IP

The choice of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe as a World Health Organization (WHO) goodwill ambassador has been criticised by several organisations including the British government.

It described his selection as "surprising and disappointing" given his country's rights record, and warned it could overshadow the WHO's work.

The UN has a bit of thing for goodwill ambassadors, especially famous ones.

Angelina Jolie, as ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency, was regularly pictured comforting displaced families in over-crowded camps.

Swiss tennis star Roger Federer visits aid projects in Africa for Unicef and plays charity matches to raise money.

Further back in time, film star and Unicef goodwill ambassador Audrey Hepburn visited disaster zones and graced gala dinners where her glittering presence was an encouragement to donors.

The publicity does attract support for relief efforts.

But it is hard to imagine 93-year-old Robert Mugabe fulfilling a similar remit.