Anne Hathaway named as a UN Goodwill Ambassador
Strong LGBT advocate Anne Hathaway has been named as a UN Goodwill Ambassador.
The Devil Wears Prada star takes up the role with UN Women with immediate effect, and joins other celebrities like Emma Watson and Nicole Kidman in being an ambassador.
Hathaway said in a statement: “I feel honoured and inspired by this opportunity to aid in advancing gender equality. Significant progress has already been made but it is time that we collectively intensify our efforts and ensure that true equality is finally realised.”
UN Women executive director, Phumzile Mlambo-Nguck sung Hathaway’s praises in a statement: “The appointment of Anne is timely because this year UN Women is driving hard to foster more positive mind-sets and practical arrangements around workplaces that build and support equality for women,” she said.
“The motherhood penalty – which means that when they become mothers, women’s pay and opportunities at work suffer – is a particularly insidious demonstration of gender inequality in the workplace. For too long it has been difficult or impossible to view raising a child as being truly an equal responsibility for both parents.”
The star had her first child with husband Adam Shulman last month.
Her new role will include shining “the spotlight on the issue of the unequal burden of care work in the home as one of the key barriers to gender equality” and “working internationally to advance the adoption and implementation of policies that will bring measurable change”.
This will include “affordable childcare services and shared parental leave at both government and corporate levels.”
In 2012, the actor – a recipient of the Human Rights Campaign Ally Award – sold her wedding photos and donated a share of the profits to marriage equality advocacy groups.
She earlier this year threatened to boycott the state of Georgia over a proposed anti-LGBT bill.
When her brother came out as gay, Hathaway has said she decided to leave the Catholic church.
