As the World Cup football championship got off to a start Thursday, UNICEF announced that Spain's teenage superstar Lamine Yamal has been made its youngest-ever Goodwill Ambassador, focusing on children's right to play and supporting those living in humanitarian emergencies, such as conflict or natural disasters.
Yamal's appointment is part of the UN children's agency's efforts to raise awareness of the game's powerful capacity to serve as a platform for sustainable development and social justice.
The supremely talented Spanish team is one of the main favourites to win this World Cup and its right midfielder Yamal promises to be one of the tournament's standout performers.
Children's rights are a cause close to the Barcelona midfielder's heart. On World Children's Day in 2024, as part of a UNICEF campaign, he wrote a heartfelt letter to his younger brother sharing his hopes for children everywhere.
Last year, he handed his social media accounts to a nine-year-old girl from Equatorial Guinea - his mother's home country - allowing her to share with the world her daily life experiences, far from the glamour of Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium.
Yamal's appointment was announced on the International Day of Play, marked annually on June 11. UNICEF has revealed that more than 90 million children under the age of five do not have any playthings such as store-bought toys, household objects or other simple resources for play at home, while 80 million children aged two to four do not play with a parent or caregiver at home.
On the eve of the World Cup kickk off, the UN released a study showing how football can help to change lives for the better and drive progress towards a fairer world.
The report examines the growing impact of the Football for the Goals initiative, which brings together clubs, associations, businesses and civil society to support sustainable development.
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