Goodwill Ambassadors

Ronaldo

Soccer superstar fulfils poor boy’s promise

"I suffered a lot during my childhood and I have not forgotten my origins." Growing up poor in Brazil prompted Ronaldo to become a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador in 2000 to help move the world against poverty in the new millennium.

"When I was a child I vowed that one day I would become rich so that I could help my family," he recalls. He began playing soccer barefoot in the streets of the poor Rio de Janeiro neighbourhood of Bento Ribeiro, where he was born in 1976, and signed up with his first club when he was 14 years old.

"In football I learned that with motivation and determination I could achieve my dreams – even if they seemed impossible at times. If the whole world unites against poverty and hunger, we can beat it and become champions."

Ronaldo has personally committed to developing new partnerships, to spread the word to help sensitize people to bring about real and tangible change in the struggle against poverty. "No one should be doomed to a life of poverty, whether by birth or as a consequence of war," he declares.

In the years since his appointment, Ronaldo has shone the light of his soccer superstardom on what needs to be done. "I am particularly concerned that everyone should be able to have an education to be equipped for life," he says. "The goal of ending poverty is within reach and everyone can contribute to it by getting involved or supporting organizations that are already working to give the poor a better life."

Despite his optimism, Ronaldo has no illusions of the immensity of the task. "There are many challenges ahead of us," he points out. "Today millions of people still go to bed hungry every night, a women dies of pregnancy or childbirth every minute, HIV/AIDS continues to spread and destroy families and communities, and a child dies every three seconds from preventable diseases."

When the call came from UNDP, Ronaldo recalls, "I could not think of a better way to start the season in 2001 than in a single event that brings together two great motivations -- football, which is my passion, and my responsibilities as UNDP Goodwill Ambassador, in the service of the fight against poverty."

A highlight of his career as Goodwill Ambassador was an appearance along with fellow Goodwill Ambassador Zinédine Zidane and such stars as England's captain David Beckham, Brazilians Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos in the Match Against Poverty in Basel, Switzerland, in December 2003. "It was a real thrill to have my friends join me to raise awareness and take a stand against the deprivation that plagues one-fifth of the world population," he remembers.

"I think that those who came to the match realized that they were taking an active part in helping bring hope back to people who are trying their very best to lift themselves out of poverty." The event raised more than US$800,000 for anti-poverty projects in developing countries.

As with his soccer, Ronaldo’s anti-poverty efforts began among the poor children of Brazil, funding projects to help those living in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. He supported the inter-agency efforts of UNAIDS as special representative in its 1998 and 1999 awareness-raising campaigns against HIV/AIDS.

In 1999, Ronaldo launched the UNDP global mobilization campaign called Teams to End Poverty, donating a cheque for the rehabilitation of a school in Kosovo.

22 December 2005: Video of Ronaldo and Zidane's "Match Against Poverty"
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