Attacks on humanitarians are attacks on humanity | Vincent Cochetel | TEDxPlaceDesNations

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. Why do we carry on with humanitarian work after living through a terrible ordeal? Victim of kidnapping, abuse and torture, this UNHCR staffer has devoted his life to helping refugees. He calls for an end to impunity for crimes against humanitarian workers.

Speaker's bio:Vincent Cochetel is the Director of the Bureau for Europe at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). He will explore why humanitarians continue working in the face of danger and reflect on his own experiences in captivity, having been kidnapped near Chechnya in 1998. For 317 days, Cochetel was chained to a bed frame in a cellar, ill-treated by his abductors and deprived of light. Today, far from withdrawing from humanitarian work, he is more determined than ever to improve the rights of refugees worldwide.

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