NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Joel Madden, lead vocalist
for the critically acclaimed, platinum-album-selling band, Good Charlotte
has been named UNICEF's newest Goodwill Ambassador, officials with the U.S.
Fund for UNICEF today announced.
The news came Sunday during a cable broadcast on global child survival
titled, The Survival Project: One Child at a Time, which aired on CNN and
was hosted by the network's chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta.
Madden, along with fellow ambassador Lucy Liu, participated in the
hour-long special which explored the causes and the actions required to
stop the unnecessary deaths of children under age five. The special also
featured UNICEF experts from "the field" and examined the role celebrity
plays in bringing attention to the issue of child survival.
"UNICEF is the best organization for children worldwide -- they truly
make a difference," said Joel Madden recently. "Twenty-six thousand
children die every day from preventable causes, my band performs before
that many people regularly, so it's a number I can wrap my head around, and
pushes me to want to reduce it to zero."
No stranger to social and humanitarian causes, the 29-year-old
Baltimore native and new father, recently formed the Richie-Madden
Children's Foundation, a charity which provides funding to groups focused
on improving pediatric heath, education and human rights both domestically
and abroad.
Madden first got involved with UNICEF by volunteering for the TAP
Project, a campaign that celebrates the clean and accessible tap water
available as an every day privilege to millions, while helping UNICEF
provide safe drinking water to children around the world.
In May, after Cyclone Nargis devastated whole communities in Myanmar,
Madden and long-time girlfriend, Nicole Richie recorded a national public
service announcement (PSA) appealing for donations to help UNICEF provide
relief to the nearly one million children affected by the storm.
"It takes you about thirty seconds of conversation with Joel to realize
that he is a true advocate for children," said Caryl Stern, president and
CEO, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. "Joel represents a generation of young
people who are increasingly becoming more and more conscious of the world
around them and the role they can play to improve it by doing whatever it
takes to save a child."
Madden's first field visit as an official UNICEF Ambassador is
scheduled for the fall.
About UNICEF
For more than 60 years, UNICEF has been the world's leading
international children's organization, working in over 150 countries to
address the ongoing issues that affect why kids are dying. UNICEF provides
lifesaving nutrition, clean water, education, protection and emergency
response saving more young lives than any other humanitarian organization
in the world. While millions of children die every year of preventable
causes like dehydration, upper respiratory infections and measles, UNICEF,
with the support of partnering organizations and donors alike, has the
global experience, resources and reach to give children the best hope of
survival. For more information about UNICEF, please visit
http://www.unicefusa.org.
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