Jackie Chan Invites You to be Citizen Ambassador to United Nations;

 

Three Weeks Left to Enter Video Contest on UN YouTube Channel

 

Submissions to the “Citizen Ambassadors” video contest on the United Nations Channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/unitednations) will end in three weeks, on 23 August.

A final call for entries for the 2010 contest, featuring UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) Goodwill Ambassador and world-famous actor Jackie Chan, has been posted on the United Nations Channel on YouTube, calling for video submissions on the theme of the Millennium Development Goals.

The Citizen Ambassadors video contest utilizes new media and social networking websites to engage a new global audience on the work of the United Nations.  The innovative contest, organized by the Department of Public Information, represents a rare opportunity for citizens of the world to speak to world leaders and engage in a global dialogue by making personal video messages and uploading them to the United Nations Channel on YouTube.

As United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “The Millennium Development Goals are about improving the lives of everyday people around the globe; this contest is about giving a voice to those who want to make a difference.”

In addition to the Secretary-General and Mr. Chan, noted celebrities and public figures have appeared in call-for-entries videos to raise awareness of the contest and of the Millennium Development Goals, such as United Nations Messengers of Peace Stevie Wonder and Princess Haya; and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Angélique Kidjo, Youssou N’Dour and Leo Messi.  The Goals are a set of eight internationally agreed targets designed to bring concrete results by 2015 in the fields of poverty, hunger, disease, maternal and child deaths, education, gender equality and sustainability.

In addition, in an effort to increase access to the contest in developing nations in 2010, the Department of Public Information established a unique partnership with the United Nations Foundation and Cisco’s Flip Video, which provided 52 Flip Video cameras to United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) throughout the world.  The Information Centres can assist interested individuals without access to adequate technology or a video camera in preparing and uploading their video message at one of the participating Centres.  For a list of those Centres around the world, please see:  http://unic.un.org/factsheet/.

The six 2010 winners will be selected on the basis of the merit, originality and creativity of their videos about the meaning and importance of the Millennium Development Goals in their own lives and in those of their families and communities.  The results of the contest will be announced in late September; the six winners will be designated as the 2010 Citizen Ambassadors to the United Nations.

The 2010 Citizen Ambassadors, representing all regions of the world, will win a trip to New York City for United Nations Day 2010, in October, courtesy of the United Nations Department of Public Information.  During their visit, the winners will get to meet Secretary-General Ban, take a special tour of United Nations Headquarters and attend the United Nations Day Concert in the General Assembly Hall as ‘VIP’ guests of the United Nations.

The six 2010 winners will also receive a customized Flip Cam Mino HD, generously provided by the United Nations Foundation and with kind support from Flip Video, so they may continue documenting their communities’ efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and to share their stories with the world.

For further information, please contact Einat Temkin, Outreach Division, Department of Public Information, tel.:  +1 917 367-5841; e-mail:  temkin@un.org; or visit:  http://www.youtube.com/user/unitednations.

Official campaign website:  http://www.uncitizenambassadors.org; on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/CitizenAmbassadors; on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/CitizenAmbs2UN.

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For information media • not an official record