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Ishmael Beah
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2007
"I know the nature of what it is to be forgotten, what it is to lose your humanity, and more importantly, what it is to recover from it and to have another life."
Ishmael Beah, bestselling author and human rights spokesperson, was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2007, pledging to give a voice to children whose lives have been scarred by violence.
In 1991, the outbreak of a brutal civil war in Sierra Leone upended the lives of millions. Ishmael’s parents and two brothers were killed before he was forcibly recruited into the war at age thirteen. After two years, Ishmael was removed from the army, with help from UNICEF, and placed in a rehabilitation home in Freetown.
Through advocacy, he aims to change the course for thousands of children still trapped in war.
Ishmael is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee and has testified before the United States Congress.
Ishmael Beah's activity with UNICEF
GWA activity per year
- Ishmael supported UNICEF’s Humanitarian Action for Children Appeal and raised awareness of the impact of climate change, public health emergencies and economic challenges on the 51 million children affected by crises across Eastern and Southern Africa. He highlighted the need to prioritize children in the region and advocated for their rights and wellbeing.
- Ishmael traveled to Sudan to meet children and families affected by the ongoing conflict, highlighting the child displacement crisis and the urgent need for humanitarian aid and peace. He met with children in displacement camps, shared his own experiences as a former child soldier, and used his platform to call for greater attention and action for Sudan's children.
- Ishmael was the keynote speaker at the UNICEF NextGen Global Summit in Nairobi where he spoke about his visit to Sudan and took part in a panel on youth in Africa.
- Ishmael was the keynote speaker at UNICEF Canada’s 32nd annual Water for Life Gala in Halifax. Since its inception in 1992, the Gala in Halifax has raised more than $4 million to support impactful change for children in some of the hardest to reach places in the world.
- Ishmael traveled to Copenhagen to visit UNICEF’s Global Supply and Logistics Hub, the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world, where he packed Recreation Kits and helped raise awareness of the importance of providing children with the necessary supplies to help rebuild their hope and sense of childhood.
- Ishmael visited Tijuana and Mexico City to meet with children and families displaced by armed violence and organized crime. He listened to the stories of forced displacement, the dangers of their journeys, and their efforts to build new lives. He also highlighted UNICEF's work in the region, which includes providing healthcare, mental health services, preventing recruitment into organized crime through education, and ensuring the safety of unaccompanied children.
- Ishmael filmed a video in support of UNICEF’s Child Alert in Latin America and the Caribbean highlighting the importance of protecting children on the move. He spoke of their migration journeys and the dangers they face, advocating for their access to essential services, as well as underscoring the need for them to have safety and protection in their home countries.
- Ishmael spoke at the Protection and Reintegration of Children Affected by Armed Conflict event in Paris. He discussed the importance of strengthening policies to prevent violence against children and youth by investing in opportunities and long-term mental health services for those who have been impacted by violence globally.
- On World Children’s Day, Ishmael spoke with Lunjok, a 14-year-old activist and writer in South Sudan, to discuss sustainability in her country.
- Ishmael participated in a panel at the “Celebrating Champions for Children in Sierra Leone” event to advocate for sustaining critical prevention and response services to end violence against children.
- Ishmael received the UNICEF USA Spirit of Compassion Award.
- Ishmael was keynote speaker at the 25th annual UNICEF Canada Water for Life Gala, which raised over $1 million to provide clean water for children around the world.
- Ishmael travelled to Jordan to amplify the voices of vulnerable children and young people affected by the conflict in Syria. While there, he helped develop the advocacy skills of nearly fifty young people from Jordan, Lebanon and Syria at a workshop funded by the EU Regional Trust Fund.
- Ishmael visited his native Sierra Leone, where he met with child survivors of sexual abuse, children in contact with the law, and orphaned children. He also met with President Julius Maada Bio and discussed the protection and promotion of the welfare of children in Sierra Leone.
- Ishmael travelled to Slovenia and Croatia, where he met with students, participated in fundraising activities and delivered a speech at the Better Business for Children Conference.
- Ishmael spoke about his experience as a child soldier in Sierra Leone and his work advocating against the recruitment of children into armed groups at an event to commemorate UNICEF’s seventieth anniversary in New York.
- Ishmael travelled to Sierra Leone to share how, as a child solider, he was able to reclaim his life with the support of UNICEF to become one of the most passionate advocates for children affected by war.
- Ishmael travelled to South Sudan to meet with former child soldiers, as well as various parties to the conflict, to advocate for the release of child soldiers and their re-integration into communities.
- Ishmael joined UNICEF Luxembourg to launch the KANNERLIICHT child rights action week, aimed at galvanizing public support for the work of UNICEF worldwide.
- On a mission to the conflict-affected towns of N’délé and Akroussoulback in the Central African Republic, Ishmael witnessed the release of ten children from the armed group Convention of Patriots for Justice of Peace.
- Ishmael helped raise the profile of UNICEF by participating in events in support of the UNICEF USA Fund: He was keynote speaker for a series on child protection and also spoke at the World Affairs Council.
- At the United Nations headquarters in New York, Ishmael participated in a ministerial forum to assess the implementation of the Paris Commitments.
- Ishmael attended a conference in Chad on ending the recruitment of child soldiers in six Central African countries.
- In New York, Ishmael recorded a public service announcement to appeal for donations to help children in Haiti following the 12 January earthquake.
- Ishmael was Master of Ceremony and spoke at the Commemoration of the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, held at the United Nations Trusteeship Council in New York.
- In New York, Ishmael recorded a public service announcement for the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and was interviewed for the Big Think, a global forum connecting people and ideas.
- Ishmael wrote for the special edition of the State of the World’s Children Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- At the United Nations in New York, Ishmael and two other former child soldiers launched the Network of Young People Affected by War.
- In Jamaica, on his first UNICEF mission, Ishmael visited communities where children’s lives had been disrupted by crime and gang conflict.
- At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Ishmael spoke on “Journeys of Change.”
- At the United Nations in New York, Ishmael addressed world leaders and participated in a press conference with senior UN officials.
- At UNICEF headquarters in New York, Ishmael hosted a reception for his book, A Long Way Gone, Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.
- In Hiroshima and Kyoto, Japan, Ishmael was keynote speaker at the Religions for Peace Youth Assembly.