Victoria Beckham Appointed UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador
Posted on September 25, 2014
Michel Sidibe the Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) announced that Victoria Beckham has been appointed as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS. Mr. Sidibe made this announcement at a press conference at the United Nations in New York City. Victoria actually skipped the opening of her fabulous new luxury retail store in London in order to be there for the announcement.
Mister Sidibe talked about how the U.N. likes to appoint ambassadors with different talents. He spoke about her talents as a designer and a businesswoman, but said that he was also impressed with how much heart she has. Victoria will be focusing on the critical issue of stopping babies being born with HIV. He asked her why she wanted to take on this job. He also mentioned that he just found out that today was her big store opening and wanted to know why she was willing to miss that. Victoria said that she has people in London that can handle the opening of the store and that this took top priority -- there was never a question which would come first when she was offered the ambassadorship.We have to say we were impressed by Victoria's first outing at the U.N. She spoke with great passion on the subject of stopping the spread of HIV, especially between mothers and their infants. Victoria said when she turned 40 she realized she had to do something to give back. She and husband David have been patrons of Elton John's AIDS charity for 20 years and she has raised money for the AIDS charity Mother to Mother. But recently she visited Capetown, South Africa and met with women and families living with HIV. She said it changed her life. She knew immediately that she had to do something to help.
Victoria was very humble about her qualifications for the project. She says that she is just at the beginning of her journey. She has been studying her subject and is being mentored by Director Sidibe. Victoria spoke emotionally about how she believes that every woman has "a right to health and the right to give her children the same." Victoria said that "babies should not be born with HIV... We are very close to stopping this. We must keep going. We are so close."
Sidibe then opened the floor to questions from reporters. Right out of the gate a British reporter went into full tabloid mode. He seemed quite surprised at how passionately she feels about the subject and said so. He then noted that Angelina Jolie has gone on more than 40 international field trips and wanted to know if Victoria was going to try to outdo her.
He also wanted to know if she was going to try to be Britain's answer to Angelina Jolie. That horrified Victoria, who exclaimed "goodness, no!" She seemed a bit shocked at the comparison and said she was just going to try to do her bit. She said for some reason people listen to her know and she wants to be a voice for those women she met who desperately need help and support. She acknowledged that she has been more in the background for the last 20 years in which she has supported charities, but now it's time for her to do what she can to help.
Another reporter wanted to know if proceeds from her fashion line will go towards supporting AIDS charities. Victoria said that she just finished auctioning off all her old clothes for charity, and admitted that some of the older outfits were pretty funny. She said the final numbers aren't in yet, but that 100% of the proceeds will go to Mother to Mother. She said it will be several hundred thousand pounds.
Victoria proved all her naysayers wrong with her fantastic fashion line. She has worked incredibly hard to get where she is and this seems like the logical next step for her. She emphasized how seriously she is taking her new role. The U.N. made a wise choice.