Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Geneva: UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced the appointment of model, photographer and humanitarian supporter, Helena Christensen as its newest Goodwill Ambassador.
In a press release, the global body said that Christensen was one of the world’s most recognizable faces and also carved out a respected and distinguished international career in photography.
"Since 2015, Helena has been using her creativity to work with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency to communicate refugee stories and amplify the voices of the displaced, travelling across the world to countries including Rwanda, Ukraine and Colombia, the press release stated.
On being announced as a Goodwill Ambassador, Helena said, “Over 68.5 million people are displaced around the world and the number is rising. There has never been a greater urgency to show support for refugees. I hope to continue to advocate for refugees and humanize their stories. Those like Maribeth, who I met and photographed in Colombia, Marcelline in Rwanda and Olena in Ukraine. I was so moved getting to know these remarkable women and to play a part in sharing their incredible stories.”
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, added: “Helena will be a wonderful Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR. She has real passion for and commitment to refugees as well as an ability to capture and tell stories of refugees through her photography. This is precisely the role of the Goodwill Ambassador - to raise awareness and share the stories of those that have been forced to leave their homes. I look forward to working with Helena in the years ahead.”
Over the past five years Christensen has championed the plight of some of the most vulnerable refugees around the world, UNHCR noted. Witnessing UNHCR’s work first hand while in Colombia in 2015, she documented internally displaced women living in rural and urban environments.
In Rwanda last year, Helena spent time meeting refugees who recently fled violence and persecution in Burundi and supported UNHCR’s call for further funds to deliver shelter, food, and daily needs for one of the world’s most forgotten and underfunded refugee crises. During this trip Helena took part in a fashion show with those living in the Mahama refugee camp in Rwanda. The clothes shown in the fashion show were made by a UNHCR supported project, the Tailors Co-operative which supports women by teaching them how to use a sewing machine and giving them an opportunity at a livelihood as well as social support.
The announcement of Christensen's appointment comes in the run up to World Refugee Day on June 20 2019 when, around the world, communities, schools, businesses, faith groups and people from all walks of life are encouraged to take big and small steps in solidarity with refugees.
