Sonu Sood, who has been hailed as a hero on social media for his efforts to send thousands of stranded migrants to their home villages during and after the lockdown, has been honoured with United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) prestigious SDG Special Humanitarian Action Award. The actor has received the award at a virtual ceremony for selflessly helping stranded migrants during the coronavirus crisis by arranging food, buses, trains, and chartered flights for them and providing them job opportunities for better livelihood. He also offered his hotel in Mumbai for medical professionals to stay in and arranged safe shelters for several people in Mumbai before cyclone Nisarga hit Maharashtra coast in July.
A statement by UNDP on the award given to Sonu Sood read: “The ‘Special Humanitarian Action Award’ given to Mr. Sonu Sood was conferred on him by the Department of Planning of the Government of Punjab, with the support of the Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre. The awardees were selected based on the recommendation of an independent jury. UNDP was not involved in the selection nor in the conferring of the award to Mr. Sonu Sood. We congratulate Mr. Sood on receiving this award and appreciate his humanitarian efforts to help people in these challenging times.”
During the lockdown, Sonu Sood even launched a toll-free helpline number so that he can help those who needed assistance during the coronavirus crisis. He also reached out to a couple of members of the film fraternity who asked for financial help on social media.
