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(contracted; show full)slava | date = 2010-6-7 | access date = 2010-6-10}}</ref>.  He is a retired former UN official who served most recently as the [[Resident Coordinator]] of the [[United Nations]] system in [[Ukraine]], from  30 September 2004 until 31 March 2009, and previously in the same capacity in [[Serbia]]-[[Montenegro]].  He worked in UN service for 32 years <ref>[[http://www.mexicodiplomatico.org/art_diplomatico_especial/irlanda_francis_martin_odonnell.pdf] / Biographical note, see link]</ref>.

==
Background==
He was born in [[1954]] in [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]], son of [[Patrick Denis O'Donnell]], who served briefly as a United Nations military observer with [[UNTSO]], the oldest UN peace-keeping operation in the world<ref>''An Appreciation'', article on editorial page of The Irish Times, Dublin, 24 January 2005</ref>.

==Education==
He is an honours graduate in [[Economics]] and [[Philosophy]] from the [[National University of Ireland]] at [[University College Dublin]], and has also read [[International Law]] and [[Diplomacy]] at postgraduate level in [[Geneva]], and qualified in Disaster Management at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]. In the summer of 1997, he was the subject of a two-page feature as a successful graduate in the inaugural summer 1997 issue of "UCD Connections" (University College Dublin, his alma-mater), and more recently in the CoRD magazine in [[Belgrade]].

==UN career==
Since 1976, when he started as a United Nations Volunteer in [[Sudan]], he has also served the UN in [[Lesotho]], [[Mauritania]], [[Niger]], [[Switzerland]], [[Turkey]], the [[United States of America]], and recently in [[Serbia & Montenegro]]. He also undertook short missions in over 40 other countries in [[Africa]], [[Asia]], the [[Middle East]], Central and Eastern Europe, North America, and the Caribbean<ref>Biography [http://www.youthmeetingrome.com/?cont=speak_donnell.html]</ref>. 

At the end of the [[Cold War]], he was requested in late 1991 to launch a rapid response capability for deploying UN Volunteers (UNV) to UN emergency operations worldwide. He overhauled recruitment methods, and oversaw the rapid deployment of thousands of UN volunteers to crisis zones, where they became the front-line link between relief and aid delivery agencies such as [[UNICEF]], [[UNHCR]], [[WFP]], [[UNDP]], and [[WHO]] and suffering war victims, [[refugees]] and internal displacees. The effort saved lives during the years 1992-1994 in [[Afghanistan]], [[Angola]], [[Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnia]], [[Cambodia]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]], [[Liberia]], [[Rwanda]], [[Somalia]], [[Sudan]], and many other war-torn countries during the raging inter-ethnic tragedies that succeeded the Cold War's proxy conflicts. True life stories from the field featured in ''Volunteers Against Conflict'', a book praised by former Presidents [[Nelson Mandela]], [[Mary Robinson]], and [[Jimmy Carter]], and written by volunteers recruited under his leadership.
[[Image:BBG & ODs.jpg|thumb|right|Boutros-Ghali & O'Donnell, Ankara, end-May 1996]]
Based later in [[Turkey]], he helped assure the humanitarian corridor through Turkey into northern [[Iraq]] after the first [[Gulf War]] from 1994–1996, and coordinated earthquake relief in Turkey itself. Subsequently he held a senior emergency management role in [[UNDP]] headquarters in New York, and later lead a systemic governance team for crisis countries, developing a new policy approach to tackle root causes for preventing crisis in vulnerable countries.

