Carl Lewis, Goodwill Ambassador for the UN, visits Dominican Republic

The United Nations reports on the visit of nine-time Olympic gold medalist and United Nations advocate Carl Lewis to the Dominican Republic and Haiti to meet with national leaders and visit forestry and agricultural projects.

The United States track star, who was designated a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in October 2009, will highlight the International Year of Forests during his stop in the Dominican Republic.

In February the UN kicked off a year-long celebration to raise awareness of the valuable role of forests, on which at least 1.6 billion people depend for their daily livelihoods and subsistence needs.

Mr. Lewis will also spotlight a global campaign by FAO to end hunger known as "The 1billionhungry project," through which people can voice their outrage about world hunger by adding their names to an online petition. The campaign uses a yellow whistle as an icon encouraging people to blow the whistle against this global scourge.

The local visit is coordinated by the UN and the Office of the First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez, who is also a Goodwill Ambassador for the FAO.

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