Phase 1 – Icons For You
Phase 1 of the YOU public service ads – which
kicked off on World AIDS Day 1st December, 2006 – encourages
people to consider what they can do as individuals,
families, communities and nations to stop the spread
of HIV on the continent. The PSAs feature outstanding
Africans, including both iconic heroes of African
history and young Africans who are the future of
their countries, promoting the message that individuals
can create a personal response to the epidemic.
Angélique
Kidjo
“Mtoto Kwanza” – Swahili for “Children
First.” This is the message from Angélique
Kidjo and is also the title of a song she has dedicated
to UNICEF on her latest album ‘Oyaya!’ Angélique
Kidjo (born July 14, 1960) is a 4-time Grammy nominated
Beninese singer and songwriter, noted for her diverse
musical influences and creative music videos and
is said to be one of the most electrifying performers
in the pop world today. Angélique is also
one of its most forward thinkers, with a deep commitment
to children and young people. In 2002, she was appointed
as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has attended
the 2002 Africa Leadership Consultation – Children
on the Brink in Johannesburg where priorities were
developed for helping children and young people orphaned
or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Angélique
once considered a career as a human rights lawyer
but decided that she could have a greater impact
through her music. “I believe music is a language
beyond the colour of skin, country or culture,” she
says. “I want to inspire people to work to
help educate, nourish and protect our children. Young
people are the hope of my continent. When I watch
the children of Africa, all dreams seem possible.” Angélique
has focused a lot of her attention on HIV with visits
in 2006 to Kenya and Zimbabwe where she has said “Africa
needs to know that prevention is the better way,
people need to be careful…. Let us get out
priorities right and not judge [women whose cultures
make it difficult to avoid unprotected sex]. Let
us fight AIDS first, then talk of morality.”
Phase
1 - Angelique Kidjo (1.3mb)
Haile
Gebrselassie
Haile Gebrselassie (born
April 18, 1973) is a long distance track and road
running athlete born as one
of ten children in Ethiopia. He is considered by
many to be one of the world’s best distance
runners of all time. Haile remained unbeaten at the
10,000-metre distance for eight years, making and
breaking no fewer than 15 world records, and winning
Olympic Gold at both the Atlanta and the Sydney Olympics.
He has also set world records at 5,000 metres and
1,500 metres. He still holds the 10,000-metre record
and has been world champion four times at that distance.
Haile has also used his fame and tenacity to bring
attention to and address issues related to HIV/AIDS
in his country and indeed Africa by campaigning to
build awareness. He has said “Both poverty
and HIV/AIDS are the priority,' he says. 'The outside
world knows Ethiopia as simply being a very poor
country,' he adds. 'But all these problems are not
God-given. They can only be solved by our own efforts.” Haile
helped launch UNICEF’s UNITE FOR CHILDREN
UNITE AGAINST AIDS in Ethiopia in 2005 and continues
to
play an active role as UNDP's National Goodwill
Ambassador in Ethiopia.
Phase
1 - Haile Gebrsellasie (1.3mb)
Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf
Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf (born October 29, 1938) is the
23rd President of Liberia
sworn-in on 16th January
2006. She is Africa's first elected female
head of state and is often referred to as the "Iron
Lady". In 2006, Forbes magazine named the Harvard-educated
and former World Bank economist, 51st in the list
of the 100 most powerful women in the world. In her
inaugural address to the nation and the world, President
Johnson-Sirleaf drew attention to the threat that
HIV/AIDS poses to Liberia’s human capital,
growth and prosperity. With a commitment to engage
the youth in her country’s nation-building,
President Johnson-Sirleaf has promised to “provide
leadership for our people as we face the challenge
of containing the menace and impact of HIV/AIDS on
our individual nations and peoples.” (New
York, June 2006). Her administration is actively
engaged
in efforts to create awareness and overcome stigma
and discrimination as well as change society's
response and attitude toward persons afflicted
and living
with HIVIAIDS
Phase
1 - Ellen Johnson-Sirlea (1.3mb)
Philip
Emeagwali
Philip
Emeagwali is not your typical genius. He
was born in 1957 in Nigeria. His school experience
was much the same as with many other native African
children. He even had to drop out of school at
the
age of 14 because his father could not pay his
school fees. During his few early years in school,
Philip
showed a proficiency in mathematics. His father
encouraged him to continue his education and
even tried to tutor
him until Philip "knew more than he did." After
dropping out of high school Philip immersed himself
in the public library, reading and studying such
subjects as college-level mathematics, physics chemistry
and English. When he was 17, he received a scholarship
to Oregon State University. He arrived at the University
in 1974 and has since earned four other degrees -
a Ph.D. in Scientific Computing from the University
of Michigan along with two Masters Degrees from the
George Washington University. With the title, "Bill
Gates of Africa", it is easy to see how much
of an impact his intellect has had on the computing
industry. In 1989, the computer system he built became
the first system to perform 3.1 billion calculations
per second. This record even surpassed the expensive
super computers in the U. S. He used his computer
to help scientists understand how oil flowed underground.
