UNAIDS International Goodwill Ambassador Annie Lennox received the Fashion 4 Development Award on 21 September in recognition of her outstanding work as a campaigner for women’s rights and HIV issues.
The award was made at the Fashion 4 Development’s Annual First Ladies Luncheon, which is held during the United Nations General Assembly week in New York, United States of America, to celebrate the unprecedented cooperation between diplomacy and fashion for the greater good of women and children worldwide.
Annie Lennox has been actively engaged in responding to HIV since 2003, when she first met Nelson Mandela and personally witnessed how the AIDS pandemic was affecting countries and communities.
After seeing how the epidemic disproportionally affects women and children, she has dedicated her efforts to help women empower other women. In 2008, Ms Lennox founded the Circle, a group of influential women who have come together to use their profiles, ideas, skills and resources to connect with women living in poverty around the world deprived of their human rights.
In her role as a UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador, Annie Lennox has undertaken numerous high-profile speaking roles and field missions and has been a prominent voice for the implementation of the Global Plan towards the elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keeping their mothers alive, which has led to a reduction in new HIV infections among children globally.
Fashion 4 Development is a private sector global platform founded by Evie Evangelou in 2011 and supports the Sustainable Development Goals by promoting social change through harnessing the power of the fashion industry and facilitating platforms for exchange and engagement.