South African actress Nomzamo Mbatha appointed UNHCR's Goodwill Ambassador

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has appointed South African actress and human rights activist Nomzamo Mbatha as the Goodwill Ambassador.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi while congratulating Ms Mbatha said: “It is with great delight that we welcome Nomzamo Mbatha to the UNHCR family. I have personally witnessed her tireless commitment to shining a light on refugee situations across Africa and I look forward to seeing her inspire many more people in this new role.”

Ms Mbatha said her appointment is an honour which she will use to advance the plights of the refugees.
“It is an incredible honour to be appointed a Goodwill ambassador. I can’t wait to embark on this journey, learn more and use my voice and to truly be an agent of change.”

She added that since 2017 when she began her journey with UNHCR, it has been a learning curve, which she said has helped her be where she is today.
“Many people think that this role is about giving but it’s also about receiving. It’s about receiving and understanding the human spirit, receiving empathy and understanding our common language as human beings,” she said.

Ms Mbatha takes on the role at a time when wars, conflicts and persecution have forced over 68 million people worldwide to flee from their homes, the highest level of displacement ever recorded. There are over 25 million refugees worldwide, with Sub-Saharan Africa hosting over 31 per cent of these.

Prior to her appointment, Ms Mbatha has been working closely with UNHCR to raise awareness about the forcibly displaced in Africa. As a High Profile Supporter and advocate for UNHCR’s LuQuLuQu campaign, she travelled to several countries hosting most of the continents’ displaced.

“I have been inspired by refugees’ resilience and by the fact that we are more common than we are different,” she said.
In 2017, she travelled to Dzaleka, the largest refugee camp in Malawi. The following year, she visited Kakuma camp and Kalobeyei settlement in northern Kenya, where she met vulnerable groups including women and children, accommodated in safe spaces in the camp.

“Their strength, their ability to overcome and their ingenuity for making the best of a difficult situation is what I celebrate,” she said, while reflecting on the refugee women she met in Kakuma.
Ms Mbatha’s third trip with UNHCR was to South Sudan where she visited camps for internally displaced people in Juba and Maban. The visit left a lasting impression on Mbatha as she recalls how the people she met there inspired her.

“There are so many stories that touched me. I think it is through these stories that you truly encounter the human spirit.”
She added that many of the refugees she has met exemplify hope and resilience and have helped her understand true humanity.
“Adut was the only blind student in a school that has no braille machines and is in one of the most remote refugee camps in the world. He told me that he wants to be an engineer when he grows older, so that he can help other refugee kids know that anything is possible.”

Ms Mbatha was also a speaker at the first ever TEDx event to be hosted in a refugee camp – TEDx Kakuma Camp. In her speech, she expressed her deep attachment to the refugee cause and her interest in issues affecting women and children.

She also attended the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit where she moderated a panel discussion on how to explore the private sector’s role in helping refugees rebuild their lives. Later in the year, she hosted the Nansen Refugee Awards which honoured South Sudanese humanitarian, Dr. Evan Atar.

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