Sailor Watson takes on poverty role

A year on from setting the record as the youngest person to sail solo non-stop around the world, Jessica Watson is taking on a new challenge - ending global hunger.

Ms Watson, who turned 18 earlier in May, was made an ambassador for the World Food Program (WFP) on Wednesday.

The program's deputy executive director Amir Abdulla said Ms Watson's role would be to take the WFP's message "to the youth of the world".

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the WFP fed 900 million people across the world and was one of the most effective United Nations agencies.

"You are a person who has enormous standing in the hearts and minds of the Australian people and among young people," he told Ms Watson at the launch at Parliament House in Canberra.

"We really value your efforts in getting the message out there that this is terrific work being done in the world's name, in Australia's name and through the contribution of ordinary folk through their taxes."

Ms Watson said she hoped to "help the lives of so many young people who need help achieving their dreams through feeding them and taking away that struggle for those basic necessities".

The next major sporting event in Ms Watson's diary will be the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in December.


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