Whitaker Named U.N Goodwill Ambassador

Forest Whitaker is following in the footsteps of stars including Angelina Jolie and Shakira by taking up a post as a United Nations (U.N.) goodwill ambassador.

The Oscar-winning actor is to be affiliated with the organisation's educational, scientific and cultural body, Unesco, and will be officially inducted into his role as goodwill ambassador for peace and reconciliation at a ceremony on Tuesday (21Jun11).

Whitaker, who famously portrayed Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, has been offered the role in recognition of his "humanitarian and artistic commitment" with projects such as his Better Angels film, which highlighted the plight of Ugandan child soldiers.

Meanwhile in other news Angelina Jolie spent her Friday (17Jun11) with Syrian refugees in Turkey after securing special permission to carry out her duties as ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

The humanitarian actress flew to Turkey and met with those forced out of their homeland by war after lodging her request with the country's foreign ministry officials.

Prior to the trip, she recorded a new video message to mark World Refugee day on 20 June (11).

In the footage, she says, "Every day, thousands of people run from war, persecution and terror. Even one is too many. One family forced to flee is too many. One child growing up in a camp is too many. One refugee without hope is too many."