CELESTE Cortesi hopes to promote children’s rights through the Miss Universe platform.
Celeste has been working with Save the Children Philippines. According to its website, it is “the world’s leading independent children’s organization” and “has been working in the Philippines for over three decades and is dedicated to helping children.”
“We protect and support children in need. We save lives in emergencies. We speak up for children’s rights. We share a global vision and strategy for creating better lives for children in the Philippines and across the world,” the website added.
Celeste was able to attend in person the programs of the organization in remote areas in the Philippines last year.
“It opened my eyes to the realities children here in Mindanao are experiencing. Children are not only suffering from hunger but from various complex problems â as basic as access to clean water. And it is only by realizing that everything is interconnected that we are reminded of how our actions can make a big impact,” the beauty queen said in a statement issued by Save the Children Philippines.
Celeste added, “It breaks my heart when the mothers I talk to grapple for words when asked about what to say to their children if they do not have anything to feed them.”
In the Miss Universe preliminary competition, Celeste donned a cape which contained the handprints of the Save the Children Philippines’ beneficiaries.
“In amplifying the voices of the children who need our help, I wanted to bring them with me on the Miss Universe stage. The imprints all over the cape remind me that having a title means to have a purpose beyond myself,” she said in a statement released by Miss Universe Philippines.
She continued, “Having talked to some of the mothers of the children beneficiaries, I was reminded of my own mother who struggled to provide for my sister and I. Unfortunately, there are millions of children who live in poverty, amidst crisis. I hope that it inspires people to donate to Save the Children Philippines. Thereâs much work to be done and every single personâs help matters.”
Celeste is currently in New Orleans, Louisiana for the 71st edition of the Miss Universe pageant. The grand coronation night is on Sunday, Jan. 15 (PH time) at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. (PUSH)