In 2000, he played an important role in leading missions that helped the late [[Sergio Vieira de Mello]] lay the foundations for public administration capacity in [[East Timor]] before independence. He organised a landmark workshop with the Timorese leadership on 1 March 2000, leading to a reform of the UN mission by the Security Council<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=aoju8RjxkHMC&pg=RA1-PA341&lpg=RA1-PA341&dq=%22francis+m.+o'donnell%22&source=bl&ots=Xlo-8O49D2&sig=AvtgqPE82g7ZxrBTSD33qllJwX8&hl=en&ei=ksLoSrORGqKQjAeR-qm2CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=%22francis%20m.%20o'donnell%22&f=false Craig N. Murphy in ''The United Nations Development Programme - A Better Way?''], published by Cambridge University Press, New York/USA & Cambridge/UK, 2006. See page 341.</ref>.  In late 2000, he landed in Belgrade [http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/AllDocsByUNID/5f39f9794ba9318cc1256bdb00459dec] in the immediate aftermath of the overthrow of [[Slobodan Milošević]], and supported the new democratic forces in bringing stability to the remnant of the former [[Yugoslavia]] (Serbia and Montenegro), preventing nascent conflict with marginalised ethnic Albanians in the [[Preševo Valley]] of southern Serbia, launching reintegration programmes, promoting human rights, and supporting reform of governance institutions[http://www.arhiva.srbija.gov.rs/vesti/2004-02/20/343738.html] [http://www.skgo.org/reports/734] [http://www.eps.rs/publikacije/list_kwh/2002/list_br_334.pdf], and bolstering civil society<ref>[http://www.royalfamily.org/statements/state-det/state-1016.htm  ''The Thirtieth Meeting of NGOs in the Royal Palace'', The Chancellery of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia, Belgrade, 16 September 2004]</ref>. In 2002, he was appointed by the UN [[Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]] as Resident Coordinator of the UN system [http://www.un.org.rs][http://www.undp.org.rs] in Yugoslavia/Serbia-Montenegro, and later again in Ukraine in October 2004, just before the so-called [[Orange Revolution]]. He also contributed to housing sector policy in south-east Europe <ref>Housing in South Eastern Europe - solving a puzzle of challenges, published jointly by World Bank and Council of Europe Development Bank, Paris, March 2004 [http://www.coebank.org/pdf/gb/Housing_in_SEE.pdf](page 87)</ref>.

He presented his credentials to the President of Ukraine on 16 November 2004. As Resident Coordinator, he was the designated representative of the UN Secretary-General and lead the UN Country Team of UN agencies [http://www.un.org.ua/] and related bodies and was ''primus inter pares'' amongst several such accredited UN system ''chefs de mission diplomatique''<ref>[http://www.mfa.gov.ua/mfa/en/publication/content/1945.htm  Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine], Diplomatic List</ref>.  The [[2007 Ukrainian political crisis]], which lasted from April to June of 2007 was part of political stand off between coalition and opposition factions of [[Verkhovna Rada]] that led to the unscheduled [[Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007]], and started on April 2, 2007 as a culmination of long lasting crisis and degradation of the parliamentary coalition when the [[President of Ukraine]] ([[Viktor Yushchenko]]) attempted to dissolve the parliament.  The following day, in light of impending political unrest, O'Donnell as [[United Nations]] [[Resident Coordinator]], and following an earlier call to deepen democracy and liberalize the economy[http://www.un.org.ua/en/information-centre/news/352-2007-03-21], exceptionally issued an advisory statement of principles on behalf of the Country Team[http://www.un.org.ua/files/unct_ukraine_statement_en.pdf] (followed by a visit by former Estonian President [[Arnold Rüütel]] on 23 April[http://www.un.org.ua/en/information-centre/news/364-2007-04-24]). 

O'Donnell called for greater awareness of the [[Holocaust]][http://www.ncsj.org/AuxPages/Wkly090130.pdf] <ref>[http://www.un.org.ua/en/news/2009-01-26/ UN-Ukraine Press Release '' UN Office in Ukraine and Ukrainian Centre for Holocaust Studies hold Round table dedicated to International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust'', 29 January 2009]</ref> and active tolerance and decried discrimination against Jews<ref>[http://www.jstandard.com/content/author/jewish New Jersey Jewish Standard, ''UN Holocaust Discussion in Ukraine'', 31 December 2007]</ref>,  Muslims, migrants and minorities in many countries<ref>[http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article?art_id=49251313&cat_id=32598  ''United Nations Coordinator in Ukraine Francis O'Donnell urges world nations to remember tragedy of Holocaust and stick to tolerance principles'',  Web Portal of Ukrainian Government, 27 September 2006]</ref>. He was also instrumental in tackling racism and [[xenophobia]] in Ukraine, by taking the leadership in organizing regular consultations and meetings with the representatives of diplomatic missions and international organizations and jointly bringing this issue to the attention of Government<ref>[http://www.un.org.ua/files/rc_statement_udhr_conference.pdf  Statement at the International Conference ''Current Challenges of Human Rights and Freedoms'' devoted to the 60th anniversary of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' and 10th anniversary of the Ombudsman institute establishement in Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine 14 April 2008]</ref>. An ambassadorial working group was formed<ref>[http://www.un.org.ua/en/news/2007-06-19/  Ukrainian Celebrities Speak Out Against Racism and Xenophobia, UN website in Ukraine, 19 June 2007]</ref>  and a [[Multiculturalism|Diversity]] Initiative, a coordination group under the leadership of the [[International Organization for Migration|IOM]] and [[UNHCR]], was established to provide a forum for anti-discrimination policies – with the overall objective to create a consolidated response to racism and xenophobia in Ukraine. As a result of concerted efforts, the Government stepped up its response to this challenge; an official repudiation of racism by President [[Viktor Yuschenko]] issued; the Government adopted an Action Plan on Counteraction to Racism; and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) established a special unit to counteract xenophobia and intolerance<ref>[http://soderkoping.org.ua/page16293.html The Söderköping Process,  ''Xenophobia is on the agenda on inter-government meeting in Ukraine'', Kyiv, 13 November 2007]</ref>. Policy advice was provided and  best practices from European countries was shared with Government.  There was a wide-scale information campaign, including broadcasting of public service announcements<ref>[http://www.undg.org/docs/RCAR/2007/UKR/Letter-to-SG.final.final.doc    ''UNCT Ukraine Annual Report for 2007 and prospects for 2008'', Letter to the Secretary-General, 21 February 2008]</ref>.

