The United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was on Friday named as the recipient of the 2019 Cannes LionHeart in recognition of her advocacy for women, human rights, and social justice globally, and for her leadership of The Unstereotype Alliance.
The announcement was made during the 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France. It is an annual event that brings the creative communications industry together to learn, network and celebrate.
Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former deputy president of South Africa, has been acknowledged for her work in advancing women’s rights through her involvement with projects and programmes devoted to education, women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Mlambo-Ngcuka chairs The Unstereotype Alliance which aims to identify, challenge and address stereotypes that exist in advertising and marketing.
Cannes Lions said that Mlambo-Ngcuka’s leadership of the Alliance has brought leaders together to tackle the widespread prevalence of stereotypes often perpetuated through media and advertising content.
“It is an honour to be nominated for this Award on behalf of UN Women and The Unstereotype Alliance. I look forward to what we will do next through this partnership to change the way the world looks at itself and disrupt the social norms that are holding us back,” Mlambo-Ngcuka said following the announcement.
Philip Thomas, chairman of Cannes Lions praised Mlambo-Ngcuka noting that her passion and efforts to improve the lives of women and children globally and ensure social justice represented the spirit of the Cannes LionHeart Award.
“Through her work on the Unstereotype Alliance she has brought together leaders from business, technology and creative industries to consciously consider how individuals are in communications,” Thomas said.
The Cannes LionHeart is an honorary Award presented to a person or organisation that has harnessed their position to make a significant and positive difference to the world especially those who work with brands and the advertising community.
Mlambo-Ngcuka was scheduled to accept the LionHeart Award at the final awards show to close out Cannes Lions 2019.
