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Star Brazilian footballer and UN ambassador dedicates final to hungry children

Star Brazilian footballer and UN ambassador dedicates final to hungry children

Kaká
When the Brazilian midfielder Kaká takes to the field tomorrow night to battle for one of soccer’s most glittering prizes, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) ambassador will dedicate his participation to the plight of the world’s estimated 400 million hungry children.

When the Brazilian midfielder Kaká takes to the field tomorrow night to battle for one of soccer’s most glittering prizes, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) ambassador will dedicate his participation to the plight of the world’s estimated 400 million hungry children.

Kaká, 25, who will play for the Italian club AC Milan against Liverpool of the United Kingdom in the final of the Champions League in Athens, is the youngest Ambassador Against Hunger for the WFP.

“As professional footballers, we are very privileged,” Kaká said after arriving in Athens to prepare for the match. “From time to time we have a chance to help others because of who we are and what we do. I want to use my position as a WFP Ambassador Against Hunger to make more people aware of the challenges of feeding hundreds of millions of hungry children in some of the poorest, least developed parts of the world.”

WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran said “it’s an incredible asset to have the world’s best player in the world’s favourite game on our team. Kaká has shown that he can combine the skills and dedication needed to be at the very top of the game with a commitment to a worthy humanitarian cause.”

WFP gives food to an average of 90 million people, including 58 million children, each year across 80 countries as part of its programmes to assist the world’s most needy and malnourished.

Other WFP Ambassadors Against Hunger include the Kenyan marathon world record holder Paul Tergat, the Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho and the Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora.