DAKAR, Senegal — Khaby Lame, the Senegal-born world’s hottest TikTok persona who by no means says a phrase in movies watched by hundreds of thousands of followers, addressed the youth in his native nation on Friday when he was appointed as UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
The 24-year-old influencer, who has over 162 million followers, rose to fame with charming movies of his reactions to on a regular basis life during which he by no means says a phrase. His following surged through the pandemic, when he was fired from his manufacturing unit job and used the additional time on his fingers to make and add extra movies.
Being a UNICEF ambassador will enable him to “see all of the world and its issues,” Lame mentioned, including that he hoped he may contribute to fixing a few of them.
“It’s a real honor to be appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador and be a part of a corporation that places kids’s rights entrance and heart every single day,” Lame mentioned in an announcement. “From my very own expertise as a toddler fearing poverty, struggling to seek out my ardour at college, and shedding my job through the COVID-19 pandemic, to discovering my place and calling on this planet, I do know that each one kids can thrive when they’re given an opportunity and alternative.”
Senegal is a significant supply of irregular migration to Europe. Over 60% of Senegalese persons are beneath 25, and 90% work in casual jobs. They’ve watched for years as cash produced from pure sources has gone abroad, and plenty of say they don’t have any different alternative however to embark on treacherous journeys in rickety fishing boats throughout the Atlantic.
“I inform them to dream large,” Lame mentioned when requested about his message to Senegal’s youth. “Try to do your greatest to perform your goals, although there are individuals telling you that you simply can not attain them.”
Lame moved to Italy from his native Senegal when he was an toddler along with his working class mother and father, however was solely granted Italian citizenship when he was 20.
“I’ve been in Italy for 20 years since I used to be solely 2 years previous,” Lame advised The Related Press in Dakar. Trying sharp in a beige go well with and an identical tie, he added: “My blood is from Senegal, however I really feel Senegalese and Italian on the identical time.”
Lame’s appointment to UNICEF got here on the finish of a four-day go to to Senegal the place he met kids and younger people who find themselves driving constructive change of their communities.
