Liam Neeson
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2011
"I am deeply honoured to become a Goodwill Ambassador, and am committed to working with UNICEF to help children overcome poverty, violence, disease and discrimination across the world."
Actor Liam Neeson was born in Northern Ireland in 1952 and made his professional stage debut in Belfast in 1976. His role as Oskar Schindler in the Stephen Spielberg film Schindler’s List earned him nominations from the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and BAFTA. He has also starred in top-grossing movies such as Michael Collins, Gangs of New York, Love Actually and Taken.
Previously National Ambassador for UNICEF Ireland, Liam has worked with UNICEF for over twenty years. He first travelled with UNICEF to Mozambique in 2005 to meet children affected by HIV/AIDS, and more recently, to Jordan in 2017 to meet children affected by the Syrian crisis.
Liam Neeson's activity with UNICEF
Yearly activity
- Liam highlighted in a video why it’s important to STAY for children in crisis every day, underscoring the urgent needs and challenges they face.
- Liam supported UNICEF’s winter appeal and raised awareness of how children would be impacted in countries such as Ukraine and Afghanistan, calling for all children to be healthy, educated and protected.
- Expressing deep concern over the devastating toll on children's lives amidst the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Liam highlighted the ‘Five Things Children in Gaza need most’ in a video.
- To mark its 60th anniversary, Liam visited UNICEF’s Supply Division which manages the global logistics and distribution of humanitarian aid. Based in Copenhagen, it is the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world. During the visit, Liam helped to pack lifesaving supplies for children in Afghanistan.
- Liam led UNICEF’s global immunization initiative with a message thanking the scientists, parents, health workers and others who are so critical in helping to immunize children over the last two decades.
- Liam and other UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors joined a call by high-profile supporters demanding that G7 leaders commit to donating doses of COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries.
- Liam voiced UNICEF’s Hope Reimagine, a global film highlighting UNICEF’s work on the front lines of health crises and the COVID-19 response.
- Liam joined UNICEF in urging the international community to increase its support to refugee and migrant children from Venezuela in need of assistance across Latin America and the Caribbean. He echoed the appeal after concluding a four-day visit to the Brazilian border region with Venezuela, where he met with vulnerable Venezuelan children and families, as well as those from host communities.
- Liam starred with fellow UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors in a film to launch World Children’s Day and encourage people to take part in UNICEF’s flagship day for children.
- Liam took part in a two-day visit to Jordan, where he met with Syrian children and young people whose lives had been affected by the conflict.
- Liam starred in a campaign to highlight a new UNICEF initiative to prevent violence against children.
- Liam was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, having supported UNICEF as a National Ambassador for Ireland for fourteen years.
- Liam celebrated the 10th anniversary of Change for Good, a partnership between UNICEF Ireland and the Irish airline Aer Lingus that he helped launch.
- Liam travelled on his first field visit to Mozambique, where he spent time in Beira, the country’s second-largest city and the one with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.
- Liam supported Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS, with special television messages.