Celebrities and aid: A history of engagement

1. Comic actor Danny Kaye was the first goodwill ambassador for Unicef, working with the organisation from 1954 until his death in 1987. Kaye met Unicef's executive director, Maurice Pate, in 1953, on a transatlantic flight when one of the plane's engines caught fire Photograph: David Lees/Getty Images

1. US actor Marlon Brando at a Unicef benefit gala in 1966. With him is W Gibson Parker (centre), then a top UN communications official. Brando said: “Many people shirk their responsibilities in the social field. But I am pushed into social responsibilities because of my instincts” Photograph: RDA/Getty Images

1. In 1971, George Harrison and Ravi Shankur organised the Concert for Bangladesh, which brought some 40,000 people into New York City's Madison Square Garden to raise money for refugees. A poster still hangs in the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka, Bangladesh Photograph: Jewel Samad/AFP

Stars line the stage at the Live Aid finale at Wembley Stadium, in London, in July 1985. Spearheaded by Bob Geldof, the multi-venue Live Aid concerts were watched by some 1.5 billion people around the world. According to the advocacy group ONE, the Band Aid and Live Aid initiatives raised £150m for Ethiopian famine relief Photograph: Neal Preston/Corbis

Cliff Richard and The Young Ones re-release the song Living Doll for Comic Relief in 1986 Photograph: SIMON FOWLER/LFI

Breakfast at Tiffany's star Audrey Hepburn in Ethiopia on her first field mission as goodwill ambassador for Unicef in March 1988. During her time as goodwill ambassador, Hepburn testified before US Congress, launched Unicef reports and participated in benefit concert tours Photograph: UNICEF/Getty Images

English actor, writer and dramatist Peter Ustinov, a Unicef goodwill ambassador, balances the book, For Every Child, on his head during a presentation at a Berlin bookstore in May 2003 Photograph: Tom Maelsa/AFP

UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie on a truck with newly arrived refugees en route to Lugufu Camp, Tanzania, in 2003 Photograph: Natalie Behring-Chisholm/Getty Images

Manchester United footballers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ryan Giggs pose with George Weah at a Unicef event in New York, in July 2003 Photograph: John Peters/Getty Images

Senegalese musician Youssou N'Dour, a Unicef goodwill ambassador, performs at a concert to mark World Malaria Day, in Matam, Senegal, in April 2004 Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA

Action hero Jackie Chan signs a giant check for 500,000 HK dollars (US$ 64,293) in support of Unicef's relief work in southern Asia. A group of Hong Kong stars, including Andy Lau, pledged a total of US$ 200,000 to help victims of the December 2004 tsunami Photograph: Samantha Sin/AFP

Crowds at Glastonbury respond to Bob Geldof's call to hold hands and unite to Make Poverty History in June 2005 Photograph: James McCauley /guardian.co.uk

1. A TV cameraman films singers on stage at the Live 8 concert in Rome, in July 2005. More than 1,000 musicians performed at Live 8's string of benefit concerts, which asked people “not for their money, but for their voice”, to pressure politicians to drop Africa's debt and make poverty history Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP

In 2006, Bono joins (from left to right) American Express marketing chief John D Hayes, GAP president Andrew Wolfe, fashion designer Giorgio Armani and RED chief executive Bobby Shriver to announce the launch of Product RED, a global initiative to help raise funds for the fight against Aids in Africa. Photograph: Adam Berry/Getty Images

US actor and Darfur activist Mia Farrow (centre) carries an Olympic-style torch through the streets of Washington in December 2007 as part of a Save Darfur Coalition march to "remind China of its responsibilities" in the Darfur region in advance of the 2008 Olympics Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP

Colombian popstar Shakira visits Port-au-Prince, in Haiti, in April this year. With her charity, Barefoot, the singer is planning to build a school on Haiti, along with another in Colombia Photograph: Andres Martinez Casares/EFE

US actor George Clooney talks to US president Barack Obama about Sudan, during a meeting outside the Oval Office in October this year Photograph: The White House/Getty Images