UNICEF Statement on Baquer Namazi
2016-03-03
NEW YORK/ HONG KONG, 3 March 2016 – Current and former UNICEF colleagues are deeply concerned about the health and well-being of Baquer Namazi, who was detained in Iran on Feuary 22.
Mr. Namazi dedicated many years of his career to improving the lives of some of the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children, often working in difficult and even dangerous circumstances. Before his retirement in 1996, he served UNICEF with distinction as representative in Somalia, Kenya, and Egypt, among other posts.
A letter of commendation by former UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy best expresses Mr. Namazi’s dedication and commitment to the cause of children:
“You served with honour and distinction and acquitted yourself as an individual with…a deep personal commitment to making life better for children and women. Your pioneering work on children affected by war oke new ground and led the way to greater attention that the world gives today to children in especially difficult circumstances. With similar dedication, you helped ing the Convention on the Rights of the Child to life…and the cause of the world’s children will not be the same again. Behind all these contributions, I see a man whose strength derives from a rare base of spiritual courage and moral convictions, a man who has been able to reach for the sky because his feet are firmly on the ground. From me and your many colleagues in UNICEF, please accept a humble expression of gratitude on behalf of the countless children and women whose lives you have changed and who do not know your name.”
Our thoughts are with our respected former colleague and his family, and we hope he will be reunited soon with his wife and loved ones.