January 11, 10

NEWS / Actor Will Smith and family auction art to help UN feed hungry in Haiti

8 January 2010 – Hollywood actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith are raising funds to help the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) tackle hunger in Haiti by auctioning a special artwork signed by music artists who performed at the Nobel Peace Prize concert they co-hosted in Oslo last month.
All proceeds will go towards providing nutritious meals to school children in Haiti, where WFP already provides food to more than 500,000 school children.

The artwork, which WFP and the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation will sell on eBay starting today, is based on a map of world hunger. It is decorated with personalized silhouettes drawn by Will, his family and the artists who performed at the concert.

The actor underlined the link between hunger and peace with the words he wrote on his silhouette on the map: “There can be no true peace in the world while there is hunger.”

Other artists who contributed to the artwork include Wyclef Jean, Natasha Bedingfield, Toby Keith, Westlife, Esperanza Spalding, Alexander Rybak, Amadou & Mariam, Donna Summer, Lang Lang and Luis Fonsi.

The Hollywood couple co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert on 2 December in honour of the 2009 Laureate, United States President Barack Obama.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Special Envoy for Haiti Bill Clinton traveled to Haiti in 2009 to raise awareness of efforts to help the Caribbean nation’s people and Government bolster their economic security.

While there, the Secretary-General noted the need to strengthen the country’s food security. He toured a health clinic, a nutrition centre and a vocational training scheme for women – social services supported by WFP and other UN agencies.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33441&Cr=haiti&Cr1=