"From the Frontlines of Humanity": Former UN Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland on World Crises -- Congo, Darfur, Iraq, Colombia

The World Food Program feeds at least 73 million people in nearly 80 nations. Today we are joined by a former top UN official who has spent years working with the world’s neediest and in conflict zones including Darfur, Colombia, Gaza, Lebanon, Uganda, the Congo and Iraq.

Jan Egeland is the former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the former UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. He now serves as the director general of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Egeland is one of the only international diplomats to have ever met with Manuel Marulanda, the leader of the Colombian rebel group FARC. Egeland played an instrumental role in the secret Israeli-PLO negotiations that led to the Oslo Accord.

During his time as UN Emergency Relief Coordinator he oversaw the UN’s response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Israel-Lebanon war, the escalation of violence in Darfur and much more. He has just written a book outlining his work, titled"A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity." Jan Egeland joins us in the Firehouse studio.

Jan Egeland, former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. He now serves as the director general of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. He is the author of the new book “A Billion Lives: An Eyewitness Report from the Frontlines of Humanity.”