George Clooney told to shut up by UN

George Clooney was appointed as United Nations messenger of peace recently but unlike in his movie roles, he has limited powers. Many countries refused to let him speak publicly at a meeting of nations.

George Clooney usually has main roles in movies, but with UN he seems to be having a minor role. He was appointed (Bob's article in DJ) the United Nations messenger of peace few weeks ago. He went to one of the UN meetings, where the nations, who contribute troops to the 17 UN peacekeeping missions, attended. He was refused to deliver his message to the attending delegates by Russia, France and other countries. Clooney gave the following reason for their refusal to the Daily Telegraph:

There are groups that don't feel that I necessarily class up the joint and don't feel that I should be speaking to them.

Though he was able to joke with UN employees, shake hands and take pictures with them, he was unable to offer a speech. Before the meeting, he was away on a UN mission with Jane Holl Lute, the assistant secretary general of peacekeeping operations. He had visited 19 locations in Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo. Though he was on the UN sponsored trip, he had to pay for the tickets. After he returned from the trip, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gave him a new pin on his lapel, marking his designation for the special job. He talked about his trip and was sad that Chad, which he had visited two years ago, has become even worse than before. He said Sudan’s situation also has deteriorated. Because of his popularity, the UN mission he undertook was done in secrecy. The Oscar winner compared his decorated career to his UN job:

An Oscar's a nice thing to have in your life, but this isn't just sort of an honor, it's a responsibility…There's a lot more responsibility with this one than with an Oscar, which all you really have to do is, you know, drink after the party.

He says he can talk boldly, unlike other countries that tend to be diplomatic sometimes.

I think that that's going to be my job at times…I have to be somewhat diplomatic, but I can ask a lot of the others and I think that they kind of enjoy having someone from the outside who just seems like a dumb loud actor.

Clooney spoke to the news reporters outside the UN meeting and said:

I am the son of a newsman, so the job of messenger comes with the responsibility to deal with facts, not to tell people what they want to hear, but to tell them what the truth is, unfiltered.

He takes his job seriously and wants to play an active role in the future, even if the countries don’t let him speak. He is also involved in “Not On Our Watch”, a humanitarian group he co-founded, that focuses global attention on Darfur's people. It has raised more than $9.3 million for the region.