PRISTINA, Serbia – Nicole Kidman began a tour of Kosovo on Saturday as a United Nations goodwill ambassador, pledging to provide a voice for the troubled province.
Kidman arrived in Kosovo’s capital, Pristina, after attending the premiere of her movie “Fur” at the inaugural Rome Film Festival. She is to spend two days in Kosovo.
“I’m here … to learn so that I can help your country at this crucial, crucial time for the future,” Kidman said. “To meet people, hear their stories and educate myself, and I suppose be a voice for you if you need it.”
Kidman shook hands with Kosovo’s top U.N. official, Joachim Ruecker, dozens of local leaders and diplomats attending a welcome reception.
The actress was named goodwill ambassador of the U.N. Development Fund for Women in January 2006. The tour of Kosovo is her first visit in that role.
Kidman was cheered by onlookers as she walked through the center of town to her hotel.
She is expected to travel today to the southwestern town of Djakovica, among the areas hardest hit during the 1998-1999 war. Some 1,000 men disappeared from the town in the conflict.
UNIFEM has run several projects in Kosovo assessing the impact of the conflict on women. It funded a recent analysis of the Agricultural Department’s budget for Djakovica that concluded the spending did not reflect the needs of female farmers.
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