BBC News
June 17, 1999

Actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes have led celebrities backing the United Nations Children's Fund's work with Kosovo's refugees at a charity event in London.

The brothers led 300 guests at the Banqueting House for the Act Now Kosovo dinner on Wednesday, which aimed to raise £100,000 for Unicef.

The dinner was followed by a special concert featuring performances by Midge Ure, Nigel Kennedy and Des'ree.

The evening's host, Roger Moore - a Unicef amassador - also appeared on stage to talk about his visit to the region.

The BBC's Virginia Eastman reports from the dinner He said of his experiences in Macedonia: "One lasting impression I have was when a young refugee, which I thought was a boy, turned out to be a girl.

"Her father had shaved her head because he was petrified she would be raped."

Items auctioned during the evening included a watercolour footprint of ballerina Darcey Bussell and a weekend for six aboard a luxury yacht in the Agean. Singer Kylie Minogue did her bit - bidding £11,000 for a bottle of champagne.

Ralph and Joseph Fiennes teamed up with their brother Magnus and his Macedonian wife Maya to form the committee which organised the event.

Shakepeare in Love star Joseph said: "Ralph and I just want to do our little bit to make people more aware of this situation and we hope others will support this marvellous cause.

"Act Now Kosovo has been set up to raise vital funds for the children and to increase public awareness of their dreadful plight. It is always the innocent children who suffer from the complications of war."

Concert pianist Maya Fiennes is originally from Macedonia, which is now struggling to cope with a huge unflux of Kosovar refugees.

"What has happened in Kosovo is a terrible disaster," said Maya.

"I simply want to do something in my own small way to help."

The event also saw Magnus and Maya team up with Roger Moore's son Geoffrey to perform in a band called Odessa with Nigel Kennedy.

Unicef is hoping to raise £41m for financing health care and education, as well as raising awareness of the dangers of land mines and providing people with help on their return journeys to their villages.