- Barbara Hendricks
After 20 years of commitment for the defence of refugees the world over, the opera singer Barbara Hendricks was appointed Honorary Ambassador for life of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, a unique title in the history of the institution. In 1991 and 1993, during the war in former Yugoslavia, she gave, out of solidarity, two concerts in Sarajevo and Dubrovnik. In 1998 she created the Barbara Hendricks Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation, so as to prolong her combat for the prevention of conflicts. The text that follows is an extract of the speech that she pronounced on June 20th 2016, on the occasion of the World Refugee Day. A vibrant plea that should reverberate next December 18th, on the International Day for Migrants.