Ewan in Malawi in 2005, during his first project visit as a UNICEF Ambassador
© UNICEF UK/Caroline Irby
Ewan and Charley with school children at St Martin’s School in Copee camp, Uganda, during their Long Way Down adventure.
© UNICEF/2007/Chulho Hyun
Brief biography
Actor Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge, Star Wars) has been involved with UNICEF since 2004. Since then he has made a number of visits to UNICEF projects, the majority of which have been shown as part of his TV shows.
In 2008, Ewan recorded an emergency appeal film for the children affected by the food shortages in Ethiopia and raised £18,500 by auctioning one of his motorbikes on ebay.
Ewan also gave his support to UNICEF UK's call for action on UK child poverty. In Ewan's video message on child poverty he urges the UK Government to keep it's promise to halve child poverty by 2010 and end child poverty by 2020.
The summer of 2007 saw Charley and Ewan undertaking a second motorbike journey, Long Way Down, from John O'Groats in Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa. Once again they wanted to involve UNICEF in the series and three UNICEF visits were incorporated into their journey.
The first visit took them to Ethiopia, where they saw how children's lives had been affected by conflict. They met children who had lost limbs in mine accidents and saw for themselves how vital UNICEF's mine awareness work is. In Uganda, they met former child soldiers who had been abducted into the Lord's Resistance Army and are now being rehabilitated. The final stop was to a Children's Corner in Malawi, where children orphaned by HIV and AIDS can get a daily meal, basic health care, education and the opportunity to play.
The Long Way Down team set themselves an ambitious target of raising £500K to support projects throughout Africa, which they exceeded.
Ewan was one of a number of Ambassadors involved in our HIV/AIDS video and photo shoot used at the start of the campaign. In November 2005, Ewan hosted a gala performance of Guys and Dolls followed by a pledged dinner which raised over £300k for children affected by HIV/AIDS.
Also in 2005, Ewan visited Malawi to see how children in the country are affected by HIV and AIDS. His personal diary of the visit was published in the Telegraph Magazine. The following year, he fronted The Missing Face documentary with Charley Boorman. The programme followed Ewan and Charley on their journeys to Malawi and Swaziland, two countries hard hit by HIV in Southern Africa. It was screened by Sky on World AIDS Day 2006.
In 2004, Ewan he circumnavigated the world on his motorbike, as part of the TV series Long Way Round with friend Charley Boorman. En route from London to New York they made three stop offs to visit UNICEF-supported projects.
Their first project visit was to a centre in Ukraine supporting children who had been physically and emotionally affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Next, they visited a UNICEF-supported climbing centre in Kazakhstan. Their final stop was in Mongolia, where they visited the pipe maintenance caverns that are home to some of the thousands of street children in search of shelter from the harsh Mongolian winters.
Returning from their trip, Charley and Ewan held a biker themed fundraising party, raising £115K for UNICEF’s work. The money went towards projects in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
Ewan McGregor says:
"As fathers, we know what a force for life children can be. They represent all of our futures. UNICEF is successfully giving children and young people all over the world opportunities and hope. Just like the ones we met on the Long Way Down - protecting them from exploitation and giving them chances in life."