O'Donnell also oversaw the establishment and implementation of the large EU Border Assistance Mission between [[Moldova]] and Ukraine, which brought about substantial improvements in border management, including a curtailing of human trafficking, illicit weapons and other contraband smuggling, and corruption<ref>[http://www.undp.org.ua/news-and-multimedia/1-undp-news/344?lang=en-GB&Itemid=75&option=com_content&view=article&catid=1:undp-news&id=344&month=4&year=2007&Itemid=518   UNDP, EU to further help Ukraine modernise border management, UNDP, 13 March 2007]</ref>. The EUBAM mission remains implemented by UNDP and funded by the European Commission. He also coordinated  UNDP cooperation under the BUMAD programme with Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus, to reduce illicit drug traffic<ref>
[http://un.by/en/undp/news/world/26-02n.html  EU and UNDP help Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus reduce illicit drug trafficking, 2 February 2009]</ref>.   O’Donnell drew attention to the negative impact of endemic corruption in Ukraine, on cooperation with its development partners<ref>[http://en.for-ua.com/news/2007/03/22/105033.html  Corruption epidemic in Ukraine hampers work of the United Nations, Forum, 22 March 2007]</ref>.  He also launched a major programme for women's and children's rights, in collaboration with the EC, Council of Europe, and ILO<ref>[http://soderkoping.org.ua/page20339.html  UNDP, EC, Council of Europe and ILO launch new projects on gender equality in Ukraine, The Söderköping Process, 4 September 2008.]</ref>

The First Lady of Ukraine, [[Kateryna Yushchenko]], in her farewell <ref>[http://www.ukraine3000.org.ua/eng/news/6708.html  The Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation,  ''Kateryna Yushchenko Meets with Francis O’Donnell'', Kyiv, 26 March 2009]</ref>, thanked Mr. O’Donnell for his work in Ukraine and cooperation with her Ukraine 3000 Foundation. She credited him that UN institutions repeatedly rendered support to the Foundation’s initiatives related to education and culture.  Also in 2007, the Ukraine 3000 International Charitable Foundation joined the [[United Nations Global Compact]].

==Public life==
Since the early 1990s, he was actively involved in promoting global peace services [http://www.globalpeaceservices.org/] and inter-faith dialogue, with World Peacemakers (see [http://www.worldpeacemakers.org/]) and the [[United States Agency for International Development]], Global Alliance of Peace Services, the Life and Peace Institute (see [http://www.life-peace.org/default2.asp?xid=]), the Swedish Christian Council, [[Pax Christi]]<ref>[http://storage.paxchristi.net/NL32E95.pdf  Pax Christi Newsletter nr. 32], May 1995</ref>, International Alert, and others. 

