COMEDIAN SACHA BARON Cohen and his wife Isla Fisher have donated $1 million (€911,000) to aid sick children in Syria.
Baron Cohen, alter ego of household comedic names like Ali G and hapless Kazakhstani reporter Borat, and Fisher have made the donation jointly to the charities Save the Children and the International Rescue Committee.
$500,000 of the money will be used to fund a measles vaccination programme for more than 250,000 children in Northern Syria.
Diseases like measles and typhoid have re-emerged in the country since the outbreak of civil war there in 2011.
The other half of the money will be used to fund education, health care, shelter and sanitation via former UK Labour minister David Miliband’s International Rescue Committee.
“By allowing us to make their generous donation to Syrian children public, Sacha and Isla are helping highlight the tragedy of the issue today,” said Save the Children CEO Justin Forsyth.
These are desperate times for Syrian families facing bombs, bullets and torture.
The couple’s donation will save many thousands of lives and protect some of the most vulnerable children.
Baron Cohen had previously damned the international community for its lack of action in the face of the Syrian humanitarian crisis in the wake of the release of his movie The Dictator in 2012, in which he portrayed a maniacal tyrant.
At a press conference convened at that time in New York he thanked the United Nations for their “brave inaction” over the conflict.
“Thirteen months and still no security council resolution. You guys are amazing,” he said.
You have done next to nothing for the Syrian people. But remember you can always do less.
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