United Nations Radio

She was known as Mama Africa and toiled for more than 30 years under apartheid.

She passed away from a heart attack after collapsing on stage in Italy Sunday. She was 76 years old.

The sudden death of the South African singer and human rights activist has claimed the voice of one of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization- FAO's most dedicated advocates.

"We have poverty like any other country. Even our president has been saying that even though we fight against AIDS and all that, we cannot win it unless people have food and poverty is eradicated."

FAO Director general Jacques Diouf says for nearly a decade FAO Goodwill Ambassador Miriam Makeba was a strong supporter of FAO's fight to reduce hunger and improve the livelihoods of the world's poorest people.

Makeba had been an FAO Goodwill Ambassador since 1999. Over the years, she had participated in a long list of events and concerts organized by FAO, including performances at FAO TeleFood projects in South Africa, Jamaica and Spain. Miriam Makeba dead at the age of 76.

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This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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