He has also addressed public and expert audiences, and delivered keynote addresses at several international conferences. He delivered an address (see [http://www.un.org.ua/?p=news&article=693]) to the XXII International Congress on the Family in Kiev, Ukraine (see [http://www.zakonmaltanski.pl/index.php?go=news17]), and more recently was guest speaker at the Conference for Young Christian Professionals held in [[Rome]] on 28–30 November 2008, where he addressed the subject of'' Leadership Challenges in the Service of Society''<ref>[http://www.youthmeetingrome.com/?cont=speak_donnell.html     ''Leadership Challenges in the Service of Society'', statement at the International Youth Meeting in Rome,  28-30 November 2008]</ref>.  The conference was targeted at "socially active young people, those who are not afraid to discuss the challenges and problems of modern life and who would like to find solutions in the spirit of [[Pope John Paul II]]’s call to ‘build a civilisation of love’, i.e. young people between the ages of 25- 35, in particular the peers of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II".  Several of his papers have been published and he has contributed chapters to several published works on peace and governance issues. 

He has appeared on national TV and radio programmes in several developing countries and in [[France]], [[Italy]], [[Turkey]], as well as on Irish [[RTE]], UK Radio-4 (see [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/]), KRTV (see [http://www.krtvonline.com/]) and FOX NEWS (USA) (see [http://www.foxnews.com/]), and on the [[BBC]] and [[CNN]], Serbian and Montenegrin TV channels (RTS, B92, Beta), and Ukrainian TV as well as in various print media. 

==Other interests==
The initiative to create an Irish-Arab Society was proposed by O’Donnell in November 1968, and taken up by a group of Irish and Arab friends<ref>Irish-Arab News – The Quarterly Journal of the Irish-Arab Society, Spring 1980, published by the Irish-Arab Society, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin, 1980. (page 22).</ref>.  It was the principal advocate of the Palestinian cause in Ireland during the 1970s, and 1980s.  It also played a key advisory and facilitative role in promoting Irish-Arab trade and cultural links, and with its support diplomatic relations were established with 12 states in the Middle East and North Africa between 1974 and 1976 <ref>European Foreign Policy-Making and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, by D. Allen and A. Pijpers (editors), published by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague, 1984. [ISBN 90-247-2965-3]. See chapter on Ireland, by Patrick Keatinge, pages 22 and 23. </ref>. 

At the invitation of the Irish [[Tánaiste]] (Deputy Prime Minister) and Foreign Minister in early 1995, he contributed towards the first [[White Paper]] on Irish Foreign Policy (see [http://foreignaffairs.gov.ie/information/publications/whitepaper/default.asp]). His monograph is lodged in the National Archives of Ireland, and acknowledged in the published White Paper (1996). He is member of the Institute of International and European Affairs (see [http://www.iiea.com/eventsx.php?event_id=163]). 

His analysis of the historical evolution of the law affecting incorporeal hereditaments as elements of intangible [[cultural heritage]] (see [http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=2225&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html]) has also been acknowledged by the Law Reform Commission [http://www.lawreform.ie/] in Ireland, during its consideration of the repeal of 150 statutes going back to 1285 (see [http://www.lawreform.ie/Report%20on%20Reform%20and%20Modernisation%20of%20Land%20Law.pdf]). Since mid-2006, the consequent Bill on Land Reform & Conveyancing has progressed in the [[Oireachtas]], and been adopted into law, as the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act, Number 27 of 2009 [http://www.oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=13018&CatID=87], with such hereditaments preserved as personal rights when held in gross.

==Honours==
On his departure from Ukraine, the Parliamentary [[Ombudsman]] of [[Ukraine]], Ms. Nina Karpachova also bestowed the Ombudsman’s Medal of Honour on O’Donnell for his defense of human rights in that country [http://www.ombudsman.kiev.ua/pres/releases/rel_09_03_25.htm]

O'Donnell holds the Cross of Honour of Jerusalem[http://www.custodia.org/IMG/pdf/decoration_italian.pdf], bestowed on him by the ''Custodia Franciscalis Terra Sanctae'' in 1965.  

He was decreed into the Pontifical Equestrian [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]], by decree 1566/ON of 10 November 2007, by virtue of which [[Pope Benedict XVI]] conferred on him the dignity of papal [[Knight Commander]] with Silver Star, a dignity assumed upon his retirement from the UN.  
  
He is also a Knight Commander of the [[Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George]][http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=11128], which shares motto: [[In Hoc Signo Vinces]], inscribed on his coat of arms the main motif of which is a cross-crosslet<ref>Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, Register of Arms, Volume Z, folio 87</ref>.

