Emma Watson Named UN Goodwill Ambassador

Which actress was named a Goodwill Ambassador yesterday by the United Nations?

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Late last night on Twitter, Harry Potter  alum Emma Watson announced that she will become a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations, helping out with women’s issues around the globe:

So excited to start work with the AMAZING people at UN Women! @UN_Women @phumzileunwomen @e_nyamayaro
Going to be working for the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and The Empowerment of Women (!!!) http://t.co/9ABpKSrNCb

The world was clearly very excited about the announcement, as the UN Women’s Twitter account posted this shortly after:

The exciting announcement of @EmWatson's appointment as our Goodwill Ambassador crashed our website! We apologize &hope to be back up soon.

It’s a pretty good first job out of college for Watson, who graduated from Brown University this past spring. In addition to her day job in front of the camera, she’ll now have an opportunity to work together with representatives from across the globe to help increase opportunities and provide assistance for women.

Watson’s first UN project is working on the HeForShe campaign, which encourages men to stand up against inequality around the world.

 “Women's rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can't imagine an opportunity more exciting,” she said.

UN Women’s Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (easiest name to pronounce, ever) is fired up to have Watson on board as well. “We are thrilled and honoured to work with Emma, whom we believe embodies the values of UN Women,” she said “The engagement of young people is critical for the advancement of gender equality in the 21st century, and I am convinced that Emma's intellect and passion will enable UN Women's messages to reach the hearts and minds of young people globally.”

It’s not clear how Watson became the UN’s choice for this role, but we can only assume they saw her Harry Potter work ethic and simply assumed that’s how she was in real life.

[via BBC]

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