Jan Egeland
Jan Egeland
Jan Egelandis a Norwegian politician, formerly of the Labour party. He has been the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council since August 2013. He was previously the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch and the Director of Human Rights Watch Europe. Egeland formerly served as director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Under-Secretary-General of the UN. Egeland also holds a post as Professor II at the University of Stavanger...
NationalityNorwegian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth12 September 1957
CountryNorway
We have enough to keep people alive, but we can't at all change their totally inhuman kind of situation in camps where they cannot live without being attacked.
Climate change disasters will displace more and more. Those who are most exposed are the poorest.
Increasingly gang violence and organized crime, together with climate change-driven natural disasters, are displacing more people as wars are fewer on the continent and political violence has decreased considerably, the NRC has decided to treat this as a humanitarian crisis.
We need a change in mentality. You get a lot of headlines for foodstuffs for those who are already in disasters. You don't get any headlines for prevention.
Conditions here are totally unacceptable. It has to change because people have to live a better life and have a better future.
This will help energize further the struggle to reach the earthquake stricken communities in the Himalayas.
There are issues we disagree on frankly, but we also agree on the importance of the international community to raise its profile in pursuing humanitarian principles.
Too often, aid resembles a lottery, in which a few win, but most lose, based on considerations other than need.
This time, at least, people heard about the earthquake. Many people fled inland.
We're sending around a hat now, we don't know how much is in the hat when it's coming back - in an emergency situation,
This year has really been the year of natural disasters, with nature at its worst and humanity at its best.
Based on numerous accounts, including reports from our own staff, the Janjaweed militia are primarily responsible for carrying out the attacks.
The government must stop further evictions and be more flexible in allowing shelter and other programs for those affected. It must ensure that beneficiaries are assisted solely on the basis of need.
The good news is that we have very good pledges. The bad news is that we still have too few concrete commitments to the U.N. flash appeal.