Abuja, Nigeria – The United Nations has appointed Nigerian poet and activist Maryam Bukar-Hassan as a Global Advocate for Peace, with a mandate to promote peacebuilding through empathy, education, and cultural understanding. The appointment comes amid growing concerns about violence in Nigeria and around the world.
Speaking at the UN House in Abuja, Ms. Bukar-Hassan delivered a message that “peace is not a distant ideal, but a personal and collective responsibility.” She was welcomed by the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Malick Fall, who called her appointment “timely and important.”
Mr. Fall emphasized that without peace, development, democracy, and human rights cannot flourish. He praised Ms. Bukar-Hassan’s potential to reach young people in ways that traditional diplomacy cannot, describing her as “the voice of young people, the voice of female leadership.”
Ms. Bukar-Hassan’s strategy includes embedding peace education in public schools through initiatives like “Peace Circles” and “Peace Clubs,” and using indigenous languages and folklore to make peacebuilding more relatable. She also plans to use storytelling as a tool for healing and launching a podcast titled “What Makes You Human” to promote personal narratives.
The new advocate is scheduled to visit global conflict zones, including Gaza and Sudan, in the coming year as part of her broader mission to humanize conflict victims and advocate for dialogue.
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