Action hero Jackie Chan has been appointed a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund, or UNICEF, and the organization's AIDS agency, UNAIDS.

Chan, probably the most successful Asian star in Hollywood, arrived in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, on Monday for a three-day visit, the first in his new capacity.

The UN said that the Hong Kong-based actor will promote efforts to arrest the spread of HIV-AIDS and that he is also interested in advancing the cause of children, especially those affected by armed conflict.

At the start of his trip to Cambodia on Monday, Chan had lunch with young HIV-positive people and visited an exhibition of their life-sized self-portraits created to raise awareness of the issue.

On Tuesday, he is to visit the northern town of Siem Reap to visit a Buddhist temple where monks are helping children and families with HIV-AIDS.

In Siem Reap, the gateway to the fabled temples of Angkor, he will also visit a center for the rehabilitation of landmine victims before returning to Phnom Penh on Wednesday to wrap up his trip.

Cambodia has the highest HIV infection rate in Southeast Asia. The kingdom is also one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, following nearly three decades of civil war that ended in 1998.

The Angkor temple complex was brought to the silver screen by another UN goodwill ambassador, Angelina Jolie, in the action movie Tomb Raider. (Photo Source: AP)

(CRI April 27, 2004)