To: George J. Tromp who wrote (1786 ) 10/16/1999 11:52:00 AM From: George J. Tromp Respond to of 2522
This might be of interest as well: 15 October: The French medical charity M‚decins sans FrontiŠres (MSF - Doctors Without Borders) has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its "pioneering humanitarian work on several continents" and for its speed and fearlessness in providing medical aid. The organisation, whose budget of $230 million comes primarily from private donors, has championed a right of "humanitarian intervention" and sometimes helps victims in countries despite government opposition. MSF international president James Orbinski said in Paris Friday that the award was "an important high-level confirmation of the fundamental right of ordinary people to humanitarian assistance and protection," but cautioned that the prize was "in some ways a risk for MSF because it in some ways reinforces the institutionalisation of humanitarian assistance." Aid to the distressed "is a right and not something that should be dependent on charity," he said, adding: "We look upon this as an opportunity to highlight the forgotten populations of the world who exist in extremely precarious situations, for example in Congo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and in many of the other 80 countries around the world where we work." U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright is expected to spend much of Monday in Sierra Leone, where she will meet with government officials, rebel leaders and ECOMOG officials, and visit with some of the victims of the country's eight-year civil war. She will fly into Freetown by helicopter from Conakry on Monday morning, then return to Guinea in the afternoon, and arrive in Bamako, Mali on Monday evening. Albright made some last-minute schedule changes in her six-nation African tour so she could represent the United States in Tanzania next Thursday at the funeral of former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere. Nyerere, whom Albright described as "a giant on the world stage," died last Thursday of leukemia and a massive stroke. Regards George