Turkish Singer Muazzez Ersoy Named UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador

Popular Turkish singer Muazzez Ersoy has been appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She formalized the role by signing a protocol with UNHCR Türkiye Representative Gesche Karrenbrock in Istanbul.

Ersoy pledged to support displaced families through concerts and public campaigns, saying she had taken on "an important mission."

UNHCR's Goodwill Ambassador program dates to the early 1980s, when actors Richard Burton and James Mason became the first celebrities recruited to speak publicly on behalf of refugees. The roster now includes opera singer Barbara Hendricks (1987), Egyptian actor Adel Imam (2000), actress Angelina Jolie (2001), fashion designer Giorgio Armani (2002), and French singer Julien Clerc (2003).

Ambassadors leverage their public profiles through television, radio, magazine coverage, and live events to draw attention to refugee communities, who are often overlooked in humanitarian crises or misrepresented in public discourse. They also meet with heads of state, diplomats, educators, and local officials to advocate on refugees' behalf.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in May 2006, in its own words.