Following his visit to the Philippines earlier this month, former football star David Beckham has launched a global appeal to help children caught up in disaster zones.

The retired soccer ace headed to the Southeast Asian country recently in his role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) to chat with children who were made homeless by Typhoon Haiyan in November last year.

Beckham was so moved during the visit that he took time out to film a personal message urging his supporters to do all they can to help children caught up in life-threatening disasters, reports contactmusic.com.

In the clip, he says, "Emergencies like war, a food crisis or a natural disaster like the typhoon here in the Philippines destroy children's lives. It's easy to be overwhelmed by the scale of an emergency.

"Seeing how Unicef and its partners are helping to put lives back together makes me hugely proud. But to continue to save children's lives, keep them safe from harm and help them rebuild their futures, we need you."

Unicef bosses are using the short film to launch the organisation's Humanitarian Appeal for Children for 2014, which aims to raise funds to help 59 million kids living in danger around the world.