News

NDI Democracy worker killed in Baghdad

Ms. Andrea Parhamovich was killed Wednesday in the ambush of a convoy in Baghdad. Gunmen fired on her convoy of vehicles was ambushed just minutes after leaving the headquarters of a prominent Sunni Arab political party, where she had been teaching a class on democracy. Magdy Martinez, Executive Head, United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), has sent a message of condolences to the President of the National Democratic Institute:

"Dear Ken,

The day before yesterday I sent you a hurried email asking whether it was true. We now know that it was: the barbaric attack on Andrea Parhamovich and the colleagues and guards who were with her is not just another of the seemingly endless acts of violence that are destroying Iraq. It is a very targeted aggression against those who, like many of us, like you and your colleagues at NDI, believe that Democracy and freedom are something one can talk about and help on anywhere in the world. We know well what would drive a young woman like Andrea to take on the job in the most dangerous place on earth: idealism, belief that one is doing the right thing, bringing good and help to other people who need it, no matter how far away from home, no matter at what risk. The murderers who ended her life and the lives of her guards also knew this very well and wanted probably to kill the freedom Andrea represents when using their tools of assassins against her. Some young men in Iraq will soon only know how to use such tools instead of those who are used to build, repair, heal, teach or harvest. These were Andrea's tools, her commitment, your collective promise.

I would like to ask you to convey the condolences of the UN Democracy Fund's team and my own to Andrea's family, friends, colleagues in Iraq and to the NDI community. When Andrea died, we were all hit. The only thing the murderers will not achieve is instilling fear in democracy workers. We stand by our own. We stand by you.

Magdy Martinez-Soliman"

^ Back to top

Return to homepage