Nadia Younes ( ar, نادية يونس; June 13, 1946 – August 19, 2003) was an Egyptian national who spent her entire career, for over 33 years, in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

(UN) and the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

, rising to high-level posts in a variety of areas. She was born in Cairo, Egypt, and earned a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

. She spoke French,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

fluently.

Career in the United Nations

Nadia Younes joined the United Nations in 1970. From 1974, she worked with the Department of Public Information in various capacities, initially as a press officer in both the English and French Sections. Later assignments included Information Officer for the World Conference of the Decade for Women; Information Office, Planning, Programme and Evaluation Unit; and Spokeswoman for the President of the Forty-Second Session of the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

. Younes served as Deputy Spokeswoman for the

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

from March 1988 until January 1993, when she was appointed Director of the United Nations Information Centre in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. She subsequently moved back to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to assume the post of Director of the Media Division in the Department of Public Information. She worked as United Nations Chief of Protocol from 1998. From July 1999 to January 2001, she worked in the field mission in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

(

UNMIK The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...

) where she was in charge of the information and communication office in the Cabinet of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General,

Bernard Kouchner Bernard Kouchner KBE (born 1 November 1939) is a French politician and doctor. He is the co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Médecins du Monde. From 2007 until 2010, he was the French Minister of Foreign and European Affairs ...

. Following her assignment in Kosovo, Younes returned to New York and resumed her functions as Chief of Protocol. In August 2002, Younes was appointed as WHO’s Executive Director in charge of External Relations and Governing Bodies. Her position included responsibility for relations with WHO’s Member States, resource mobilization and WHO’s governing bodies. In May 2003, she was seconded by WHO to act as Chief of Staff for the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Iraq,

Sérgio Vieira de Mello Sérgio Vieira de Mello (; 15 March 1948 – 19 August 2003) was a Brazilian United Nations diplomat who worked on several UN humanitarian and political programs for over 34 years. The Government of Brazil posthumously awarded the Sergio Vieira ...

, in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

. Younes died from wounds sustained in the Canal Hotel bombing on August 19, 2003, along with de Mello and 21 other members of his office staff. WHO's official tribute to her reads in part "...''WHO mourns the loss of one of its most respected, effective and charismatic officials''". The

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

news agency referred to her as "''witty''" and "''with a sharp sense of humor''". She was buried in Cairo, Egypt.

External links

Nadia Younes Memorial Website created by the Younes Family

Nadia Younes Memorial Lecture series

WHO's Tribute to Nadia Younes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Younes, Nadia 1946 births 2003 deaths Diplomats from Cairo Egyptian officials of the United Nations Egyptian terrorism victims People killed in the Canal Hotel bombing Egyptian people murdered abroad 2003 murders in Iraq

Career in the United Nations

See also

External links