Demi Lovato named Global Citizen ambassador to champion children with mental health issues

Demi Lovato has been named a Global Citizen ambassador to help the expansion of a Save the Children pilot program.
The news that the Sorry Not Sorry singer would take up the role was announced on Saturday (23Sep17) at the 2017 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park, New York.
Global Citizen are funding an expansion of Save the Children pilot program, Healing and Education through the Arts (HEART), to help violence-scarred young people living in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Saladin areas, and the 25-year-old singer will be championing the mental health of thousands of children who have been affected in these vulnerable communities.
“Ending the stigma around mental health conditions and supporting internally displaced children to build physical and mental resilience through education and access to justice is not a choice,” an emotional Demi declared. “It needs to happen and it needs to happen now.”
Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children, also took to the stage alongside Demi and explained that since 2014, more than three million people in Iraq have been displaced within the country due to war and conflict.
She revealed that the organisation’s HEART program would allow children to process the trauma they had suffered “through drawing, painting, music and other art forms” as well as “rebuilding their confidence.”
Demi has always been open about her struggles with mental illness, and has spoken previously about her battles against bipolar disorder, eating disorders and substance abuse.
She’s been to rehab several times to aid her recovery process, and is now hoping her story can help others. “You know, entering rehab while you’re on the Disney Channel, it was kind of like, everything was magnified, in the spotlight. It’s quite the headline. And I couldn’t get around it. So I thought, you know, I can use this to help others. And that’s what I did,” she told Elle magazine previously.