United Nations Messengers of Peace
United Nations Messenger of Peace is a title bestowed by the United Nations to "distinguished individuals, carefully selected from the fields of art, music, literature and sports, who have agreed to help focus worldwide attention on the work of the United Nations.
The messengers are initially chosen for a period of three years, although three of the current 13 messengers, Michael Douglas, Elie Wiesel and Jane Goodall have served for more than ten years.
The Messengers of Peace scheme was instigated in 1998 as a central addition to the system of UN goodwill ambassadors and honorary ambassadors, which has been run by the different UN agencies since 1954, when UNICEF appointed Danny Kaye as its first goodwill ambassador.
Whilst the goodwill and honorary ambassadors mainly promote the work of the UN agency they are ambassador for, the messengers of peace are intended to promote the work of the United Nations in general and are appointed directly by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Current messengers
- Elie Wiesel - designated 1998
- Michael Douglas - designated 1998
- Jane Goodall - designated 2002
- Yo-Yo Ma - designated 2006
- Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein - designated 2007
- Daniel Barenboim - designated 2007
- Paulo Coelho - designated 2007
- Midori Goto - designated 2007
- George Clooney - designated 2008
- Charlize Theron - designated 2008
- Stevie Wonder - designated 2009
- Edward Norton - designated 2010
- Lang Lang - designated 2013
- Leonardo DiCaprio - designated 2014
Former messengers
- Muhammad Ali - designated 1998
- Vijay Amritraj - designated 2001
- Anna Cataldi - designated 1998
- Enrico Macias - designated 1997
- Wynton Marsalis - designated 2001
- Luciano Pavarotti - designated 1998
- Wangari Maathai - designated 2009