By Gina Gomez
Mar 21, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The United Nations Developmental Program (UNDP) has chosen much acclaimed actor Antonio Banderas as the Goodwill Ambassador for U.N. Nations, who is expected to play a significant role in the organization’s fight against poverty. The news that the Spanish actor would assume the responsibilities of the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador came to light on Wednesday, when UNDP made the announcement.

While reacting to the assigning of the 49 year old actor, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark has expressed that the organization is extremely pleased to have been joined by Antonio Banderas while adding that the commitment that the much acclaimed actor has showcased towards those who really need help made him the perfect choice for the role. At the same time, UNDP has also stated that the celebrity status of the actor would be instrumental in bringing in focus the Millennium Development Goals, which is basically a set of objectives that aim to reduce the poverty in the world by half by the year 2015. Under the initiative, the main problems that would be addressed include hunger, illiteracy, pollution, disease as well as discrimination against women.

In a statement that has been released by Antonio Banderas, the “Mask of Zorro” star pointed out the importance of bringing an end to the menace of poverty in which he highlighted that it was pertinent to muster up all the efforts to deal with poverty. Moreover, the “Evita’ actor reiterated that poverty strips individuals of their potential as a human and inhibits people from being what they actually are. However, the actor also reportedly added that he was extremely excited to have the high profile rank of Goodwill Ambassadors.