Erskine Childers (UN)

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Erskine Childers (1929-1996) came from a highly respected family of Irish campaigners for freedom and liberty. His grandfather, Robert Erskine Childers, was involved in the negotiation of Irish independence and executed during the Irish Civil War. His father, Erskine Hamilton Childers, was President of Ireland.

Childers enjoyed a distinguished academic career and was an independent writer and broadcaster on international political and development affairs. He was distinguished as one of the first mainstream writers in the West to systematically challenge the contention that Palestinian Arab refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli wars (see The Palestinian Exodus) fled their homes primarily from Arab broadcast evacuation orders (see Broadcasts ), rather than the use of force and terror by armed forces of the newly forming state of Israel.

He specialized in UN issues, even serving as a periodic consultant including a special mission in the Congo for Secretary-General U Thant. In 1967, he entered into service with the United Nations where, as a result of his dedication and devotion, he rose to senior positions in the Organization. He worked with most of the organizations of the UN system at all levels and in all regions, and has especially studied UN problems of co-ordination, development operations, and public communication and constituency building. He retired in 1989 as Senior Adviser to the UN Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation after 22 years as a UN civil servant.

After his retirement, he continued to strive relentlessly for the ideals for which he had worked so hard. He wrote widely on United Nations issues, one of his best known publications being A World in Need of Leadership, which he co-authored with his colleague and equally devoted international civil servant, Sir Brian Urquhart. While writing on United Nations matters, he also travelled widely, lecturing on the Organization and the many challenges confronting it.

He became Secretary General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations in March 1996. He served for only five months, passing away on August 25, 1996 during the organization's fiftieth anniversary congress.

[edit] External links

• The Other Exodus, his much quoted article in The Spectator, May 12, 1961