Barbara Hendricks

US-born world renowned classical singer Barbara Hendricks was appointed to the role of Goodwill Ambassador in 1987 and is UNHCR’s longest-serving Ambassador. In 2002, in recognition of her outstanding commitment to refugees, Barbara was named Honorary Lifetime Goodwill Ambassador.

Barbara supports our fundraising and awareness-raising work and advocates for refugees at the highest diplomatic and governmental levels. Over the past 25 years, Barbara has travelled extensively with UNHCR, meeting refugees and policy-makers in Africa, Asia and Europe. 

In 1989, Barbara travelled to Mozambique and Zambia to meet refugees preparing to return to Namibia. In 1990, she visited Vietnamese refugees in Pulau Bidong camp in Malaysia. In 1992, she travelled to several Cambodian refugee sites in Thailand and a year later she returned to greet some of those same refugees as they returned home with UNHCR’s help. Additionally, Barbara has undertaken missions to Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoire.

Barbara has also been an active supporter of World Refugee Day activities and has performed at the UNHCR’s Nansen Refugee Award on several occasions, in addition to performing at many other concerts in celebration and support of UNHCR and refugees. On 31 December 1991, Barbara gave a concert for peace in Dubrovnik, Croatia, which was then a city under fire. She returned to the Balkans in 1997 to witness developments in post-conflict projects in Sarajevo.

Barbara took part in UNHCR’s Everyone Counts Campaign in 2019 which celebrated the strength, resilience and skills that refugees bring to their new communities and highlighted that ‘everyone has a role to play’ in helping refugees. She also attended the Global Refugee Forum as well as highlighting UNHCR’s solidarity train.

In June 2018 Barbara joined UNHCR donors and VIPs at the Art Basel event, where she performed a Medley for Refugee Children with her husband Ulf accompanying. 

In March 2017 Barbara performed and delivered an impassioned speech at the Treaty of Rome 60th Anniversary Ceremony in the European Parliament, calling on the European Union to remember its founding values and rise to meet the challenges of the refugee crisis. Whilst in Brussels Barbara also visited resettled refugees.  

In June 2016 Barbara went to Greece to visit different refugee camps, emergency reception sites, and shelters for unaccompanied minors. She also performed at Thessonaliki Concert Hall, raising funds to continue the vital work at Diavata reception site where a safe space for unaccompanied and separated children was recently established. Barbara returned to Thessaloniki in April 2017 to sing with refugee children at the 7^th Festival of Children’s–Youth Choirs.