July 2018- Celebration of the Centenary of Nelson Mandela’s Birthday in Iran

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Tehran, July 19, 2018 – UNIC Tehran jointly with the South African Embassy, UNAIDS, , Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Raad Alghadir Charity, Roshd Charity Foundation,, Association of Protection of Children of Labor, Ketabraneh mobile bookstore and Revamp Agency organized a series of series events to mark Nelson Mandela International Day. The events consisted of a training of trainers held at UNIC and facilitated by UNIC Intern, Ms. Shadi Rouhshahbaz and its objective was to focus on training the participants on Mandela’s values and dedication to conflict resolution, race relations, peacebuilding, dialog, and reconciliation.  
Pariticpants of the Training of the Trainers on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day with Dr Maria Dotsenko, UNIC Director

Tehran, July 19, 2018 – UNIC Tehran jointly with the South African Embassy, UNAIDS, , Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Raad Alghadir Charity,Roshd Charity Foundation,, Association of Protection of Children of Labor, Ketabraneh mobile bookstore and Revamp Agency organized a series of series events to mark Nelson Mandela International Day.

The events consisted of a training of trainers held at UNIC and facilitated by UNIC Intern, Ms. Shadi Rouhshahbaz and its objective was to focus on training the participants on Mandela’s values and dedication to conflict resolution, race relations, peacebuilding, dialog, and reconciliation. The methods of training was informal education and the trainees received more information on human rights, gender equality, the rights of children and other vulnerable groups, as well as Mandela’s fight against poverty and the promotion of social justice.

The training resulted in a series of workshops at Raad Alghadir NGO and APCL on July 14th and 17th. During each training, the participants which were people with physical disabilities and victims of child labor, got acquainted with Mandela’s values and efforts.

Furthermore, the aforementioned partners gathered together at the UN Common Premises to attend a symposium in order to commemorate Nelson Mandela International Day and to share their efforts and practices which follow Mandela’s path.

The symposium started with Ms Sarvenaz Heraner’s inspirational speech on Nelson Mandela and how this international hero has taught people to define their own life’s dictionary. 

Ms Sarvenaz Heraner, co-founder of Ketabraneh Mobile Bookstore delivers the opening speech

It was followed by UNIC Director, Dr Maria Dotsenko’s speech on Mandela’s values and the screening of the UN Secretary General video message on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day which was translated and subtitled by UNIC Interns.

The symposium was then continued by Ms Soraya Jacobs, chargé d’affaires of the South African Embassy who said that while we are paying tribute to Nelson Mandela, we should focus on actions for the humanity, not on ceremonies. She also described her personal experiences with during the apartheid years as well as mentioning the visits of Mandela to Iran and ties between the two countries.  

Dr Maria Dotsenko, UNIC Director shares the UN SG message on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day Ms Soraya Jacob, charge d’affaires of the South African Embassy discusses the importance of taking action on the occasion of Nelson Mandela International Day

Next, Dr Fardad Doroudi, UNAIDS Representative in Iran, spoke of Mandela’s tireless efforts and personal contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS which was a taboo subject then in the South Africa and quoted the UNAIDS Director General,Michel Sidibé.

 

Dr Fardad Doroudi speaks of Mandela’s legacy and his fights against HIV/AIDS

Shadi Rouhshahbaz, Global Youth Peace Ambassador, UNIC Intern and coordinator of Nelson Mandela International Day, also spoke about Mandela as a national and international and emphasized on engaging youth in the area of peacebuilding in Iran. She briefly elaborated on the training of trainers which she facilitated and the events that followed it at the NGOs.

 

Ms Shadi Rouhshahbaz, UNIC Intern and Nelson Mandela International Day coordinator, discusses the engagement of youth in peacebuilding activities as well as Mandela as the inspiration behind holding the Training of Trainers Ms. Sara Fadaei, UNIC Intern and Nelson Mandela International Day coordinator, describes her experience of participating and coordinating the workshops of Nelson Mandela International Day and invites other trainers to speak.

Mr Zeidabadi, COB of APCL continued with a summary of activities done in order to fight for the rights of children who have been victims of child labor. He mentioned the newly formed network between NGOs that are fighting for the values aligned with those of Mandela. His speech was followed by Mr Hasib Heyran, one of the victims who had received life-changing impact from APCL. Hasib told the guests about the NGO’s endeavors in helping both Afghan and Iranian victims of child labor to receive quality education and practice sports.

 

Mr. Hasib Heyran, former victim of child labor, explains about the life-changing impact of APCL on his life

Mr Mirsalim, representative of Raad Alghadir Charity took the floor with a speech on the efforts his organization to decrease discrimination and engage people with physical disabilities in daily activities as active and responsible citizens through entrepreneurship. 

 

Mr Zeidabadi, COB of APCL, brought forward the news of creating a network between certain NGOs that work towards realizing Mandela’s values and dreams. Mr Mirsalim, Raad Alghadir Representative, emphasized on the role of entrepreneurship to engage people with physical disabilities and integrate them into the society.

The symposium then hosted Ms Sarah Ahmadi, Iranian classical musician who has traveled the world with the motto of Music for Peace. She played a special composition on her musical instrument, the daf, on the occasion of Mandela Day.

 

Dr Maria Dotsenko, UNIC Director, signs the daf which belonged to Ms Sara Ahmadi, musician and leader of Kaliveh Music Band.

Then, Sara Fadaei, UNIC Intern and coordinator of Nelson Mandela International Day, introduced the participants and trainees of the Nelson Mandela training of trainers. Each of them shared their experience of attending the trainings and facilitating workshops. They emphasized on the role of youth activism and practicing Mandela’s values as role models for other people. Shortly afterwards, Mr Hamidreza Mehrvarz spoke of Roshd Charity’s agenda for visiting schools in remote areas of Iran to train children on Mandela’s values.

 

Mr Mehrvarz, Roshd Charity Foundation representative, spoke of the foundation’s efforts and programs towards reaching out to underprivileged areas and transferring their lessons learnt

Dr Bayat, executive director of Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDs presented valuable data on following Mandela’s legacy on fighting HIV/AIDS in Iran as well as summary of the activities that the center has been carrying out over the years.

 

Dr Bayat, Executive Director of IRCHA, spoke of the measures taken by this center to fight HIV/AIDS in Iran Ms Maria Azizian, CEO of Revamp Agency, discussed the organization’s focus on developing youth leadership

Last but not least, Maria Azizian, COB of Revamp Agency discussed their role as an organization that motivates the growth and leadership of youth in Iran and how they have managed to adhere to Mandela’s values and ethics as an exemplary leader.

 

Symposium participants and guests Symposium participants and guests.

UN staff and UNIC interns and partners in brief videos which were posted on social media spoke about what Mandela’s legacy means to them personally and UNIC interns translated and subtitles these videos. (video 1, video 2, video 3, video 4, video 5)

UNIC published updated Persian version of the UN booklet with Mandela’s quotes and photos and distributed it and other UN-information materials to the public. (English Booklet, Farsi Booklet) UN-films on Mandela, which were translated and subtitled by UNIC interns were also screened for the audience. (video 1, video 2)

 

Nelson Mandela Booklet Reprinted in Farsi by UNIC

This symposium is one of the many events that the United Nations Information Centre plans to hold for the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birthday and his call to action and inspiration of change.  

 

 
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