I work in the conflict and humanitarian policy team in Save the Children's London office. My job involves trying to improve the way the aid system works and to help children and families caught up in emergencies, like conflicts and natural disasters.
There is a wide acceptance that BP should pay to clear up the Gulf Coast oil spill but there is still reluctance on the part of rich countries to cut emissions and compensate the world’s poorest for climate change.
Last month saw the appointment of Baroness Valerie Amos as the most senior humanitarian in the world — she’s been appointed as the United Nations’ Emergency Relief Co-ordinator. In that role she will be responsible for leading the international humanitarian system as it tries to help people caught up in natural disasters and conflicts around the world. It’s a big job at the best of times. But Baroness Amos enters it at a particularly critical moment. Humanitarianism stands at a crossroads.
The first I heard about the situation in Sudan was late yesterday afternoon. Our head of news received word that the Sudanese Government was asking some aid agencies, including Save the Children UK, to suspend our operations.
