George Clooney conferred humanitarian award at Emmy

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LOS ANGELES - Hollywood superstar George Clooney has been conferred with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in recognition of his exceptional efforts to mobilise the entertainment industry in service during crises at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday.

Clooney, honoured for his efforts to increase awareness of human rights issues and spark constructive response to international crises, received the award with humour.

“I have offered to go to south Sudan and have a wardrobe malfunction,” Clooney joked, while accepting the honour. “But it was pointed out to me that I’m 49, and the consensus was that it would just be upsetting. And kind of sad.”

Clooney is the fourth ever recipient of the honour that is presented to an individual in the telecommunications industry whose humanitarian work has brought credit to the industry and whose deeds and actions have a lasting impact on society.

His merits include advocacy to stop genocide in Darfur, founding of ‘Not On Our Watch’ with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Jerry Weintraub to focus global attention and resources on preventing mass atrocities, mobilizing the entertainment industry for the ‘America: A Tribute to Heroes in the wake of 9/11′, ‘Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope in 2005′, ‘A Shelter From the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast’ following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and most recently, the ‘Hope For Haiti Now’ telethon,

Clooney has previously been honoured with the 2007 Peace Summit Award by The Eighth World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, and in 2008, he was designated a United Nations Messenger of Peace, to serve as an advocate on behalf of the U.N. and its peacekeeping efforts.

Since its establishment in 2002, only three other honorees have been selected to receive the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award - Oprah Winfrey, who was the inaugural recipient, followed by Bill Cosby in 2003 and Danny Thomas in 2004 (posthumously).