Illustrator Miguel REP, named UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador

SANTIAGO DE CHILE/PANAMA CITY, 29 November 2018 - Miguel Repiso (REP) used to dream about painting as a child. Cold, hard reality bored him. He preferred comic strips, as they escaped the straitjacket of everyday life and offered him a "pleasant refuge" where he did not need to explain anything.

Miguel Repiso has a deep connection with childhood, his work is full of light, humour, satire and at the same time rebellion and he is committed to children’s rights. UNICEF therefore named him Regional Goodwill Ambassador on Wednesday 29 November at the First Regional Dialogue in Latin America and the Caribbean, “On the road to equality”: 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Miguel Repiso first became involved with UNICEF and with children’s rights almost 20 years ago, when, together with other artists from the region, he was part of the project Cartoons for Children’s Rights, a video series marking the 10th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the child. This project, which had an impact not only regionally but also globally, gave way to a series of contributions by the artist that have highlighted the most pressing issues affecting children and adolescents such as migration, gender equality, education and violence against children and girls in particular, among other important issues.

Miguel’s appointment coincides with the presentation of the illustrated 30th anniversary edition of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which he coordinated and which contains works by 29 other renowned artists from throughout the region.

María Cristina Perceval, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, was the one to present the certificate officially naming Miguel as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Perceval commented that REP’s appointment is a “loving commitment for what he gives and shares with UNICEF.” She also added that the 30th anniversary illustrated edition of the Convention on the Rights of the Child has “29 drawings; the drawing that’s missing is the one that you are going to create: may you all draw, every day, the rights of children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

REP recalls that during his childhood he was not a fan of superhero stories because they resembled reality, but that he loved the comics that exaggerated the real, broke with the formal and gave him the pleasure of feeling comfortable in his creative solitude. He was 14 years old when he published his first drawing. And he has not lost this link with childhood. In fact, he still has that childlike awe when it comes to creativity.

For Miguel Repiso, this appointment is both an opportunity to learn and a mark of appreciation for his years of work for children. "I have been working with UNICEF since 1997. During these years I have moved from the idea of seeing children as winners and losers - a Manichean vision - to understand them in all their richness. My drawing style, which was always lyrical, metaphorical and symbolist, has gained greater rigor and richness. The more information we have, the richer is the image we can produce. I have stopped drawing like a child and I am more mature in my didactic mission, but I still call on my inner child to get inspiration from that boy who loves to create".