Press Release
Photographer Sebastião Salgado named UNICEF Special Representative
New York/Brasilia, April 3 - UNICEF announced today the appointment
of internationally renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião
Salgado as a Special Representative. The announcement came at the opening
in Brasilia of Mr. Salgado's exhibition Exodus, also called Migrations,
the result of a seven-year project documenting the global displacement
of people due to economic hardship, conflict and natural disasters.
"We are very pleased to formalize our relationship with Sebastião
Salgado, one of the world's great photographers," said UNICEF Executive
Director Carol Bellamy. "Photography has long been an integral
part of UNICEF's advocacy on behalf of children and women worldwide.
Working with Mr. Salgado, we hope to raise our visual communication
to a new level and reach an even wider audience."
The first UNICEF Special Representative from the field of photojournalism,
Mr. Salgado's appointment reflects the growing network of international
leaders in diverse fields who are dedicating their skills and time on
behalf of children. This expands a tradition that UNICEF began in 1954
with the appointment of American entertainer Danny Kaye as the first
'Goodwill Ambassador' and presently includes well-known artists from
many different countries.
As a Special Representative, Mr. Salgado will promote child rights
issues through his photography, a collaboration with UNICEF that has
already begun. In September of last year, supported by UNICEF and the
United Nations, Mr. Salgado exhibited at UN Headquarters 90 portraits
of displaced and refugee children, part of his book, The Children, a
companion volume to Migrations.
"Over the years, I have been repeatedly impressed by the on-the-ground
operations of UNICEF and the UN refugee organization,UNHCR," said
Mr. Salgado. "Both have supported my work when needed, so it is
a natural progression for me to continue developing this collaboration.
Being a UNICEF Special Representative will be an added opportunity to
participate in the critical, international debate on the human condition."
In other current projects, Mr. Salgado has donated reproduction rights
to several of his photographs to UNICEF in support of the Global Movement
for Children, a new coalition of child rights advocates. He is also
donating images on children and war to illustrate the forthcoming book
by Mozambique's Graça Machel, updating her 1996 report as United
Nations Special Representative on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children.
Presently, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) are coordinating
Mr. Salgado's coverage in several countries in Africa and Asia of the
global campaign to eradicate polio*.
Mr. Salgado has devoted much of his photography career, which began
in 1973, to chronicling the lives of the worlds' dispossessed. He has
worked with numerous international and Brazilian humanitarian organizations,
published 10 books, mounted exhibitions in 22 countries and been awarded
numerous prizes and other honours in recognition of his work. His wife,
Lélia Wanick Salgado, designs his major books and exhibitions
and directs their company, Amazonas Images, in Paris, France, where
they have lived for almost 30 years.
Please visit Changing the World with Children,
a photo essay with images by Sebastião Salgado.
For information on Sebastião Salgado's Migrations project, visit:
www.sebastiaosalgado.com.br
*Note to broadcasters: As part of the global campaign to eradicate
polio, UNICEF has produced a television
B-roll. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (WHO, Rotary International,
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)) has produced a series of polio
PSAs. Both are available by emailing: broadcast
@unicef.org
* * *
For more information, please contact:
Liza Barrie,
Media Chief, UNICEF New York: 212-326-7593 or
Paula Claycomb, Communication
Officer, UNICEF Brasilia: 5561-348-1049
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