Polish diplomat elected to high post at UNICEF

Krzysztof Szczerski, Poland’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, has been elected Vice-President of the Bureau of the Executive Board of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF, for 2023.

Krzysztof Szczerski.

PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Following his election, Ambassador Szczerski stressed Poland’s rich tradition regarding the protection of children’s rights, officials told reporters.  

We are happy to announce that Amb. @KSzczerski has been elected as Vice-President of the 🇺🇳 @UNICEF_Board Bureau for 2023! 👏🏼

We look forward to working closely with fellow members of the Bureau: 🇩🇰🇹🇯🇦🇷🇷🇼, the Board & @UNICEF team in keeping our promise to the world's children. pic.twitter.com/erl4t8cf4b

— Poland in the UN (@PLinUN) January 10, 2023

Proud & humbled to be elected as President of @UNICEF_Board today. Excited to get to work with VPs Hikmat @TajikistanPRUN 🇹🇯, @claverGatete PR Rwanda 🇷🇼, María del Carmen Squeff PR @ArgentinaUN 🇦🇷 & @KSzczerski PR Poland 🇵🇱 along with @unicefchief Russel & her stellar staff. pic.twitter.com/INVn2oISwN

— Marie-Louise Wegter (@MWegter) January 10, 2023

Szczerski said: “As Vice-President of the Bureau, I will be guided in my activities by the legacy of the outstanding Polish pedagogue, Janusz Korczak. He was the first to plead for the necessity to respect children as fully-fledged human beings.”

Poland’s envoy to the UN added: “We shall be promoting his ideas which found their manifestation in the 1989 Convention on Children’s Rights. This document, drafted with Poland’s tangible contribution, sets international standards in protecting children’s rights.”

A pioneer of children's rights, Polish pedagogue Janusz Korczak was the first to plead for the necessity to respect 👦👧 as fully-fledged human beings. The 🇺🇳 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child drew on his work. His legacy will guide 🇵🇱's actions in @UNICEF_Board Bureau. https://t.co/Rribmm8FbG pic.twitter.com/OEZcTa8LyT

— Poland in the UN (@PLinUN) January 10, 2023

Korczak was a Polish-Jewish doctor, educator, and writer. He ran a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw. During the Holocaust, he refused offers of a shelter and accompanied Jewish children on their way to the gas chambers of the Nazi German extermination camp of Treblinka. 

(mk/pm)