James Elder, Global Spokesperson, UNICEF Australia, will Address the National Press Club of Australia on “Children under siege: Bearing witness from the frontlines”.
Blurb:
Fresh from his sixth deployment to Gaza since the war began two years ago, UNICEF’s James Elder has gone places where the world’s media cannot, bearing witness first hand to childhoods under attack.
With frontline experience in some of the worst conflicts of our time – including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Haiti – James will discuss the unique differences he has seen in the war in Gaza, including new threats in conflict zones and what children will truly need once a ceasefire is reached.
In conflict zones, surviving childhood means losing your home, your belongings, sometimes your loved ones. It means risking injury, facing daily battles for clean water, food, and shelter – often without medical care, sanitation, or schooling. And the scars on mental health can last far longer than physical wounds. Joining humanitarian teams in emergency zones, James has seen the triumphs for humanitarian access when it works, and the extreme consequences when access is denied, or safe passage is not achieved.
James believes in the power of journalism to spotlight the realities of conflict and disaster, and improve the lives of children in crisis. As UNICEF’s Global Spokesperson, he’s made it his mission to share what he’s seen first hand – when no one else can.
About James Elder, Global Spokesperson, UNICEF Australia: James Elder has over 25 years of experience in journalism, communication, and emergency responses. He began his career as a journalist in Australia, writing for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
James joined UNICEF in 2002, starting in Angola shortly after the end of a three-decade war. Since then, he has worked across many UNICEF country offices, including Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka (from where he was expelled for speaking out for children), Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Ukraine and Afghanistan. He is currently UNICEF’s global spokesperson. In that role he has made six missions into Gaza since the war began and conducted hundreds of media interviews from the ground there.
He is regularly interviewed by major international media outlets such as BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera, and the ABC, providing personal accounts to media of conditions for children in humanitarian crises, and is often called upon to brief politicians and media across Europe following field deployments.
