geri named ambassador

Geri Halliwell named Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Population Fund

Geri's safe sex message U. N. press release Geri saving women's lives

"Geri Estelle Halliwell (born 6 August 1972) spent her early show biz career in Spain as a night-club dancer (which involves performing in provacative underwear in a cage suspended above a dance floor) and she even worked as a hostess on a Turkish Game Show. Geri has also worked as an aerobics teacher, barmaid and cleaner" (Unofficial Ginger Spice In My Pocket, New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1997).

Until now, Geri's greatest claim to fame has been as one of five 'Spice Girls.' "Distinguishing marks include two tattoos -- one is of a black panther on the base of her spine. ("Geri said that she didn't cry when she had her tattoos done because girls are stronger than boys")" (Unofficial Ginger Spice In My Pocket, New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1997).

An Ex-Spice Girl since May 31, 1998, Geri Halliwell has begun a second career as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Population Fund in Britain - where she will receive a salary of $1 a year (The Sunday Telegraph, UK, October 25, 1998).

"As Ginger Spice, (Geri Halliwell) was the most worldly of the Spice Girls, the most self-assured, the loudest, the oldest, the most financially astutue and - though they are no intellectuals - the most intelligent. Posh, Sporty, Scary, and Baby were fine in their way, but Ginger was the very embodiment of Girl Power. Sporty, for example, would never have flashed a breast on television, and Posh certainly wouldn't have pinched the Prince of Waleses' bottom, but Ginger did all this and more" (The Sunday Telegraph, UK, October 25, 1998).

Memorable quotes by Ginger Spice include her statement 'My favourite word is "Existentialism". I can't say it and I'm not quite sure what it means' (Unofficial Ginger Spice In My Pocket, New York: Macmillan Publishers, 1997) and her conversation during her visit with President Nelson Mandella of South Africa:

"'You're our hero,' Ginger Spice warbled in an accent so atrocious that it couldn't possibly be real. 'You're talking about an old man,' countered Nelson Mandella." "'Naaawww,' she bleated. 'You're young inside'" (Christine James, 1997).

Now, "Ms. Halliwell will be working in partnership with Marie Stopes International and Population Concern in the United Kingdom as part of UNFPA's "Face to Face" campaign with European organizations to raise concern about reproductive health and rights, especially for women" (PRESS RELEASE, United Nations Population Fund, NEW YORK, 20 October 1998).

"The "Face to Face" campaign which Ms. Halliwell will be part of has the common aim of sensitizing the public to the need for universal reproductive heath care and the empowerment of women. Another objective of the campaign is to ensure that population assistance for developing countries from donor nations is maintained or augmented" (PRESS RELEASE, United Nations Population Fund, NEW YORK, 20 October 1998).

"(Goodwill Ambassadors) are not the grandest in the hierarchy - those are the Ambassadors of Peace, figures of the stature of Michael Douglas and Linda Gray (who played Sue Ellen in Dallas) who report directly to the Secretariat. Below them are the Unicef ones, and the Goodwill Ambassadors of the UN Population Fund. Why do the earnest people at the UN employ ambassadors from showbusiness? 'We have celebrity ambassadors,' explains a spokesman, 'because they can reach an audience that we can't - in this case girls and young women'" (The Sunday Telegraph, UK, October 25, 1998).

"So she won't be making deals with Yasser Arafat. She'll be talking to young women - her fans - in school, colleges and prisons, and advising them to take better care of themselves. She'll be a Condom Plenipotentiary, a role which, given her extensive experience of pop stardom, should suit her very well" (The Sunday Telegraph, UK, October 25, 1998).

"What brought this about? It was her time in the music industry that made Geri realise that this was a widespread problem. For example, did you know that two out of every five members of prominent girl bands have experienced difficulties with contraception?" (The Sunday Times, UK, October 25, 1998).

"'I am incredibly honoured to be named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund,' said Ms. Halliwell, accepting the appointment at the United Nations headquarters in New York" (PRESS RELEASE, United Nations Population Fund, NEW YORK, 20 October 1998).

"'Ever since I've entered the media arena I've always stood for the empowerment of women, that's what the UN Population Fund is about and I'll be promoting the empowerment of women in developing countries,' she said" (PRESS RELEASE, United Nations Population Fund, NEW YORK, 20 October 1998).

"'We are delighted that Geri is going to be a Goodwill Ambassador for us,' said Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund. 'She has the attention of young women around the world and will be a powerful advocate for the right of women to reproductive health care including family planning'" (PRESS RELEASE, United Nations Population Fund, NEW YORK, 20 October 1998).

"Seasoned Spice-watchers are bemused by (Ginger Spice's) metamorphosis. 'In just seven days,' protested The Mirror, 'Geri Halliwell has turned from a mouthy pop tar tart to ... a contemplative philosopher!' Indeed. She has been photographed clutching a copy of Further Along the Road Less Travelled by Dr. Scott Peck, an American psychiatrist ... More worryingly, Halliwell has also been photographed carrying a copy of The Scientology Handbook, which is quite heavy" (The Sunday Telegraph, UK, October 25, 1998).