O'Donnell is also a [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Knight of Malta]][http://www.orderofmalta.ie/] (member of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta), and has been accredited<ref>[http://google.com/search?q=cache:vMxPDOETs8QJ:www.cathol.lu/News-Feed.html%3Fcathol_id%3Dhttp://www.kathpress.co.at/content/site/nachrichten/database/29845.html+%22NEUER+malteser-botschafter+in+der+slowakei%22&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk   Press release ''Neuer Malteser-Botschafter in der Slowakei''], Catholic Press in Austria, Vienna, 10 December 2009, cached also by Catholic Church in Luxembourg</ref> as the Order's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Slovak Republic<ref>[http://www.tkkbs.sk/view.php?cisloclanku=20091208016, Press release by Chancellery of Slovak Conference of Bishops], Bratislava, 8 December 2009</ref>,<ref>
[http://www.orderofmalta.org/site/materiale/newsletter/luglio2009/pdf/odm_newsletter_luglio2009_eng.pdf  SMOM Newsletter], Rome, July 2009</ref>.

==Published works==
*''Meeting the Humanitarian Challenge - Between Conflict and Development'', foreword by Brenda McSweeney, Executive Coordinator (edited by Maria Keating); 43-page booklet published by United Nations Volunteers, Geneva, 1995.

*''Third Party Civilian Peace Processes in Conflict Situations'', second chapter (pp.&nbsp;11–24) in Civil Intervention - The Role of NGOs in Conflict Prevention, published by Pax Christi International, Brussels, 1995.

*''International Cooperation for Drug Control'', article published in Turkish Daily News, Ankara, 30 June 1995.

*''Tolerance: Respecting Diversity in a Complex World'', pp.&nbsp;25–38, second chapter of 258-page book Uluslararasi Hosgoru Kongresi - International Congress on Tolerance BILDIRILER published by Ministry of Culture, Turkey, in November 1995. {{OCLC|37805997}}.

*''Tomorrow's Turkey Today - The Ankara Roundtable on Human Sustainability'', (163 pages), contribution in pp.&nbsp;119–122 on the linkage between global governance and local environmental management, published by Indigenous Development International, Cambridge, UK, in 1996 (ISBN 1-900164-01-9).

*''Some Foreign Policy Options for Ireland'' (40-page monograph submitted by invitation for consideration by the Government of Ireland in the preparation of a White Paper on Foreign Policy presented to Dáil, Irish Parliament in 1996), Ankara, May 1995. The monograph has been subsequently lodged by the Government of Ireland in the National Archives.

*''A Day in the Life'', published in UCD Connections, worldwide magazine of University College Dublin Alumni, inaugural issue no.1 (ISSN 0791-8747), Dublin, Spring/Summer 1997.

*''Wealth of Dignity, Poverty of Destiny'' – article published in ''O’Domhnaill Abu'', Newsletter no. 32, Summer 2004 of the Clan Association [http://homepage.eircom.net/~vod/] of the O’Donnells of Tyrconnell (ISSN 0790-7389).

*''Global Stability through Multilateralism – Why a strong United Nations is essential to defend freedom and ensure prosperity'', published (pp 11–15 in Ukrainian, and 16-19 in English) in Memory of Centuries: Ukraine in the UN – 60th anniversary, published by the General Directorate for Rendering Services to the Diplomatic Missions [chief editor: Stanislav Nikolayenko], issue no.5 (56) 2005,

==Policy monographs==
*''The Concept and Promotion of Global Peace Service'', paper presented as invited Guest Speaker at the "Global Peace Service" Conference at the Church Center for the United Nations, U.N. Plaza, New York, November 1993.

*''Humanitarian Access and the Opportunity for Building-up Peace from the Grassroots'', paper presented upon invitation to international seminar on "Towards a Global Alliance of Peace Services", held by the Christian Council of Sweden, and Life & Peace Institute, at Stensnas, Stockholm, Sweden, May 1994.

*''Conflict Prevention, Response, and Post-Conflict Recovery'', paper presented at meeting with European Commission (DG VIII), Brussels, November 1997.

*''Foundations for Governance and Public Administration in East Timor'', basic framework for initial capacity building in East Timor, according to the late SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, who endorsed and presented it to Lisbon Donors Conference, on 21 June 2000, and reported it to the UN Security Council on 27 June 2000.


==Other references/citations==
*''Towards a Global Alliance of Peace Services'', published by Life and Peace Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, 1994 (co-funded by SIDA and Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs). (one of several contributors).

*''Seeds of Peace, Harvest for Life'' by Sr. Mary Evelyn Jegen, SND (Abbey Press, St. Meinrad, Indiana, USA, 1994). O’Donnell’s contributions quoted and acknowledged in Chapters 2 and 13. 

