DAKAR, Senegal — Khaby Lame, the Senegal-born world’s hottest TikTok character who by no means says a phrase in movies watched by tens of millions 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 through which he by no means says a phrase. His following surged in the course of the pandemic, when he was fired from his manufacturing facility job and used the additional time on his palms 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 middle on daily basis,” Lame mentioned in a press release. “From my very own expertise as a toddler fearing poverty, struggling to search out my ardour at college, and shedding my job in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, to discovering my place and calling on the planet, I do know that every one kids can thrive when they’re given an opportunity and alternative.”
Senegal is a serious 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 assets has gone abroad, and plenty of say they don’t have any different selection 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 desires, although there are folks telling you that you simply can’t attain them.”
Lame moved to Italy from his native Senegal when he was an toddler together with his working class dad and mom, 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“I’ve been in Italy for 20 years since I used to be solely 2 years outdated,” Lame instructed The Related Press in Dakar.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 optimistic change of their communities.
