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 seen 2004 and 2005 as the years of disaster,
Climate change disasters will displace more and more. Those who are most exposed are the poorest.
We have no security for our work. We are witnesses to massive attacks against the civilian population.
We have never had this kind of logistical nightmare, ever.
With the resources made available today and the commitments that will come in the coming days, we will redouble our collective efforts.
We want to stay as long as we can. As we speak we have had to suspend action in many areas. Tens of thousands of people will not get any assistance because it's too dangerous and it could grow exponentially.
We are also assisting the refugees who have fled across the border to Chad. As many of them have been subject to attacks by militia crossing from Sudan, UNHCR is mounting a major logistical operation to establish camps and transfer refugees away from the border zone.
We are losing a race against the clock in the small villages,
We stand by the report. The eviction campaign was the worst possible thing at the worst possible moment. ... The important thing now is to look to the future. We have to help these people.
We have received more pledges in the past week than we have in six months. But it is too late for some of these children.
We have received credible reports that show a clear and consistent pattern: entire villages are looted, burned down and sometimes bombed. Large numbers of civilians have been killed and scores of women and children have been abducted, raped and tortured.
We have reason to fear that 2006 could be as bad as 2005.
The problem with tsunamis is that it takes hours -- or minutes -- for this wall of water to come, and there's just very, very little time.
Finally, I also come in recognition of the great work that has been undertaken by the NGOs and UN agencies that have been active for many years here, especially through the local staff and international staff here in Somaliland and in Somalia at large.