Watts joins UN fight against AIDS

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Oscar-nominee Naomi Watts on
Monday joined the UN fight against AIDS, saying she could no
longer stand by and watch people die.

Watts, 37, who starred in “King Kong” and “Muholland
Drive,” was appointed special representative for UNAIDS, the
umbrella UN coordinating body for HIV-AIDS, which recently
named conductor and cellist Mstislav Rostropovich as its
goodwill ambassador.

Born in Britain and raised in Australia, Watts just
returned from five days in Zambia, where only one in five
people stricken with the disease receive treatment.

“Given these stark realities, I could no longer stand on
the sidelines,” Watts told a news conference at UN headquarters
in New York.

Asked about the Bush administration’s emphasis on
abstinence rather than contraceptives in foreign aid, she said,
“While it (abstinence) is probably the safest way to avoid it,
it is impossible for certain people to practice it.”

“So I am a big believer in the use of contraception,” Watts
said.

About 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV,
the virus that causes AIDS, and some 25 million people have
died from the pandemic, most of them in Africa.

Watts was highlighting the new UNAIDS campaign called “4
for Everyone” — referring to prevention, treatment, care and
support.

Watts, whose screen credits also include “The Ring” and “21
Grams,” is the latest in a string of celebrities to sign up for
UN duties.

Michael Douglas promotes arms control as a peace messenger
for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Australian Nicole Kidman
in January became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations
Development Fund for Women; Angelina Jolie represents the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees; Danny Glover travels for the UN
Development Program and tennis star Roger Federer volunteers on
behalf of the UN Children’s Agency,

The concept was first popularized by entertainer Danny
Kaye, who from 1954 until his death in 1987 clocked thousands
of miles for UNICEF, the UN Children’s Fund, and was selected
to accept the agency’s Nobel Peace Prize in 1965.