Renowned Greek singer George Dalaras was officially proclaimed a Goodwill ambassador of the UN's High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) by UNHCR representative in Greece Karen Farkas, during a high-profile ceremony held in the Old Parliament building's auditorium on Thursday, in the presence of President Karolos Papoulias.

The famous singer is the first Greek to be given this title.

Dalaras is the sixth Good Will ambassador to be proclaimed by the UN's High Commission and he will join the others in the struggle to safeguard the institution of asylum and prevent exclusion in societies.

UNHCR started to work with Goodwill Ambassadors in the early 1980s, when British actors Richard Burton and James Mason were first appointed to make media statements and public appearances for the refugee cause.

Dalaras today joins five other UNHCR celebrity Goodwill Ambassadors with very different professional and personal backgrounds use their talents and time to advocate for refugees: American-Swedish classical signer Barbara Hendricks (named in 1987), Egyptian actor Adel Imam (2000), American actress Angelina Jolie (2001), Italian fashion designer and businessman Giorgio Armani (2002), and French singer/songwriter Julien Clerc (2003).

Goodwill Ambassadors communicate the message of respect and compassion for refugees to the general public in a uniquely powerful way; they capture massive public attention through public events, television shows, radio interviews and popular magazine articles. They effectively use their privileged access to mass media and other resources to give a voice to refugees, who are often victims of forgotten humanitarian crises and who often suffer from uninformed negative stereotyping. Goodwill Ambassadors also voice their support for refugees in meetings with world leaders, diplomats, teachers, national and community officials, as well as the public at large.

According to the UNHCR, George Dalaras has had a long association with the UN refugee agency. The Greek singing star first donated his services to the agency during its 50th anniversary celebrations in 2001, when he helped organise a spectacular World Refugee Day concert in the ancient Greek stadium at Delphi. Dalaras and American jazz singer Jocelyn B. Smith, accompanied by the Ossipov Russian Orchestra, performed the songs of world-acclaimed Greek composer, Mikis Theodorakis. Later in the year, Dalaras organised two more 50th anniversary concerts at the Herod Atticus Theatre at the foot of the Acropolis, where more than 9,000 people packed into the beautiful Athens venue to hear Dalaras and French soprano Emma Shapplin, accompanied by an orchestra and choir.

The concerts raised 230,000 euros for UNHCR programmes around the world.

In 2003, Dalaras took part in a UNHCR awareness and fund-raising campaign. He was one of an impressive group of musicians who sang on a complimentary CD released in February with Ta Nea newspaper's weekend magazine, Tahydromos. The CD and accompanying article directed readers to a special bank account opened by UNHCR to receive donations aimed at helping refugee children.

Dalaras, whose mother was a Greek refugee from Turkey, implored the Greek public to donate, saying that refugees "live with a pain, which as Euripides said is the greatest on earth: the loss of one's homeland. In this way, being children of refugees ourselves, we are doing nothing more today than remembering all of this with two songs."

The campaign raised more than 30,000 euros.

In 2004, Dalaras was invited to perform at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens. With a global audience, he sang four songs, including one about the plight of the world’s refugees. The following year, Dalaras again supported World Refugee Day by recording radio and television spots on that year’s theme, "Courage."

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