LOCAL MP Brendan O’Hara travelled to the United Nations Headquarters in New York to witness the appointment of a young Yazidi woman, Nadia Murad, as a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Office on Drugs and Crime.

Mr O’Hara was invited along as a guest of Nadia after he got involved with her story in February last year.

A constituent contacted Mr O’Hara to ask if he would be willing to meet Nadia in Westminster and hear about her ordeal at the hands of Daesh in Iraq.

He agreed and a few weeks later Nadia was speaking to a packed committee room of MPs and Peers about her experience.

The 23-year-old described to the room how the Daesh attacked her village in Northern Iraq in 2014, shooting young boys and men. She was one of hundreds of women traded as sex slaves by Daesh fighters and described her ordeal before she managed to escape to Germany.

Since escaping Nadia has been a relentless advocate for Yazidi people in Iraq.

Speaking of the invitation to attend her appointment ceremony Mr O’Hara said: “I feel very honoured and humbled to be invited to Nadia’s appointment ceremony as Goodwill ambassador to the UN. When I first met Nadia, I was struck by her amazing strength and determination to make sure her story was heard by the outside world.

“Her story is a harrowing one and she is without a doubt one of the bravest people I have ever met.

“We owe it to her to listen to her story and not turn away. It is a story the world has to hear.”

The ceremony was held on Thursday, September 15 and featured speeches from Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations and Amal Clooney, International Human Rights Barrister and Attorney for Nadia.

Nadia will continue her fight for advocacy initiatives and raising awareness around the plight of millions of victims of human trafficking, especially refugees, women and girls.