Home / Employment / Contact / Search / Français / Español   

Press Centre

News Note

Muhammad Ali boosts spirits, bids good-bye to Kabul

" I believe I have seen - in the young people like yourselves that I met - not just the Afghanistan of today, but the Afghanistan of tomorrow. That tomorrow will be your tomorrow, and the world must not fail you." - from Mr Ali's letter to the children and young people of Afghanistan

Muhammad Ali, UN Messenger for Peace, has completed his first trip to Afghanistan and is currently en route to the United States, having departed from Kabul at 12.30PM today.

Mr. Ali issued a statement for distribution, a "letter to the children and young people of Afghanistan".

Mr. Ali spent the last day of his Afghanistan trip touring severely damaged parts of West Kabul, including a stop at the former King's Palace. There, he was accompanied by the Mayor of Kabul City and President of the Afghan Olympic Committee, and the grandson of the former King.

He then met with staff members of UNICEF and WFP Afghanistan Country Offices. Numerous staff members were able to take photographs with Mr. Ali and to present to him gifts, including a traditional Afghan carpet.

As Mr. Ali was departing from Kabul, Ms. Angela Kearney, Officer-in-Charge of UNICEF-Afghanistan told Mr. Ali that his visit has "given a boost of confidence to the Afghan people, but most of all had an enormous impact on the children of Afghanistan."

"Seeing you seated among classrooms full of girls, in a UNICEF-supported school was something that would never have been possible," she said.