London -Rita Ora has opened up about her emotional and ‘special’ visit to her native Kosovo as part of her work as a Unicef UK ambassador.
The singer, 28, who left the country as a baby when her family were forced to flee from conflict, said travelling to her birthplace and meeting youths who had been helped by the charity ‘meant everything to her’.
Rita said: “Meeting children and families in the country where I was born was so special and seeing firsthand the work Unicef does to support them has made me more determined than ever to utilise my position to support and campaign.
“My family left Kosovo because of conflict in search of safety and better opportunities for the future. Today, it’s amazing to see Kosovo is at peace and children have much better access to quality healthcare and education.”
The musician’s emotional journey meeting families will be documented in a film to be aired on Soccer Aid for Unicef on ITV this Sunday. Rita spent time meeting young people and their families, including a teenager whose dad died when she was a child, before her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Rita said: “I had the honour of visiting 19-year-old Antigona who lives in a rural area outside the capital, Prishtina. “Her dad died when she was very young and then her mother got cancer, so she had to drop out of school to look after her siblings and missed out on an education.
“Antigona married at the age of 16 and she now has two daughters, who she wants to give the opportunities she never had.”
The star, who is an ambassador for the charity, will perform at half time during the match on Soccer Aid for Unicef and revealed travelling back to her native country was ‘unbelievable’.
She said: ‘I’ve seen all the work Unicef and people like Nurse Kefsere have put into Kosovo, the country where I’m from, and it means so much to me. Being there and seeing everything first hand is truly unbelievable.’
Rita, who has been an ambassador for and advocate of Unicef UK since 2013, has been wowing crowds on her Phoenix tour.
The star will perform perform at half time during the match on Soccer Aid for Unicef and revealed travelling back to her native country was ‘unbelievable’.