Photo: Insider Images

Mandy Moore spent Monday with the United Nations Foundation celebraing World Malaria Day. In the morning, Moore—an ambassador for PSI, a global health organization whose programs target malaria and other health problems—and former Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo unveiled a new public service announcement on the Toshiba Vision screen in Times Square to highlight “Nothing but Nets,” the foundation’s grassroots campaign to raise funds for and awareness of insecticide-treated nets that prevent malaria-carrying mosquitoes from biting at night. In the evening, Moore, Mutombo and other “champions” in the fight against malaria were honored at a reception at the UN, where the champions’ portraits—by celebrity photographer Platon—went on display. Both the PSA and photo exhibit run through late May.  We caught up with Moore at the reception to talk about her volunteer work, music and fashion choices.

ELLE: How did you get involved with the anti-malaria campaign?

MM: I took a trip to Southern Sudan about two years ago. It was an educational trip to learn all about different child survival programs that are implemented, and malaria was the biggest issue that I took away from that trip. When you think of the statistics that every 45 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria and it’s entirely preventable, it just seems like a no-brainer. It was an organic cause to want to be a part of. It was incredible, to be on the ground, to actually talk to women that were going to be recipients of the nets, and how it was going to really change the course of their life for the better, and they were able to now protect their family because they would have an insecticide-treated net. It was really gratifying.

ELLE: Why do you think this affects you so deeply, even though you’re not yet a mother?

MM: Never having been to the developing world until I started going on these sorts of trips, there’s no way for you to come home unchanged. It really does shift everything in perspective. It’s almost like it’s this trade-off of going, mothers are so open to sharing their day-to-day struggles. To be able to then have the gift of sharing their story with others, it really is the most humbling thing to be a part of.

ELLE: What are you working on now?

MM: I’m actually right now just working on a record. I’m still in the writing process. Some of the work that I’ve been doing with PSI and with “Nothing but Nets” will definitely influence the music in one way or another. It sort of shifts everything into perspective. I haven’t worked on a record since I’ve gone on some of these trips, so they’ve influenced the music, I’m pretty sure of it.

ELLE: Are you working with your husband (indie rocker Ryan Adams) on this record?

MM: Sure. We’re writing together and he’ll definitely play on the record, hopefully go on the road with me. We’re under the same roof, it would be odd not to employ his talents in one way or another.

ELLE: Do you have a tour set?

MM: Nothing set in stone, but that’s the plan, to finish the record and then take it on the road.

ELLE: When will the record come out?

MM: If not the end of this year, then the beginning of next year.

ELLE: What are you wearing?

MM: The dress is The Row and the shoes are Balenciaga.