Nicole Kidman vizite Kosoves

[dodoni]

Nicole Kidman Visits Kosovo as U.N. Goodwill Ambassador
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Associated Press

PRISHTINA, Kosova — Nicole Kidman began a tour of Kosova on Saturday as a United Nations goodwill ambassador, pledging to provide a voice for the troubled province.

Kidman arrived in Kosova's capital, Prishtina, after attending the premiere of her movie "Fur" at the inaugural Rome Film Festival. She is to spend two days in Kosova.

"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 Kosova'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, or UNIFEM, in January 2006, and the tour of Kosova 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 on Sunday to the southwestern town of Gjakova, among the hardest hit areas during the 1998-1999 war. Some 1,000 men disappeared from the town in the conflict.

UNIFEM has run several projects in Kosova assessing the impact of the conflict on women. It funded a recent analysis of the Agricultural Department's budget for Gjakova that concluded the spending did not reflect the needs of female farmers.

Kosova, which formally remains part of Serbia, has been run by a U.N. mission since mid-1999 when NATO forced Serb forces to halt a crackdown on independence-seeking ethnic Albanians.

Kidman visited the province at a sensitive time, with ethnic Albanians and Serbs negotiating the future status of Kosova. Ethnic Albanians want full independence for the province of 2 million, while Serbia insists Kosova should remain under its sovereignty.