Press Releases Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann Honored On September 13th, 2009, the Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) honored the Rev. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) with a reception at Fordham University, marking the end of his one-year term. As president of the General Assembly, Father d’Escoto was committed to addressing many of today’s worldwide crises, including: hunger, poverty, climate change, terrorism, and human rights. In his final address to the UN, Father d’Escoto claimed:
"We must adopt a Universal Declaration of the Common Good of the Earth and Humanity as the first indispensable step for reinventing the United Nations. It must be remembered that we either behave, as we should, serving Mother Earth instead of having her serve us, and mutually loving and serving one another, or we all perish! That is the simple truth."
Father d’Escoto maintained close ties with Fordham University throughout his tenure. He gave the graduation speech at the IIHA’s International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (IDHA) 25 in 2008. This past year he hosted a roundtable discussion at the UN with the participants of the IDHA 28. He also hired a Fordham faculty professor and four graduate students to work in his UN office. Father d’Escoto was also instrumental in having Evo Morales speak at Fordham University in November of 2008.
Director of the IIHA, Kevin M. Cahill, MD, who served as Father d’Escoto’s Chief Advisor on Humanitarian Affairs, gave a speech at the reception. A dozen ambassadors along with other distinguished guests attended the event.
The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) offers students of all levels an academic base for the study of humanitarian aid. Through multi-disciplinary coursework in humanitarian assistance, negotiations, and disaster management, offered at both the graduate and undergraduate level, the IIHA trains students to find practical solutions to crises through the initiation of discourse and cooperation. The IIHA trains students for careers in the humanitarian field by combining an advanced interdisciplinary approach with the shared practical field experience of both students and faculty.
Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in Westchester, and the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y.
Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs
33 W. 60th St., Suite 804 New York, NY 10023
Phone: 212 636 6294 Fax: 212 636 7060 Email: iiha@fordham.edu
