Ex-Ghana captain Stephen Appiah has vowed to use his image and influence to help the fight for clean cooking after being unveiled as the ambassador for the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves on Tuesday.
The impressive ceremony to announce the Ghana legend as the newest face of the global clean cook project at the Best Western Premier Hotel in Accra was also attended by the country’s minister of Foreign Affairs, Hannah Tetteh.
The former Black Stars captain accepted his new responsibility, promising to use his image to influence society positively on the need for improved clean cookstoves in Ghana.
“Growing up in Chorkor and Mamprobi, suburbs of Accra, I saw how my mother inhaled the smoke generated from the unclean ovens when cooking our delicious kenkey and fish,†he said at the press conference on Tuesday.
“As ignorantly as we were, our mother suffered many severe chest pains and coughs. At the time we were not aware of the harmful effect of the smoke as she prepared our delicious meals.  Many women including my mother still go through this risk to prepare food for their families.
The ex-Juventus star added: “Women are predominantly the household cooks in Ghana and with their children swaddled to their backs or at their side as they cook, the entire family becomes victim to this silent killer.
“Cooking shouldn’t kill, but the sad reality is that it does, and an uneven amount of the victims are women and children. I believe this is a particularly cruel injustice. But it is one that can be stopped.â€
The iconic Ghanaian football figure joins a distinguished group of current Ambassadors, including Academy Award-winning actor Julia Roberts, Chef Jose Andres and musician Rocky Dawuni.
Appiah is famous around the World after captaining the Black Stars to two successive World Cups. The ex-Hearts of Oak whiz kid was a member of Ghana’s Under-17 World Cup wining squad in 1995.
Today in Ghana, Appiah is involved in a variety of charity works focused on giving back to society and inspiring young football players.
The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is a public-private partnership hosted by the UN Foundation to save lives, improve livelihoods, empower women and protect the environment by creating a thriving global market for clean and efficient household cooking solutions.
The Alliance’s 100 by ‘20 goal calls for 100 million households to adopt clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels by 2020.
The Alliance is working with its public, private and non-profit partners to help overcome the market barriers that currently impede the production, deployment, and use of clean cookstoves in developing countries like Ghana.