A silver-framed photograph of Emperor Haile Selassie, presented in 1942 to Sir William Jordan, the then NZ High Commissioner in London, has gone on ebay to raise funds for UNICEF’s work with children in the developing world.

The framed photo was presented in recognition of Sir William’s support for Ethiopia after it was invaded by Italy in October 1935. New Zealand was one of a small number of countries that did not recognise Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia.

Sir William was a New Zealand Member of Parliament between 1922 and 1936. From 1936-1951 he held the post of New Zealand High Commissioner in London. Sir William died in 1958.

After his death, the framed photograph passed to Sir William’s family and was recently gifted to the UNICEF NZ as a way of raising funds to support UNICEF’s life-saving work with children in developing countries. It is expected the auction will raise at least US$1,000.

The auction will close on Monday 28 June.

What you can do
Place a bid for the photograph on ebay (external link)
Read about other ways you can join with us to help children