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Former U.N. Official Says Rich Countries ‘Stingy’ With Foreign Relief

A former under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs at the United Nations says some countries are stingy when it comes to international aid. He also thinks the U.N. needs a substantial makeover.

Former U.N. Official Says Rich Countries ‘Stingy’ With Foreign Relief

Tom Fudge: In the United States there is a portion of the political spectrum that is very suspicious of what it calls “world government,” and the United Nations is often the favorite whipping boy of this group. Now, these folks probably don't have much in common with our guest on this part of These Days . Jan Egeland is originally from Norway. But he's spent the greater part of his career traveling the globe in an effort to bring positive change to very troubled regions.

Egeland is the U.N.'s former under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs. He says in his new book that he “saw firsthand how effective multi-lateral action saved vulnerable communities who were at the edge of the abyss.”

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Jan Egeland will give a lecture Tues. March 4 at 7p.m. at the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Theatre. His lecture is part of the Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series: "War, Peace and Climate Change: A Billion Lives in the Balance."

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