*''Keeping the Peace: Exploring civilian alternatives in conflict prevention'' (132 pages), by Lisa Schirch, published by Life & Peace Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, October 1995 (ISBN 91-87748-26-6).

*''Challenges and Opportunities Abroad - The White Paper on Foreign Policy'' (348 pages), published by the Government of Ireland (Department of Foreign Affairs) in April 1996 (ISBN 0-7076-2385-5).  His contribution acknowledged in list of contributors.

*''Volunteers Against Conflict'' (ISBN 92-808-0923-7), published in 1996 by United Nations University and United Nations Volunteers, a collaborative effort with the Humanitarianism and War Project of the Thomas J. Watson Jr. Institute for International Studies, Brown University (USA). The book includes firsthand accounts of UN volunteers deployed by O’Donnell in Cambodia, South Africa, Mozambique, Rwanda, ex-Yugoslavia, and Somalia. Presidents Mary Robinson (Ireland), Nelson Mandela (South Africa), and Jimmy Carter (USA), all endorsed the book. Book project initiated by O’Donnell.

*''Patterns of Partnership: UN Peacekeeping and Peoples’ Peacebuilding'' by Tatsuro Kunugi, Elise Boulding, & Jan Oberg, published by The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, Sweden, 1996. O’Donnell’s work cited.

*''Irishman heads UN programme in Belgrade'', by Deaglán de Bréadún, Irish Times, Dublin, 13 October 2000.

*''The United Nations Development Programme - A Better Way?'' (372 pages), by Craig N. Murphy, published by Cambridge University Press, New York/USA & Cambridge/UK, 2006 (ISBN 0-521-68316-5). O'Donnell's work and influence in East Timor in early 2000, cited (page 341).Honours==
On his departure from Ukraine, the Parliamentary [[Ombudsman]] of [[Ukraine]], Ms. Nina Karpachova also bestowed the Ombudsman’s Medal of Honour on O’Donnell for his defense of human rights in that country [http://www.ombudsman.kiev.ua/pres/releases/rel_09_03_25.htm]

O'Donnell holds the Cross of Honour of Jerusalem[http://www.custodia.org/IMG/pdf/decoration_italian.pdf], bestowed on him by the ''Custodia Franciscalis Terra Sanctae'' in 1965.  

He was decreed into the Pontifical Equestrian [[Order of St. Gregory the Great]], by decree 1566/ON of 10 November 2007, by virtue of which [[Pope Benedict XVI]] conferred on him the dignity of papal [[Knight Commander]] with Silver Star, a dignity assumed upon his retirement from the UN.  
  
He is also a Knight Commander of the [[Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George]][http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=11128], which shares motto: [[In Hoc Signo Vinces]], inscribed on his coat of arms the main motif of which is a cross-crosslet<ref>Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland, Register of Arms, Volume Z, folio 87</ref>.

O'Donnell is also a [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Knight of Malta]][http://www.orderofmalta.ie/] (member of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes, and of Malta), and has been accredited<ref>[http://google.com/search?q=cache:vMxPDOETs8QJ:www.cathol.lu/News-Feed.html%3Fcathol_id%3Dhttp://www.kathpress.co.at/content/site/nachrichten/database/29845.html+%22NEUER+malteser-botschafter+in+der+slowakei%22&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk   Press release ''Neuer Malteser-Botschafter in der Slowakei''], Catholic Press in Austria, Vienna, 10 December 2009, cached also by Catholic Church in Luxembourg</ref> as the Order's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Slovak Republic<ref>[http://www.tkkbs.sk/view.php?cisloclanku=20091208016, Press release by Chancellery of Slovak Conference of Bishops], Bratislava, 8 December 2009</ref>,<ref>
[http://www.orderofmalta.org/site/materiale/newsletter/luglio2009/pdf/odm_newsletter_luglio2009_eng.pdf  SMOM Newsletter], Rome, July 2009</ref>.⏎


==References==
{{reflist}}
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/video/detail.html?siteSect=15045&sid=8867902 Swiss TV clip, descendants commemorating Flight of the Earls; March, 2008]
(contracted; show full)[[Category:Alumni of University College Dublin]]
[[Category:United Nations officials]]
[[Category:Knights of Malta]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta]]
[[Category:Irish humanitarians]]

[[es:Francis Martin O'Donnell]]
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