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M.A.C. Cosmetics announces donation to UNICEF-China's HIV/AIDS Youth and Children's Campaign

© UNICEF/China/Li Mingfang

Handing over of cheque to the UNICEF Representative by M.A.C. and Estee Lauder (China) representatives, flanked by M.A.C. Ambassadors

UNICEF Representative Dr Yin Yin Nwe lauds role that  business and celebrities can  play in combating the epidemic.

BEIJING, 29 March 2007.  At a Press Conference in central Beijing today, the M.A.C AIDS Fund made a 1 million RMB [129,000USD] donation to UNICEF in support of the “Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS” Global Campaign, launched in China last year by the Chinese Government. Ms. Carol Shen, the Managing Director of Estee Lauder (China), owner of the M.A.C Cosmetics brand, presented the cheque to UNICEF-China Representative Dr. Yin Yin Nwe at a well-attended media event at Beijing's Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

The Managing Director of Estee Lauder spoke of this donation as being the first they have made in China to help build a better future for children.

In thanking M.A.C for their donation to the Campaign, the UNICEF-China Representative cited the company's use of stars in support of China's AIDS campaign as “an excellent example of how businesses and celebrities can make a difference in China's future”.

She went on to speak movingly on behalf of Zhou Yi, a Youth AIDS Ambassadors advisor present at the event, who was unwilling to speak in public because he was HIV-positive. “Even today, with all the wonderful work China has done to confront the epidemic, he still finds it difficult to reveal his status publicly”, Dr Nwe said, adding that “he wanted me to tell everyone  that discrimination has never—anywhere in the world—including China, helped to stop or kill the virus”.

M.A.C's  celebrity Ambassadors for China were on-hand to speak about their involvement with the Campaign ,  including singer Li Yuchun (“Supergirl 2005”, the highest rated  Chinese TV talent show of all time), actor/producer Vivian Wu and actor Pace Wu.
Vivian Wu spoke of how AIDS had become a global problem which did not “distinguish between nationality, gender or age”. She had been deeply moved when she visited a dear friend of hers recently diagnosed with HIV who made her realise just how important friends were to people living with AIDS. “Each infected person is somebody's dear friend”, she emphasized.

 Li Yuchun spoke of how when she visited a high-prevalence area she had initially been afraid but when she met with people living with AIDS, her attitude had totally changed. She now talks of “the importance of young people knowing and sharing the facts about AIDS and how to protect themselves”. UNICEF-China will travel with the M.A.C Ambassadors to Children and Youth Campaign project sites over the coming year..

Report by Zhang Lei, UNICEF Consultant for the Children and AIDS Campaign.

Press Release