UN mourns loss of senior official Sharon Capeling-Alakija

Staff members and diplomats at the United Nations gathered today to pay tribute to the late executive coordinator of the UN Volunteers (UNV), Sharon Capeling-Alakija, whom UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called “a natural world citizen inspired by a profound desire to help build better lives for others.”

Ms. Capeling-Alakija, a Canadian who joined the UN in 1989, died 4 November in Bonn, Germany, after a long illness.

"At a time of unprecedented change in the world and in the role of the United Nations, Sharon had an instinctive grasp of the need for the organization to reach out as widely as possible and engage people from all walks of life to join in our mission," Mr. Annan said.

“She brought that understanding to bear on all her work with us – whether as Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers programme, Director of Evaluation and Strategic Planning at UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), or Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).”

The highly successful International Year of Volunteers she led in 2001 provided vivid testimony of the energy and enthusiasm she brought to that approach, he said.

The UNV supports human development globally by promoting volunteerism and by mobilizing volunteers.