UN MESSENGER OF PEACE, MUHAMMAD ALI, ON MISSION TO AFGHANISTAN 17-19 NOVEMBER

Muhammad Ali is undertaking a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan to raise awareness of the humanitarian needs of the people of Afghanistan and the work of the United Nations there.  The Mission is being sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

In Kabul, Mr. Ali will be met by the Heads of WFP and UNICEF and representatives from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan –- UNAMA -- and the Afghan Administration, including President Hamid Karzai.

The United Nations Peace Messenger will visit a school for girls that has been rehabilitated by UNICEF, and where demand for lessons has been so high that additional classes are being held in tents.  He will then visit a WFP supported women’s bakery.  The urban bakeries programme addresses the needs of the most vulnerable households by employing widows as bakers.

He will also visit a boxing club in Kabul, where photos of Muhammad Ali adorn the walls.  The club offers young men the opportunity to rediscover some of the sporting prowess that once made Afghanistan famous.

The President of the Afghan Olympic Committee will accompany Mr. Ali on a visit to the Olympic Stadium and a tour of West Kabul –- an area severely damaged during the mujahadeen conflict.

For more information, contact:  Elizabeth Lee, Information Assistant, UN Information Centre, Millbank Tower, Millbank, London SW1P 4QH; tel:  (44 20) 7630 2713; fax:  (44 20) 7976 6478; email:  info@uniclondon.org; Web site:  unitednations.org.uk or un.org

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