7 December 2012, Addis Ababa — The National Honorary Goodwill Ambassador of UNFPA in Ethiopia, two-times Olympic gold medal winner, Meseret Defar, paid a visit to UNFPA’s Ethiopia Country Office today and met the staff. In a briefing given to media representatives, UNFPA Country Representative Mr. Benoit Kalasa commended Ms. Defar’s commitment of championing the causes of women’s empowerment, adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health, and HIV and AIDS.
“I am very happy to work with UNFPA and honoured to champion the causes of women and young people,” Ms. Defar said.
She made the visit to UNFPA on the commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. She accepted an invitation from Mr. Kalasa to attend a high-level event being organized for African Heads of State at the upcoming AU Summit in January 2013 to discuss the Campaign for Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA).
Ms. Defar was appointed as UNFPA National Honorary Goodwill Ambassador in Ethiopia right after her return from her spectacular performance at the Athens Olympics in 2004, where she won a gold medal. More recently, she won the women’s 5000 metres event at the London Olympics.