His invention garnered him the prestigious 1989 Gordon
Bell Prize. This is considered to be the Nobel Prize
of computing. He has been extolled by Bill Clinton
as "one of the great minds of the Information
Age," described by CNN as "A Father of
the Internet," and is the world's most searched-for
scientist on the Internet. Dr. Emeagwali seems to
be setting another challenge to his ever expanding
list of achievements. He says: “The greatest
grand challenge for any scientist is discovering
how to prevent the spread of HIV and finding the
cure or an effective vaccine for AIDS.”
Phase
1 - Philip Emangwali (1.2mb)
Wangari
Maathai
Wangari
Maathai (born April 1, 1940) is a Kenyan environmental
and political
activist. In 2004 she
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution
to sustainable development, democracy and peace" — the
first African woman to receive the award. Madam Maathai
is also an elected member of the Kenyan Parliament
and served as Assistant Minister for Environment
and Natural Resources between January 2003 and November
2005. In 1977, Madam Maathai founded the Green Belt
Movement, a grassroots environmental non-governmental
organization, which has now planted over 30 million
trees across the country to prevent soil erosion.
She has come to be affectionately called "Tree
Woman". Since then, she has been increasingly
active on both environmental and women's issues.
On the AIDS epidemic, Madam Maathai questions herself: “Faced
with all this, I sometime wonder whether I should
first address the destruction of the environment
linked to greed and poverty, food insecurity, corruption,
oppression, lack of education and unemployment OR
the AIDS pandemic?” She rests on the assurance
that “those who understand the virus better
can work with those of us struggling to better
understand and eliminate ignorance, fear and a
sense of helplessness.
There is need for the right information to reach
local communities not only to inform but also to
empower them.”
Phase
1 - Wangari Maathai (1.2mb)
The
Most Reverend Desmond Tutu
The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu (born
October 7, 1931) is a South African cleric and
activist who
rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent
of apartheid. Rev. Tutu was elected and ordained
the first black South African Anglican Archbishop
of Cape Town, South Africa, and primate of the
Church of the Province of Southern Africa, South
Africa's
church body comprising the worldwide Anglican Communion.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for
his "role as a unifying leader figure in the
campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South
Africa." He is generally credited with coining
the term “Rainbow Nation” as a metaphor
to describe post-apartheid South Africa after 1994.
The expression has since entered mainstream consciousness
to describe South Africa's ethnic diversity. Rev.
Tutu has actively lent his voice to the discourse
surrounding HIV/AIDS and the church. He says: “I
think it is important that we listen to the voices
of people speaking for themselves, and that we not
intimidate them. We should encourage every member
of our community to articulate their pain and their
aspirations. The hierarchy should not feel threatened. “ (2004). “Prevention
and treatment go hand-in-hand. And for prevention
of HIV there must be more innovative, bold and honest
messages, free of prejudicial restrictions and based
upon sound evidence. I commend those of you who are
working for universal access to HIV prevention, treatment,
care and support. I know that much is being done
but we are not yet winning the battle against HIV.
Too many lives are being lost prematurely.” (2006)
Phase
1 - Desmond Tutu (1.2mb)
Didier
Drogba
Born in Abidjan (11
March 1978), Didier Drogba spent his childhood
in his native Côte d'Ivoire and
his adopted country, France. ‘Tito’,
as he was known to friends and family, first left
Côte d'Ivoire at the age of five. With his
early introduction to the sports of football under
the tutelage of his uncle Michel Goba who was a professional
football player, “Drogs” has maintained
a disciplined and likable image amongst team members,
not to mention undeniable respect and stellar gamesmanship
in the FA Premier League after his 2004 signing at
Chelsea with a transfer fee of £24 million,
far higher than the amounts paid for David Beckham
or Ronaldinho. One of Africa’s top players,
he is known for his aerial artistry in front of the
goal, and has stunning form and dynamic goal-scoring
abilities that have helped lead his native country,
Côte d'Ivoire, to their first ever FIFA World
Cup Finals in Germany in 2006. Because of his commitment
to the young people in Côte d'Ivoire and indeed
around the world, Didier has signed up to be part
of UNICEF/FIFA’s UNITE FOR CHILDREN UNITE
FOR PEACE campaign, geared to ensure that every
child
has the right to a peaceful world, free from conflict
and abuse.
All Phases:
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