BEN
AFFLECK LAUNCHING U.N. VIDEO FOR CONGO REFUGEES (MaximsNews YouTube)
Ben
Affleck at the launch of "Gimme Shelter"
in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at United Nations Headquarters in New
York on 17 December 2008. Photo: UNHCR: Jennifer
Graylock.
BEN AFFLECK & MICK JAGGER:
VIDEO "GIMME SHELTER" HELP CONGO WAR REFUGEES AND UNHCR: 28/12/2008 (MaximsNews YouTube)
UNITED
NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 28
December 2008 -- The
Actor-director Ben Affleck and
Rolling Stone singer Sir Mick Jagger have launched a short film –
“Gimme Shelter” –
in order to raise $23 million for the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, for clean water and
emergency aid kits for 250,000 people driven from their homes by renewed
fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) it was announced
recently at the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium at U.N. headquarters in New York
City.
The film was shot last
month in North Kivu province, epicentre of the latest surge in fighting and is
set to the Rolling Stones' song of the same name, “Gimme
Shelter”, which Jagger and the Rolling Stones donated to the campaign.
The film was directed by Ben
Affleck and filmed by John Toll,
both of whom are Academy Award winners.
“We
made the film in order to focus attention on the humanitarian crisis in
the DRC at a time when too much of the world is indifferent or looking the
other way,” said
Affleck at the launching at United Nations Headquarters in New York.
“The suffering and loss we’ve all seen first-hand is staggering – it
is beyond belief.”
See
Ben Affleck and the U.N. Launch of "Gimme Shelter" on MaximsNews
YouTube
Gimme Shelter, aims to
raise funds for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
It captures the
suffering of families in the Congo who have had to flee the fighting and are now
forced to live in makeshift huts after losing their possessions.
UNHCR is
also helping over 30,000 other refugees have been forced to flee to Uganda and
neighbouring countries.
“The Rolling Stones
are very happy to contribute to ‘Gimme Shelter’ in support of Ben’s
efforts to raise the profile of the conflict in the Congo,” said Sir Mick.
“We all need to stand
up and support the work of organizations like UNHCR who are on the ground
offering protection and working hard to ensure the rights and well-being of
refugees,” continued the super-star singer who dropped out of the London
School of Economics as a young man to form a rock band.
Affleck traveled to the
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
last month to shoot footage in
the strife-torn North
Kivu province, a region where tens of thousands have been forced to flee their homes
because of the fighting since August.
Affleck also
traveled to neighbouring Uganda, where over 30,000 refugees currently receive
assistance from UNHCR.
António
Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, thanked everyone in the
campaign for their concern and commitment.
“Their contribution will have
a direct impact on the lives of uprooted people not only in the DRC but
around the world,” he said.
The U.N.
launch of "Gimme Shelter" on MaximsNews
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United Nations and the International Community, giving "Power and Resonance
to the Voice of the International Community." The video interview was
edited for MaximsNews YouTube by MaximsNews Editor Bonnie L. Blake.
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