Artist SMARTY becomes UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Burkina Faso
OUAGADOUGOU, 26 June 2020. The musician SMARTY has been appointed UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador for Burkina Faso. He joins hundreds of artists, athletes and celebrities around the world who are using their talents to promote the rights of children, so that every child can be born and grow up healthy, be protected from violence and exploitation, eat enough quality food, have access to drinking water, live in a clean environment and go to school, wherever they are and wherever they come from.
“Helping to advocate for children alongside UNICEF is very important to me. I want to carry the voice of children as loud and high as possible,” SMARTY said when he was appointed.
“Given the difficult times our country is going through, I want to bring a message of peace and hope to children and young people. I will take all actions to help ensure every child has access to education, health and better protection.”
SMARTY has already been working with UNICEF for several years. In 2019, he toured Burkina Faso to help raise public awareness of child marriage, notably through his signature song, Ombre de la Nuit. More recently, he wrote the song Monsieur Corona to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and inform the population about the health measures they need to take.
“We are delighted to count SMARTY among the children’s champions in Burkina Faso! He is talented and humble, and a positive role model for children and young people,” said Dr. Anne Vincent, UNICEF Representative in Burkina Faso.
SMARTY, whose official name is Louis Salif Kiekieta, has known the value of education from an early age. Due to a lack of money, he had to drop out of school and start working to provide for his younger brothers. In 1993, he discovered the hip-hop movement and in 2000, he created the group Yeleen (meaning “light” in Bambara) with the Chadian artist Mawndoé. Although the rapper started out with his solo career, he won the Radio France International “Prix Découvertes” award in October 2013 with the album “Afrikan Kouleurs”. For this album, recorded in Ouagadougou, Bamako and Marseille, SMARTY invited well-known artists such as Tiken Jah Fakoly and Soprano.
Now, in his role as National Goodwill Ambassador, SMARTY will be invited to take an active role in UNICEF special events to increase advocacy for children.
UNICEF works with around 30 international Ambassadors, 200 national Ambassadors and 11 regional Ambassadors worldwide to increase public awareness of the rights of children and women and UNICEF’s work to protect those rights.
Since 1954, when Danny Kaye began working with UNICEF, celebrities have helped to positively influence government policies to support children, raise awareness of children’s issues around the world and raise funds for UNICEF-supported programmes.
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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, every day, to build a better world for everyone.
To find out more about UNICEF and our work, visit https://medium.com/@unicefburkina
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For more information, please contact:
Hadrien Bonnaud, Chief of Communications: hbonnaud@unicef.org Tel: +226 66 93 31 32
