# FAO Goodwill Ambassador

FAO Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. FAO goodwill ambassadors are celebrity advocates of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations who use their talent and fame to advocate for the organization.
The Goodwill Ambassador Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been in place since 1999. The main purpose of the programme is to increase public awareness and to disseminate information on issues related to food security and hunger.
FAO encourages its goodwill ambassadors to actively use their talents and influence, and to commit themselves personally and professionally, to assist the organization in raising public awareness of the urgent need to eradicate hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity, and in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

## Types of FAO Goodwill Ambassadors

FAO has three types of Goodwill Ambassadors:
* The FAO Global Goodwill Ambassador, who are worldwide known celebrities from the worlds of arts, sports, literature, sciences and other fields of public importance.
* The FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador, who are high-level personalities usually from the field of research or science, who have excelled in an area relevant to the one for which they become special Ambassadors.
* The FAO National Goodwill Ambassador, who are personalities with local appeal, the work of which they support mainly within the country of their nomination.

## Current FAO Goodwill Ambassadors

Current goodwill ambassadors, and the year they were appointed:
| Name | Location | References | Notes |
| Queen Letizia | Spain | 2015 | Special Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition |
| King Letsie III | Lesotho | 2016 | Special Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition |
| Darine El-Khatib | Lebanon | 2017 | Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Near East and North Africa |
| Princess Basma bint Ali | Jordan | 2016 | Regional Goodwill Ambassador for the Near East and North Africa |
| Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn | Thailand | 2016 | Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific |
| Katsuhiro Nakamura | Japan | 2017 | National Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific |
| Hiroko Kuniya | Japan | 2017 | National Goodwill Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific |
| Diarmuid Gavin | Ireland | 2022 | National Goodwill Ambassador for Europe |
| Rodrigo Pacheco | Ecuador | 2022 | National Goodwill Ambassador for Latin America and the Caribbean |

## Former FAO Goodwill Ambassadors

Former goodwill ambassadors, and the year they were appointed:
| Name | Location | References | Notes |
| Thomas Pesquet | France | 2021 | |
| Miriam Makeba | South Africa | 1999 | |
| Dee Dee Bridgewater | United States | 1999 | |
| Gina Lollobrigida | Italy | 1999 | |
| Rita Levi-Montalcini | Italy | 1999 | |
| Gong Li | Singapore | 2000 | |
| Youssou N'Dour | Senegal | 2000 | |
| Gilberto Gil | Brazil | 2001 | |
| Majida El Roumi | Lebanon | 2001 | |
| Albano Carrisi | Italy | 2001 | |
| Mory Kanté | Guinea | 2001 | |
| Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie | Bahamas | 2002 | |
| Roberto Baggio | Italy | 2002 | |
| Massimo Ranieri | Italy | 2002 | |
| Dionne Warwick | United States | 2002 | |
| Italian Singers’ Soccer Team | Italy | 2002 | |
| Khaled | Algeria | 2003 | |
| Maná | Mexico | 2003 | |
| Noa | Israel | 2003 | |
| Justine Pasek | Panama, Poland | 2003 | |
| Oumou Sangaré | Mali | 2003 | |
| Raúl | Spain | 2004 | |
| Carla Fracci | Italy | 2004 | |
| Ronan Keating | Ireland | 2005 | |
| Beatrice Faumuina | New Zealand | 2005 | |
| Chucho Valdés | Cuba | 2006 | |
| María Gloria Penayo De Duarte | Paraguay | 2006 | Extraordinary Ambassador |
| Suzanne Mubarak | Egypt | 2008 | |
| Carl Lewis | United States | 2009 | |
| Anggun | Indonesia, France | 2009 | |
| Margarita Cedeño de Fernández | Dominican Republic | 2009 | |
| Pierre Cardin | France | 2009 | |
| Fanny Lu | Colombia | 2009 | |
| Raoul Bova | Italy | 2010 | |
| Susan Sarandon | United States | 2010 | |
| Celine Dion | Canada | 2010 | |
| Lea Salonga | Philippines | 2010 | |
| Patrick Vieira | France | 2010 | |
| Jeremy Irons | United Kingdom | 2011 | |
| Evo Morales | Bolivia | 2012 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Quinoa |
| Prince Laurent of Belgium | Belgium | 2014 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for Forests and the Environment |
| Leyla Aliyeva | Azerbaijan | 2015 | |
| Abdelouahab Zaid | United Arab Emirates | 2015 | |
| Bharrat Jagdeo | Guyana | 2015 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for Forests and the Environment |
| Joyce Boye | Canada | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Pulses |
| Kadambot Siddique | India | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Pulses |
| Maggie Habib | Egypt | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Pulses |
| Jenny Chandler | United Kingdom | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Pulses |
| Patricia Juárez Arango | Mexico | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Pulses |
| Elizabeth Mpofu | Zimbabwe | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for the International Year of Pulses |
| Carlo Petrini | Italy | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for Zero Hunger |
| Guadalupe Valdez | Dominican Republic | 2016 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for Zero Hunger |
| Kanayo F. Nwanze | Nigeria | 2017 | Special Ambassador to the FAO for Zero Hunger |