LOS ANGELES, California — Priyanka Chopra, Hollywood A-lister and actress, is more well-known for her leading role in “Quantico” and being crowned Miss World than her extensive philanthropy work. Originally from India, Priyanka has used her star power to advocate for and provide aid, education, and safety to women and children in developing countries across the globe. Below are the top 10 facts about Priyanka Chopra’s philanthropy.
Top 10 Facts about Priyanka Chopra’s Philanthropy
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In 2010, Priyanka was made a UNICEF National Ambassador. As a Goodwill Ambassador, Priyanka plays an important role in promoting awareness of the needs of children in India. Additionally, she fundraises, advocates and educates people on the goals of UNICEF. She is often featured in videos and advertisements to build awareness for child rights depicting her commitment to advocating for the world’s most marginalized people: women and children.
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In May 2019, Priyanka took a trip to Ethiopia with UNICEF to visit three refugee camps in Bambasi, Hitsats and Adi-Harush. These camps house more than 70,000 refugees from Somalia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Sudan and Yemen. According to UNICEF, Chopra said during her visit that, “Ethiopia is a shining example of what we – individuals, communities and governments – can do to help those who have been displaced by conflict and humanitarian disasters.” While there she visited refugee schools, hospitals and screening centers to raise awareness for the positive work the government is doing for these refugees.
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Priyanka is also an advocate for the United Nation’s Girl Up, a campaign that supports programs that gives adolescent girls in developing countries an equal chance for education, medical care, social and economic opportunities and a life free from violence. On her decision to join Girl Up, Chopra said, “I am joining Girl Up because I firmly believe in the campaign’s mission, that every girl, no matter where she is born, should grow up safe, healthy and empowered.”
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In the beginning stages of her career, Priyanka started the Priyanka Chopra Foundation for Health and Education, which provides education and medical help to children. Not only did she start this foundation but she also donates 10 percent of everything she earns, enough to help 70 children, to her foundation to help alleviate the suffering of these children.
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As a UNICEF ambassador, Priyanka has been associated with the Deepshikha campaign, which has helped an estimated 70,000 girls and young women in the Indian state of Maharashtra learn entrepreneurial skills and develop self-confidence through financial education and leadership education. Through empowerment, the campaign attempts to help young girls positively contribute to their communities and improve mainstream life for all children. The organization has also created 2850 other groups for adolescent girls.
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Another campaign Priyanka has actively worked on through her relationship with UNICEF is the “Awaaz Do” digital campaign. Through the Right to Free and Compulsatory Education Act, a 2009 Act of the Parliament of India, Priyanka advocates for the right to free schooling every child. Priyanka created a video message of her signing up and asking others to do the same. Within three months 200,000 people had joined.
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As a woman and Indian immigrant, Priyanka has been specifically active in supporting campaigns surrounding adolescent girl’s rights in India. She helped UNICEF publicize the Dare to Care campaign, a movement aimed at demanding the improvement of the lives of marginalized young women. She also voices her support for the “End Violence against Children” campaign which raises awareness about child marriage and the physical, emotional and sexual violence that young women endure in India.
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Along with her work with UNICEF, Priyanka actively supports lesser-known nonprofit organizations in India like Nanhi Kali and Save Girl Child. Both help educate underprivileged girls in India who would otherwise not receive an education due to their circumstances. In 2018, on International Day of the Girl Child, Priyanka was featured in a video for the Save Girl Child campaign to help advocate for adolescents to be able to follow their dreams.
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Along with her focus on child’s rights, Priyanka also advocates for environmental nonprofits whose work helps developing nations improve living conditions. She is a brand ambassador for NDTV’s Greenathon, which works to help provide rural villages with electrical supplies that are environmentally friendly and sustainable. She appears in a video supporting the cause and is shown removing rubbish from the banks of Yamuna River in Agra to promote awareness for environmental issues.
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In 2013, Priyanka did the voice-over, in English and Hindi, for a documentary called “Girls Rising.” The film follows nine girls from Haiti, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Peru, Cambodia, and Afghanistan as they face difficult obstacles ranging from child marriage to child slavery as they attempt to receive an education. The film’s goal is to show the struggle girls in developing countries have to get an education and the changes an education can make to these poverty-stricken places.
As one of India’s most famous celebrities, Priyanka is especially well-equipped to be the face for advocacy for child rights in India and across the globe. These top 10 facts about Priyanka Chopra’s philanthropy depict a woman who is more than a gifted actress or beauty queen. She is an unrelenting advocate for the education, health and safety of children in poverty-stricken countries.
– Hayley Jellison
Photo: Flickr