Obituary: The UN system and AFICS mourn a dear friend and colleague By Essam Mitwally I have known as a colleague in the UNDP Cairo office for many years, but it was only in the mid 1997 that I worked directly with her. She was pivotal for my selection to make an important and successful presentation on Industrial Estates in Ankara, Turkey. Through her also, UNIDO selected me to head the important task of running the contest of the Most Successful Innovations in Industry, in Egypt and in English-speaking Africa.. a task which and I successfully managed to the extent that three Egyptian industries won three of the nine prizes allocated by UNIDO for all Africa. I think that such contest was 'ss grandest show when she represented and delivered the opening speech on behalf of the Director General of UNIDO. was also a great hostess. She would gather senior government and UN officials to celebrate the successful tasks performed by Egyptian experts in her beautifully arranged apartment overlooking the Nile. We, the guests, enjoyed the delicious varieties of food, drinks, and singing performances by some renowned artists. had a strong enthusiasm to learn new things. She was fascinated by the Internet, but admitted that she couldn't compete with young Omar, the son of her niece Maha, whom she considered as her daughter, and thus Omar was like her grandson. That was a reflection of her strong motherly feeling. One summer afternoon, and I were enjoying the beauty of nature in front of Le Victoria Hotel in Mauritius. It was still the UNIDO-sponsored African contest for industries that exhibited successful innovations. We talked about what would we like to be remembered for. She said in her soft voice mixed with silent charm that she would like to be remembered as someone who loved life. Indeed we shall. Putting the above aside, I must share with the readers an amusing experience involving . We were still in Mauritius when I came back from the final selection meeting of the contestants when I saw , eyes crossed and a baby smile on her face. I asked her "what happened to you?". She said "nothing" and her smile broadened . Our Swedish friend Karen Wassef who accompanied us, ordered her a Piña Colada drink. Unknowing that the drink had alcohol, thirsty liked its sweet taste and gulped the entire tall glass in seconds. We had to support her back to her room while she was humming a song and having a fit of laughter that soon got to me and Karen . The following day, remembered only one thing: Piña Colada was not on her favorite list of drinks. Rest in peace, . You left an immemorable legacy behind.
