“2010, The Year to Protect the Humanitarian Aid Worker”
Please join us.
On Thursday May 14, 2009, my brother Stephen Vance would have been 53 years old, however he was assassinated in Peshawar Pakistan this last November. At the time of his death he was the director of a 750 million dollar humanitarian aid project, the largest single project of its kind for Pakistan. He left behind a wife and five children and a large, extended family here on the Central Coast.
And yet his story is sadly not unique. Since 2001, we have witnessed a 1200% increase in the number of humanitarian aid workers targeted worldwide. The cause of this sudden spike in violence can be debated, but this much appears certain, until there is universal condemnation by the international community this trend will not change and more good men and women will suffer violent attacks while trying to improve the lives of others.
My brothers' career in the humanitarian aid sector spanned nearly 30 years and was marked by his commitment to developing sustainable, locally controlled economic programs with a reliance on the host nations for staff and technical expertise. Though his career sent him around the world working in many nations, when we spoke of Pakistan he expressed a real affection and respect for her people, of their humanity and their character.
The project he designed for the tribal regions was very ambitious. From educational programs for girls and young women, to the introduction of high value crop and forestry products, to the creation of micro-lending to foster locally owned businesses- it was in fact ambitious enough for his colleagues to say that had he been able to complete his work, it possibly may have helped avert the chaos which is now engulfing that profoundly impoverished region.
Though his murder is still technically under investigation by the FBI, we are told his killers have been identified and their names forwarded to the government of Pakistan, yet the authorities there have been sitting on this information for months for reasons unknown to me or my family. We were also told by the lead investigator that since we have no extradition agreements with Pakistan there isn't much reason to expect seeing those responsible for his death in a court of law any time soon.
There is little peace to be found in all of this, yet if there were to be one thing to work towards, it would be to keep this tragedy from occurring again. So it is in this spirit that colleagues, friends and family created the Stephen D Vance Foundation. One small goal we are seeking is to convince the United Nations to declare 2010, The Year to Protect the Humanitarian Aid Worker.
It's a small gesture, but occasionally, it is the humble and the simple gesture that helps a nation turn a corner and to light a better path.
Please join us.
Jeffrey Paul Vance
Santa Cruz, CA
www.stephendvancefoundation.org
The Stephen D. Vance Foundation has a non-profit pending status
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