UNICEF has named Ugandan climate activist, Vanessa Nakate as its new goodwill global ambassador.
Nakate's appointment affirms her collaboration with the organisation and recognising her outstanding global advocacy for climate justice for current and future generations.
The development comes a week after Nakate's trip to Turkana County, North-Western Kenya to see firsthand impacts of water and food insecurity caused by the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 40 years.
In what was her first trip with UNICEF, she met with communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis, including mothers and babies receiving lifesaving treatment for severe acute malnutrition and families benefiting from solar-powered water supply systems.
Commenting on her new role, Nakate noted that this will be her first responsibility to bring the voices of children and marginalised people into conversations where they were previously excluded.
"This role with UNICEF will provide me with more opportunities to meet children and young people in the places most affected by climate change and an expanded platform to advocate on their behalf,” Nakate said.
She added that while in Kenya, the people she met told her about the impact of climate change and drought on their lives, with four consecutive failed rainy seasons depriving children of their most basic rights.
"One community had not received any rainfall for over two years. This is more than a food and nutrition crisis, it is yet another dimension of our worsening climate crisis," Nakate said.
UNICEF executive director, Catherine Russell, expressed excitement to welcome Nakate to the UNICEF family, as the newest global goodwill ambassador.
"Vanessa’s work to drive climate action that benefits the communities most affected by the climate crisis aligns directly with UNICEF’s mission to drive change for every child. We hope her appointment as a UNICEF Global Goodwill Ambassador will help ensure that the voices of children and young people are never cut out of the conversation on climate change and always included in decisions that affect their lives," she said.
Vanessa Nakate's rise to the global scene
Nakate began her activism in January 2019 with a protest with her siblings and cousins on the streets of Kampala, inspired by Greta Thunberg.
She continued to protest every week, becoming a well-known face in a movement of young people “striking” for the climate around the world.
In 2020 she came to further global prominence when she was cropped out of a news photo she appeared in alongside Thunberg and other white climate activists.
Nakate’s response to the incident, in which she said the news outlet “didn’t just erase a photo, you erased a continent”, made international headlines.
She uses her "Rise Up Movement", a platform to elevate the voices of African climate activists, as well as a project to install solar panels in rural Ugandan schools.
The 25-year-old activist has addressed world leaders at the COP25 and COP26 climate summits and appeared on the cover of TIME magazine.
Nakate joins the ranks of other recent high-profile supporters such as actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas, recording artists Katy Perry and Angelique Kidjo, Syrian refugee and education activist Muzoon Almellehan and, most recently, UNICEF’s youngest-ever goodwill ambassador actress Millie Bobby Brown.