UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox Awarded The 2016 Fashion 4 Development Award

UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox received the Fashion 4 Development Award on 21 September in recognition of her outstanding work as a campaigner for women’s rights and HIV issues.

The award was made at the Fashion 4 Development’s Annual First Ladies Luncheon, which is held during the United Nations General Assembly week in New York, United States of America, to celebrate the unprecedented cooperation between diplomacy and fashion for the greater good of women and children worldwide.

Annie Lennox has been actively engaged in responding to HIV since 2003, when she first met Nelson Mandela and personally witnessed how the AIDS pandemic was affecting countries and communities.

After seeing how the epidemic disproportionally affects women and children, she has dedicated her efforts to help women empower other women. In 2008, Ms Lennox founded the Circle, a group of influential women who have come together to use their profiles, ideas, skills and resources to connect with women living in poverty around the world deprived of their human rights.

In her role as a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Annie Lennox has undertaken numerous high-profile speaking roles and field missions and has been a prominent voice for the implementation of the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, which has led to a reduction in new HIV infections among children globally.

Fashion 4 Development is a private sector global platform founded by Evie Evangelou in 2011 and supports the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting social change through harnessing the power of the fashion industry and facilitating platforms for exchange and engagement.

QUOTES

“I AM PERSONALLY SO GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES I HAVE BEEN GIVEN, BY THE SACRIFICES OF SO MANY COURAGEOUS WOMEN OF PAST AND PRESENT GENERATIONS. THAT IS WHY I AM A PASSIONATE ADVOCATE FOR THE RIGHTS OF GIRLS AND WOMEN IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD.”

ANNIE LENNOX UNAIDS GOODWILL AMBASSADOR

 

THIS AWARD IS VERY WELL-DESERVED AND IS TESTAMENT TO ANNIE LENNOX'S LONGSTANDING COMMITMENT TO THESE ISSUES. SHE IS A POWERFUL AND PASSIONATE ADVOCATE WHO WORKS TIRELESSLY TO EMPOWER WOMEN AND GIRLS. UNAIDS IS PROUD THAT SHE IS OUR GOODWILL AMBASSADOR.

MICHEL SIDIBÉ UNAIDS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR