UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador

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This article is about the UNHCR goodwill ambassador title. For other uses, see Goodwill ambassador (disambiguation).

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNHCR goodwill ambassadors are celebrity representatives of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) who use their talent and fame to advocate for refugees.

Current UNHCR goodwill ambassadors

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Current goodwill ambassadors and the year they were appointed:

Time Ambassador Country Profession
2025 Karen Wazen  Lebanon  United Kingdom fashion entrepreneur and digital influencer[1]
2024 Theo James  United Kingdom actor and producer[2]
2023 Mary Maker  South Sudan teacher, actor and writer[3]
2023 Luis Gerardo Méndez  Mexico actor and producer[4]
2023 Aseel Omran  Saudi Arabia actress and singer[5]
2023 Yang Yang  China administrator, retired short track speed skater, and businesswoman[6]
2021 Raya Abirached  Lebanon TV presenter and journalist[7]
2021 Tanya Burr  United Kingdom actress, influencer, and entrepreneur[8]
2021 Alphonso Davies Canada footballer[9]
2021 Maya Ghazal  Syria refugee and pilot[10]
2021 Tahsan Khan  Bangladesh singer-songwriter and actor[11]
2021 Gugu Mbatha-Raw United Kingdom actress[12]
2021 Anita Rani  United Kingdom journalist and broadcaster[13]
2020 2Baba (Innocent Idibia) Nigeria Musician, producer, and entrepreneur[14]
2020 Kwame Annom (Biishville)  Ghana chef and entrepreneur[15]
2020 Yiech Pur Biel South Sudan Olympic athlete[16]
2020 Betty G  Ethiopia singer and songwriter[17]
2020 Kat Graham  United States singer and actress[18]
2020 Alfonso Herrera  Mexico actor[19]
2020 Manizha Sangin Russia singer and songwriter[20]
2020 Nomzamo Mbatha South Africa Actress, Humanitarian, TV Presenter[21]
2019 Atom Araullo Philippines journalist[22][23]
2019 Helena Christensen  Denmark model and photographer[24]
2019 Mahira Khan  Pakistan actress[25]
2019 Leanne Manas  South Africa television presenter, businesswoman and journalist[26]
2019 Mercy Masika  Kenya singer and songwriter[27]
2019 Nikki Samonas  Ghana actress and television host[28]
2018 Emtithal Mahmoud  Sudan poet[29]
2018 Ben Stiller  United States actor
2017 Praya Lundberg  Thailand model and actress
2017 Miyavi  Japan musician
2017 Neil Gaiman  United Kingdom writer
2017 Yusra Mardini  Syria swimmer[30]
2017 Kristin Davis  United States actor[31]
2017 MIYAVI  Japan mucisian and actor[32]
2017 David Morrissey  United Kingdom actor
2017 Alessandro Gassman  Italy actor
2017 Iskui Abalyan  Armenia  Belarus singer
2017 Yasmine Salhi  Tunisia artiste
2016 Cate Blanchett  Australia actor
2016 John Abraham  India actor
2015 Jung Woo-sung  South Korea actor
2015 Ger Duany  South Sudan actor and model
2015 Rokia Traore  Mali singer-songwriter
2015 Sheikha Rima al-Sabah  Kuwait philanthropist and former journalist[33]
2013 Aidos Sagat  Kazakhstan singer
2013 Alek Wek  United Kingdom supermodel
2013 Khaled Hosseini  United States writer[34]
2007 Jesús Vázquez  Spain TV presenter[35]
2007 Muazzez Ersoy  Turkey singer
2006 George Dalaras  Greece singer
2006 Osvaldo Laport  Uruguay actor[36]
2003 Julien Clerc  France singer
2000 Adel Emam  Egypt actor
1987 Barbara Hendricks  United States classical singer

Other positions

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  • Barbara Hendricks became a Goodwill Ambassador in 1987. She became the first Honorary Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador in 2002, the only person to hold this title.[37]
  • Angelina Jolie became a Goodwill Ambassador in 2001. In 2012, she was appointed the Special Envoy to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[38]

Past ambassadors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Karen Wazen". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  2. ^ James, Theo. "Theo James". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  3. ^ "Mary Maker". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  4. ^ "Luis Gerardo Méndez". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  5. ^ "Saudi artist Aseel Omran appointed as UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador". UNHCR Africa. 2023-05-10. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  6. ^ "Yang Yang". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  7. ^ "Raya Abirached". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  8. ^ "Tanya Burr". UNHCR. 2020-02-09. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  9. ^ "Alphonso Davies becomes the first footballer to take UNHCR's Goodwill Ambassador title". UN News. 2021-03-24. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
  10. ^ "Maya Ghazal, UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador".
  11. ^ "Tahsan Khan". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  12. ^ "British actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw named latest UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador". UN News. 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  13. ^ "UK TV and Radio Broadcaster Anita Rani joins UNHCR as a Goodwill Ambassador". www.unhcr.org. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  14. ^ "2Baba (Innocent Idibia)". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  15. ^ "Kwame Annom (Biishville)". UNHCR. 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  16. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Yiech Pur Biel". UNHCR. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  17. ^ "Betty G". UNHCR. 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  18. ^ "Kat Graham". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  19. ^ "Alfonso Herrera". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  20. ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Manizha". UNHCR. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  21. ^ "Nomzamo Mbatha". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  22. ^ "UNHCR - Atom Araullo". UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  23. ^ "Atom Araullo appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador". UNHCR. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  24. ^ "Helena Christensen". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  25. ^ "Mahira Khan". UNHCR.
  26. ^ "Leanne Manas". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  27. ^ "Mercy Masika". UNHCR UK. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  28. ^ "Nikki Samonas". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  29. ^ "Emtithal Mahmoud". UNHCR. 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  30. ^ Mardini, Yusra. "Yusra Mardini". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  31. ^ "Kristin Davis". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  32. ^ "MIYAVI". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  33. ^ "Sheikha Rima al-Sabah". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  34. ^ "Khaled Hosseini". UNHCR. 2016-12-18. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  35. ^ "Jesús Vázquez". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  36. ^ "Osvaldo Laport". UNHCR. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  37. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Barbara Hendricks". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 2022-10-06. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  38. ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "Former Special Envoy Angelina Jolie". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 2023-03-26. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  39. ^ "Former UNHCR National Goodwill Ambassador". UNHCR Hong Kong. 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
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