NEW YORK, Aug 27 (APP): Glowing tributes were paid at a condolence meeting organized by the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations in New York on Friday to the “exceptional” leadership qualities of Dr. Nafis Sadik, former Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor for HIV/AIDS, who passed away last week at the age of 92.
“Dr. Nafis Sadik was an exceptional woman, a kind-hearted parent and an accomplished diplomat; she earned great accolades, while serving the humanity at large,” Ambassador Munir Akram, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the gathering mostly composed of the deceased’s UN colleagues, friends and relatives.
Expressing her condolences, Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, called Dr. Sadik a “trailblazer” who made indelible contributions to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s leadership and global development.
Dr. Sadik was the first woman to head one of the UN’s major voluntarily-funded programmes.
In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said during her career of four decades, Dr. Sadik represented Pakistan and the United Nations in various positions and rendered invaluable services to the cause of women empowerment, human rights, health, and development.
“Her knowledge, experience, vision and wisdom had been a great source of strength and inspiration for many,” the Pakistan envoy said, adding that she worked tirelessly to raise the stature of women in society and get them their due rights.
Paying tributes to Dr. Sadik’s leadership, Dr.Kanem said her bold vision and leadership at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo set the world on an ambitious path – a journey that passed through Beijing and the 1995 World Conference on Women, helped shape the Millennium Development Goals and anticipated the transformative vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 integrated and universal Sustainable Development Goals.
“This journey has helped transform the lives of millions of women and girls,” the UNFPA chief said.
Dr. Sadik’s family, including her daughter, Dr. Ambreen, her son, Omar and his wife, Ayiesha, were among those present.
Also recounting their memories of Dr. Sadik were: Samir Sanbar, former head of the UN Department of Public Information; Rafeeudin Ahmed, former chief of staff of the UN secretary-general; Ambassador Shaukat Farid, a former senior UN official; Shazia Rafi, former Secretary-General of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA); Shahida Azfar, a former adviser to UNICEF, Edith Lederer, Associated Press (AP of America) UN Correspondent, and Iftikhar Ali, Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), UN Correspondent.
A special documentary about Dr.Sadik’s life and mission, prepared by the Information section of the Permanent Mission, was also screened. A brief biography was narrated by Ms. Rabia Ijaz, a second secretary at the mission. The event was moderated by Jawad Ajmal, First Secretary at the Mission.
