Man of peace, senior diplomat who served the UN for 34 years in refugee protection, peacekeeping operations and the promotion of human rights. Killed in Iraq by a bomb.
Biography:
Sergio Vieira de Mello was a brilliant UN official, enterprising, efficient, dedicated and relaxed.
After completing a doctorate in philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris, he was appointed to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1969 at the age of 21, and remained there for 33 years until 2002. Throughout this period, he set up humanitarian operations to protect refugees, accepting the most difficult assignments (Bangladesh, Cyprus, Mozambique, Peru, Cambodia, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Fiji, Timor). He has twice been involved in peacekeeping operations (1981: South Lebanon, 1993: Balkans). In 2002, he was appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights. In May 2003, he was appointed Kofi Annan's Special Representative in Baghdad, arriving in Iraq on June 2. He was killed in Baghdad by a bomb on the UN headquarters, along with 21 other people, on August 19, 2003.
He posthumously received the following awards and honors:
2003: UN Human Rights Prize
2005: Honorable Mention, UNESCO, "in recognition of his long career in the service of the ideals of the United Nations in the defense of human rights and the construction of peace".
World Humanitarian Day was established in his honor in 2008, on August 19, the date of his death, to pay tribute to the humanitarian workers who devote their time and energy to helping the innocent victims of war and natural disasters in the world's most difficult places.
The Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation was set up in 2007 by his close colleagues, friends and family to promote dialogue and peaceful conflict resolution.
