Sir Roger Moore draws attention to UNICEF in Canada
24-Feb-2006 • Actor News
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The actor showcased his debonair as British agent James Bond, but his self-assigned mission now is drawing attention to the plight of the dying children worldwide.
Moore has been a goodwill ambassador to UNICEF for 15 years and has witnessed first-hand the suffering of children in Third World countries. He knows UNICEF programs make a difference.
The 78-year-old says it doesn't bother him that he's constantly asked about his Bond days, partly because he knows his profile has helped showcase the organization.
"It's not as if I had robbed a bank or done something terribly criminal, although playing Bond is a little like robbing a bank," he told CTV's Canada AM while in Toronto Wednesday.
Moore is carrying his message to Quebec City this weekend for an all-things-Bond event partly in support of UNICEF.
It was the late Audrey Hepburn who recruited Moore for the role during an international awards event for children.
"She was passionate and I think her passion inspired me to learn a little more," he says.
"I have never regretted one second of these 15 years. It's been wonderfully rewarding in the sense that I'm not floating around the world as I did when I was Bond ⦠ignoring the real problems of the world."
Moore says he's been lucky in life and wants to give something back. He's made his UNICEF work a big part of his life.
UNICEF Canada presented its 50th anniversary report on Wednesday. It concludes 29,000 children under the age of five die every day from illnesses like pneumonia that are very treatable. However, more children are surviving than 50 years ago.
According to UNICEF Canada:
- 79 out of every 1,000 children die before they turn five, compared with 210 in 1955.
- Three million more children survived in the year 2000 than in 1990, an 11 per cent decrease in the under-five mortality rate in that decade alone.
- But rates of mortality in 14 countries, nine in sub-Saharan Africa, are rising, due mostly to the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS.
- Globally, 10.6 million children die from preventable causes every year. Pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections kill about 2 million children every year, making it the leading cause of death of children under 5.
The Conservative government has stepped up to help the cause with the announcement with $46.5 million in aid, announced Wednesday by Minister of International Co-operation Josée Verner.
Along with free Bond movies all weekend, $2,000 tickets are being sold to have dinner with Moore on Friday. There is also a gala event for $60 a piece on Saturday that includes a who's who list of former Bond actors.
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