NEW YORK (TIP): 2019 “Power of One” Awards have been announced.  The awards this year are cohosted  by the Permanent Missions of Belarus, Georgia and India to the United Nations, and Diwali Foundation USA, Inc.

The 2019 Exceptional Awardees will be presented on December 6, 2019 ( 4.5.30 PM ) at   ECOSOC COUNCIL CHAMBER, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK .                              .

The recipients of the coveted awards are H.E. Kairat Abdrakhmanov, former Foreign Minister & Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN; H.E. Nicholas Emiliou, former Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations, NY; H.E. Frantisek Ruzicka, former CDC to PGA 72 & Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the UN; and  H.E. Volodymyr Yelchenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations

The list of speakers at the event includes H.E. Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations,  H.E. Kaha Imnadze, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations,

H.E. Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations, H.E. Mansour Al-Otaibi, Permanent Representative of Kuwait to the United Nations,   H.E. Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations,   H.E. Michal Mlynár, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations,  H.E. Darja Bavdaž Kuret, Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the United Nations,  Ms. Ranju Batra, Chair, Diwali Foundation USA, Inc and  Mr. Ravi Batra, Chair, National Advisory Council South Asian Affairs.

H.E. Valentin Rybakov, Permanent Representative of Belarus to the United Nations will moderate.

The  event is cosponsored by  the Permanent Missions of Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Greece, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Permanent Observer of State of Palestine and NY Office – IAEA.

The “Power of One” Award, aka “Oscars of Diplomacy,” established by Diwali Foundation USA, Inc in 2017, is to celebrate and highlight the important work done in a peaceful manner, especially at the United Nations.

The inaugural “Power of One” Awards event, held on December 11, 2017 at the UNHQ, recognized some of those honorable individuals. To be eligible for the Award, one has to be a former Permanent Representative or former High-Level member of UN Secretariat, or soon to be “former,” who has toiled selflessly to “help form a more perfect,” peaceful and secure world for all. The 2017 Inaugural Awardees were H.E. Maged Abdelaziz (Egypt), H.E. Ion Botnaru (Moldova), H.E.Lakshmi Puri (India), H.E. Matthew Rycroft (United Kingdom), H.E. Nawaf Salam (Lebanon), and H.E. Yuri Sergeev (Ukraine).