NEESON LAUNCHES MOVIE ACTION FOR CHILDREN

UNICEF Ireland have launched a new project, Movie Action for Children, spearheaded by Liam Neeson, and sponsored by software company IONA Technology.
Stars, directors and producers will be donating original props, costumes and signed memorabilia from their personal film careers to be auctioned in New York on March 6. Leading industry figures who have already confirmed their support and provided donations include George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Paul Newman, Mel Gibson, Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Sharon Stone, Gabrial Byrne, Robert de Niro and Ralph Fiennes.
Movie Action for Children focuses on a lesser known side of the AIDS tragedy. In Africa over 500,000 infants are born each year with the HIV virus caused by Mother to Child Transmission. These babies stand only a one in four chance of surviving to their fifth birthday. Despite the scale of the challenge, ending Mother to Child Transmission is an achievable goal and one that Neeson, with UNICEF, felt compelled to achieve.
Neeson said: “When UNICEF told me about Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS I felt I had to do something. I approached friends in the movie community to make a once-off gesture, to achieve the very goal of ensuring these kids are at least given the chance to be born without the HIV virus. We wanted to ensure that all of the monies raised would go directly to UNICEF’s programmes, so it was wonderful when IONA Technologies came on board to sponsor the entire event.”
Sotheby’s will host the event, with exhibitions of the items in Los Angeles, London and New York. For the first time this prestigious auction house have agreed to waive all of the commission from the sale.
The goal of Movie Action for Children is to increase child survival and development.
Money raised from this project will fund UNICEF programmes in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Cote d’Ivoire. (CD)