Called "the world's conscience" and one of the 100 most influential
people of our time by Time magazine, Jan Egeland has been the
public face of the United Nations. As Undersecretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs, he was in charge of the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for three and a half
years. One of the bravest and most adventuresome figures on the
international scene, Egeland takes us to the frontlines of war and
chaos in Iraq, to scenes of ethnic cleansing in Darfur, to the
ground zeroes of famine, earthquakes, and tsunamis. He challenges
the first world to act. A Billion Lives is his on-the-ground
account of his work in the most dangerous places in the world,
where he has led relief efforts, negotiated truces with warlords,
and intervened in what many had thought to be hopeless situations.
As one of Secretary-General Kofi Annan's closest advisers, Jan
Egeland was at the heart of crises during a difficult period in UN
history, when the organization was plagued by the divisive
aftermath of the Iraq war, the Oil-for-Food scandal, and terror
attacks against UN workers. On the day Egeland came to New York to
take up his job, the UN building in Baghdad was destroyed by a huge
bomb, killing one of his predecessors, Sergio de Mello. Two months
later Annan sent Egeland to Iraq to judge whether the UN could keep
a presence there. Since that first mission to Baghdad, Egeland has
been envoy to such places as Darfur, Eastern Congo, Lebanon, Gaza,
Northern Israel, Northern Uganda, and Colombia. He coordinated the
massive international relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami
and South Asian earthquake. As a negotiator and activist, Egeland
is famous for direct language, whether he's addressing warlords,
guerrilla leaders, generals, or heads of state. A Billion Lives is
his passionate, adventure-filled eyewitness account of the
catastrophes the world faces. And so Egeland writes that he has met
the best and worst among us, has "confronted warlords, mass
murderers, and tyrants, but [has] met many more peacemakers, relief
workers, and human rights activists who risk their lives at
humanity's first line of defense." In spite of the desperate need
of so many, Egeland is convinced that, "For the vast majority of
people, the world is getting better, that there is more peace, more
people fed and educated, and fewer forced to become refugees than a
generation ago. So there is reason for optimism," he concludes in
this groundbreaking book that does not flinch but holds out reasons
for hope.
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