Meritorious Service Cross
- Awarded on: September 25, 1997
- Invested on: December 04, 1998
Nigel Fisher, M.S.C., Ottawa, Ont.
Meritorious Service Cross (civil division)
Mr. Fisher was appointed UNICEF's Special Representative to Rwanda at the end of the Civil War in 1994. Tasked to re-establish UNICEF's mandate in a lawless environment, he displayed outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his assignment. Working in intolerable conditions, Mr. Fisher and his team devoted countless hours towards numerous endeavors that included family reunification, the establishment of an orphanage network, the reopening of health clinics, schools and key ministries of social services. In addition, they were instrumental in the reintegration of "boy soldiers", children as young as nine or ten, into normal life.