Скачать или смотреть Amb Asim Iftikhar’s Opening Remarks at Memorial for Rafeeuddin Ahmed. March 04

Opening Remarks by Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN
At Memorial for Rafeeuddin Ahmed,
(4 March 2026 ECOSOC Chamber)
******

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, dear friends and family of Rafeeuddin Ahmed

It is with both profound sorrow and with equal pride that I welcome you to this memorial gathering.

2. Rafeeuddin Ahmed was, in every sense, a son of Pakistan and a citizen of the world. His passing has left a void in this institution that will not easily be filled — a feeling shared by all who knew him, worked alongside him, or were shaped by his remarkable career spanning more than five decades of dedicated international service. He has left those of us who follow in his footsteps with much to live up to.

3. It is rare that a single individual leaves his fingerprints on so many of the defining moments of our time.

4. Rafeeuddin Ahmed was there when the world needed a steady hand. He began his UN career in the corridors of ECOSOC in the early 1970s, before becoming Chef de Cabinet to Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. It was in that role that he also served as Principal Aide during the Iran hostage crisis, and convened the Secretary-General's Task Force on the Falkland Islands.

5. Through the 1980s, he turned his attention to some of the most troubled corners of the world for nearly a decade of his life — leading humanitarian efforts across South-East Asia, serving as Special Representative for Cambodia, and working to resolve the conflict between Laos and Thailand.

6. In the 1990s, he brought that same tireless commitment to new challenges — as Special Envoy to Myanmar, as the man dispatched to secure the release of a crew in Kandahar, and ultimately as Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, where he advocated with quiet determination for the world's most vulnerable people.

7. And he never stopped. In 2003, he served as Special Adviser on Iraq to Secretary-General Kofi Annan. For two decades, from 2000 until 2019, he served as Special Representative of the UN World Tourism Organization to the United Nations — bringing to that chapter of his career the same intellectual rigour and diplomatic finesse that had defined all the others.

8. Pakistan is deeply proud of what Rafeeuddin Ahmed gave to this world. He embodied what it means to serve — not for recognition, not for reward, but out of a deep and unshakeable conviction that diplomacy, dialogue, and the patient pursuit of peace can make a difference.

9. We are gathered here today not only to mourn his passing, but to celebrate the extraordinary life he led — to ensure that his contributions are remembered, honoured, and passed on as inspiration to the next generation of diplomats, peacemakers, and public servants from Pakistan and beyond.

10. To his family, Zia and Kamal and others: We stand with you in your grief. He was yours first — and we are grateful that he shared so much of himself with the world.

11. I invite you all now to join us in honouring a great Pakistani, and a great international civil servant today.

****