Essa offered to join UNICEF as ambassador [The News]

Sports Correspondent – The News

KARACHI: Pakistan football team’s former skipper Mohammad Essa has been offered to join UNICEF as ambassador in their campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan, especially in the Balochistan province.

Highly reliable sources told ‘The News’ on Saturday that a formal function in this regard will be held here at a local hotel on April 22 in which Essa would formally announce his commitment to the cause of UNICEF by signing the documents.

Sources said that Essa is expected to be given the responsibility to deliver the message to the people in nook and corner of Balochistan so that no child is left unvaccinated.

Essa’s induction into the UNICEF pool of ambassadors will help the organisation in making it’s campaign more effective and result-oriented in the troubled province.

By signing the deal, Essa will convey the message to the people through personal visits to the target areas apart from appearing in different programmes and advertisements.

Essa has rendered meritorious services for Pakistan football both as player and skipper throughout his career. He is one of the finest play-makers the country has ever produced.

He is admired by the people of Balochistan and belongs to Chaman, a town bordering Afghanistan’s province of Kandahar.

After retiring from international football in 2010, Essa is currently playing for his department K-Electric as skipper.

Star cricketer Shahid Afridi is another national sportsman working as ambassador of UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO).