Laura Sweeting, a sixteen-year-old student at Stanborough School in Watford, England, has become the youngest goodwill ambassador for the United Nations.

Sweeting was officially appointed on June 9 at a ceremony in London during the UK launch of the UN’s Water4Life appeal, which aims to raise $40 million to reduce water-borne diseases and to treat contaminated water. She will be part of the UN’s promotional activities in helping to raise awareness of challenges facing developing nations, where one child dies every eight seconds because of the lack of clean water.

“It is a shocking statistic,” says Sweeting. “In this, and other developed countries, children and adults alike take clean, safe water and sanitation for granted. Yet, in the developing world, at this very instant, half the children are sick or dying due to contaminated, polluted waters— waters which breed diseases spread by insects and other means. As a result 5,000 children are dying daily.”

Both students and staff are supportive of the program and of Laura’s involvement.

“We are delighted that Laura has become involved in such a worthwhile program,” says Kish Poddar, one of her teachers. “She’s in my classes and is a good student, and I strongly believe she is the right person to be a UN goodwill ambassador. It shows great commitment to a truly good cause, one that we are delighted to identify with.”

Stanborough School, owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, came to the notice of the United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU/INWEH) because of the school’s development of a “mini UN Assembly,” due to the wide diversity of students, representing 36 countries, who attend the school.

The concept is affirmed by headmaster Stephen Rivers, who is fully behind such humanitarian aid activities.

“The idea of children helping children in such an important international initiative is an excellent educational project for the pupils,” he says.

The director of UNU/INWEH, Ralph Daley, based in Ontario, Canada, says he believes Sweeting will “do a good job,” and that the school and its international make-up is “the perfect face for such a campaign.”

“Not only is the toll a human tragedy, but it means these people are less able to carry on productive lives, and this undermines social and economic development,” he says. Daley also warned that unless action is stepped up soon, the number of those who die from unsafe water is expected to escalate dramatically.

The Adventist Church is committed to such development aid activities, and carries on clean water projects through its aid organization, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency.