefugees” campaign and a video called “What They Took with Them.” She was awarded the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum to honor her advocacy for refugees worldwide and in August 2018, addressed the United Nations Security Council about the atrocities committed against the Rohingya people in Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia.
ANGELINA JOLIE is universally known for her support of humanitarian causes. After filming Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in war-torn Cambodia in 2001, she contacted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to learn how to help and began visiting refugee camps around the world. In August 2001, she was appointed a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva and since then, has embarked on more than 40 field missions in over 30 countries to bring awareness to the plight of refugees and internally displaced persons. In 2012, after a decade of service, Jolie was promoted to the rank of Special Envoy to High Commissioner António Guterres, expanding her authority.
NICOLE KIDMAN has won numerous awards for films such as The Hours, Moulin Rouge!, and Big Little Lies. Nonetheless, the American-born Australian actress partitions her time to do good deeds. Since 1994, she has been a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. In 2004 she was honored by the United Nations as a “Citizen of the World” and since 2006, she has worked on behalf of the United Nations Development Fund for Women, serving as the international spokesperson for UNIFEM’s “Say NO—UNiTE to End Violence against Women initiative.