'Artists for the UN' scheme launched to promote global peace

An initiative to encourage artists, entertainers, statesmen and stateswomen to publicly support the ideals, vision and mandate of the United Nations as the best organization to promote peace across the globe was launched at the world body's Headquarters in New York today.

The UN and the Global Vision for Peace, a non-governmental organization (NGO), have joined forces to set up Artists for the UN - a collection of artists and other public figures who will affirm the role and work of the UN.

Actress Drew Barrymore was named "A Friend of the UN" and given the Dove of Peace pin, a symbol of the Global Vision for Peace, to wear.

Ms. Barrymore told a press conference organized by the UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP) and the Global Vision for Peace that she felt honoured to use her celebrity status as "an outlet to do something deeper and more important than just the fame itself."

Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper has confirmed he will wear the Dove of Peace pin at this year's Academy Awards ceremony, to be held on 29 February. Later this year the Audrey Hepburn Award will also be given to a "film artist who serves the higher cause of humanity and the ideal of global peace."

The Dalai Lama, five Nobel Peace Prize laureates, several members of the United States Congress and such artists as Robert Altman, Susan Sarandon, Kurt Vonnegut and Yoko Ono are backing the initiative.

Designer Xorin Balbes and producer-journalist HeathCliff Rothman created the Global Vision for Peace last year. The NGO supports causes such as the removal of landmines and tackling the AIDS pandemic.

Video of press conference