Actor Liam Neeson, a long-time campaigner and advocate on behalf of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), became the newest Goodwill Ambassador for the UN agency. Accepting the appointment, Neeson said he was “committed to working with UNICEF to help children overcome poverty, violence, disease and discrimination,” according to a press release issued by the agency. “It is shocking to me that in this day and age, 22,000 children are still dying every day for want of the most basic things like clean water to drink, a safe place to live or access to medicines when they are sick,” he said. The 58-year-old has been a National Ambassador for UNICEF in Ireland since 1997 and served as the public face of the agency's Change for Good partnership with Aer Lingus for 10 years. He also backed UNICEF's Believe in Zero campaign in Ireland and the United States, which focuses on the plight of the estimated 8 million children each year who do not live to see their fifth birthday. UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said the agency was “very lucky” to have Neeson help the agency. The UNICEF director called Neeson ” a deeply compassionate humanitarian actor.” Neeson starred in many iconic films in the past decade or so including Schindler's List, Michael Collins, Batman Begins and Love Actually. BM
