Reham Al-Farra (1974–2003) was a Palestinian

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

who was murdered in the

Canal Hotel bombing The Canal Hotel bombing was a suicide truck bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, during the afternoon of 19 August 2003. It killed 23 people, including the United Nations' Special Representative in Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello, and wounded over 100, inc ...

in 2003. She had served as a Minister of Public Information and for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

Early life and education

Al-Farra was born in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and graduated from the Faculty of Mass Communications at

Yarmouk University Yarmouk University (), also abbreviated YU, is a comprehensive public and state supported university located near the city centre of Irbid in northern Jordan. Since its establishment in 1976, it has been at the forefront of Jordanian and Middle E ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Career

Al-Farra worked as a journalist at the weekly newspaper ''

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'' and later became its

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. She was the youngest columnist in Jordan to write a daily

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in '' Al-Arab Al-Yawm'' for four consecutive years. In 2002, Al-Farra joined the

United Nations Department of Public Information The United Nations Department of Global Communications (DGC) (prior to 1 January 2019, the United Nations Department of Public Information) is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nations. It is tasked with raising public awareness and ...

and was nominated later as an

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

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for the UN operations in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. She had also been active at the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists.

Death

Al-Farra was killed along with other United Nations staff members in the terrorist

of the UN Headquarters in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, on 19 August 2003.

Honours

In September 2003, the UN Department of Public Information decided to rename its annual training programme for young journalists “The Reham Al-Farra Memorial Journalists' Fellowship Programme” in memory of her.The Official Records of the 16th meeting of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee- Fourth Committee- held at UN Headquarters NY on 29 October 2003, A/C.4/58/SR.16 (paragraph 38)
/ref> On 19 September 2003, UN Secretary-General

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

paid tribute to Al-Farra during a memorial ceremony for those killed in Baghdad: “You chose to work for the United Nations because you wanted to do something for others," Annan said. "You went to Iraq to make a contribution to the lives of your Arab brothers and sisters. It is their loss as much as ours that you were denied the chance to do that".

References

1974 births 2003 deaths Jordanian officials of the United Nations Yarmouk University alumni Jordanian journalists People killed in the Canal Hotel bombing Civilian casualties in the Iraq War 20th-century journalists Jordanian people of Palestinian descent Palestinian terrorism victims Jordanian people murdered abroad Journalists who died as a result of terrorism People murdered in Iraq {{jordan-bio-stub