Long time UNICEF UK Ambassador and actor Ewan McGregor has launched a compelling video appealing to the UK public to help in whatever way they can to help Pakistan’s children whose lives have been devastated by the floods. The video will be shown online and as a TV appeal.
McGregor is one of many UNICEF Ambassadors doing what they can to raise crucial funds for the emergency. Ambassadors and High profile supporters including Jemima Khan, Robbie Williams, David Beckham, Sir Roger Moore, HRH Queen Rania Of Jordan, Michael Sheen, Charley Boorman, Cat Deeley and many others are tweeting, using facebook, writing news and doing what they can to support Pakistan’s children. To date, the tweets and re-tweets have reached more than 6 million people and helped raise well over £3m for UNICEF from the UK’s public.
McGregor, who has travelled all over the world and seen the work of the world’s leading children’s organization hopes to boost funds for Pakistan this week with his filmed message that can be viewed across social networking sites, online and on TV.
In his message, McGregor said: "We’ve all seen the shocking pictures on the news about the floods in Pakistan. These floods have affected more people than the Haiti earthquake and 2004 Tsunami combined and as in all disasters, its the children who have been hardest hit – an estimated 3.5 million children in Pakistan are now in need of urgent help
“I spoke to the Deputy Representative of UNICEF in Pakistan this week, and she told me that children’s homes and schools have been washed away. They have no food or clean water. The roads and vital supplies have disappeared over night. Pakistan has never seen a disaster of this scale before. The situation is desperate and as a UNICEF Ambassador, I am asking you to do what you can to help children.”
UNICEF’s Ambassadors are not the only supporters doing their bit. All across the country, the public and corporations are fundraising in ingenious ways in order to help the children of Pakistan: in Canterbury, Artist Shaukat Khan is auctioning a year’s collection of paintings; in Cambridgeshire, an international law firm are being sponsored to skydive; Orange have texted over 6 million of their customers inviting them to support UNICEF’s Pakistan appeal and Anwar Rizvi is taking his fundraising further afield by organising a London to Dubai sponsored motorbike ride.
With floodwaters rising, whole towns evacuated and more rains expected, the potential for even greater tragedy in Pakistan grows by the minute. The situation that is unfolding now, especially for small children, is a terrible descent into diarrhoea, dehydration and death. For those that survive, malnutrition is ever more likely. There have been over 200,000 cases of diagnosed acute watery diarrhoea already and over 250,000 cases of skin disease.
To watch Ewan’s video, click here.
