Samantha Power in Today's NY Times

Be sure to check out Samantha's op-ed in today's NY Times: "For Terrorists, a War on Aid Groups."

"Just as we Americans tried to make sense of our tragedy, United Nations officials, nongovernmental workers and world leaders grappled with applying the lessons of August 19. But five years later — and less than a week after Taliban forces in Afghanistan killed three female educators and a driver with the International Rescue Committee — the individuals who carry out vital humanitarian and development work for the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations have never been more at risk."

Comments

[Sarah Vaill]

Thank you, Samantha, for putting a human face on one of the truly formidable activists who died defending human rights for us all.

Despite the pressure of these threats and attacks, the UN has doggedly forged a path of human rights, diplomacy, and peacebuilding through the heroic yet everyday risks and efforts undertaken by incredible civilians like Sergio. Without individuals committing their lives and their life's work like Sergio did, the UN's efforts might just be words intangible to our daily lives.

Instead, over the past 15 years the UN has raised the flag of human rights to unprecedented heights and brought member nations in line under its umbrella. The global community has real mechanisms to turn to for protection of our human rights: the International Criminal Court to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity, the CEDAW convention to eliminate legal discrimination against women, and the Special Representative for Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani of Pakistan who reports directly to the Secretary General, to defend the human rights defenders--people like Sergio who stood in harm's way as a living embodiment of peacebuilding.

We can't afford to lose the UN's progress nor the people behind these steps forward for human rights. Let's find more ways to protect our protectors and to defend our defenders of human rights.