Ronan Seamus Farrow
Encyclopedia
Ronan Farrow is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 activist, freelance journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

, Rhodes Scholar, lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and government official. He is currently serving in the Obama administration as Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Global Youth Issues and director of the State Department’s Global Youth Issues office. He assumed his current role following two years as the State Department’s Special Adviser for Humanitarian and NGO Affairs in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. His writings have appeared in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...

, the Wall Street Journal and other publications, focused primarily on human rights issues in the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...

. He has appeared as a frequent commentator on major networks and as an expert witness before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Farrow is a graduate of Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...

.

Much of Farrow's work has focused on engagement with marginalized actors such as youth and women’s groups. In recent public appearances, including a keynote address at Amnesty International’s inaugural Global Youth Summit at UC Berkeley and a commencement address at Bard College at Simon’s Rock, later selected by the Huffington Post as one of 2011's top ten commencement speech
Commencement speech
A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students...

es, Farrow has emphasized his work with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to elevate youth engagement in US foreign policy, leading a US government taskforce on the same subject.

In 2008, Farrow was awarded Refugees International's McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, for "extraordinary service to refugees and displaced people." In 2009, he was named by New York Magazine as their "New Activist" of the year and included on its list of individuals "on the verge of changing their worlds.” In 2010, Harper’s Bazaar named him their “up-and-coming politician" of the year.

On November 19, 2011, he was named an American Rhodes Scholar-elect for 2012.

Early life

Named Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow at birth, he is the biological son of film director Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...

 and actress Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow
Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...

. He was named in tribute to Satchel Paige
Satchel Paige
Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...

 and to his maternal grandmother, Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen O'Sullivan
Maureen Paula O’Sullivan was an Irish actress.-Early life:O'Sullivan was born in Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, the daughter of Roman Catholic parents Mary Lovatt and Charles Joseph O'Sullivan, an officer in The Connaught Rangers who served in The Great War...

. He was a subject of his parents' well-publicized custody dispute in 1992.

Farrow first came to prominence as a child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...

 when at age 11 he became the youngest student to attend Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington, Massachusetts
Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,104 at the 2010 census. Both a summer resort and home to Ski Butternut, Great Barrington includes the villages of Van...

. Although Simon's Rock specializes in teaching "younger scholars," most of its incoming first-year students are age 16. After receiving his A.A.
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...

 degree, Farrow transferred to Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...

 in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, USA, in the Hudson Valley in the town of Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston....

, where he moderated in the biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...

 department and ultimately completed his senior thesis project in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

. He went on to become the college's youngest graduate ever at age 15.

At age 16, Farrow was accepted into law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

 at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

. He deferred his admission until the fall of 2006 to work as an adviser to Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....

, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...

, and also to work with the United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...

 (UNICEF). Holbrooke would later incorporate Farrow as a key member of his team upon his return to government as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2009. Farrow was among the close staffers reported to have been present the night of Holbrooke's death in December 2010.http://www.tnr.com/article/79977/honor-richard-holbrooke-american-diplomat

During his time at Yale Law School, Farrow was a summer associate at New York-based law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an international law firm. The firm employs more than 800 attorneys worldwide and is headquartered in New York City. The firm represents many of the world's largest companies and leading financial institutions, and is best known for its corporate and litigation...

. In 2008, he headed a study for the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...

 in the Kibera
Kibera
Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa...

 slums of Nairobi, focused on post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from Kenya's election violence
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis
The 2007–2008 Kenyan crisis refers to a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in Kenya after incumbent President Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on December 27, 2007. Supporters of Kibaki's opponent, Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic...

.

Advocacy and humanitarian work

From 2001 to 2009, Ronan Farrow worked as a UNICEF Spokesperson for Youth in Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

, and Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

. In 2001, he worked with youth groups and local leaders on the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 epidemic in Nigeria. In 2002, he traveled to Angola, assisting in fundraising and addressing United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 groups on that country's needs in the immediate aftermath of decades of civil war. On June 1, 2006, Ronan Farrow hosted a summit at the United Nations headquarters on ensuring that children are included in the global movement for universal access to AIDS prevention and treatment.

Between 2004 and 2006, Farrow worked in the Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...

 region of Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...

. His writings on the Darfur conflict
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...

, often focusing particularly on child soldiers he interviewed in the region, appeared in Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...

, the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...

, the International Herald Tribune
International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...

, and The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....

. He appeared on MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

, and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...

 advocating for the protection of Darfuri refugees. Following on his experiences in Sudan, Farrow toured the United States as a representative of the Genocide Intervention Network, helping to build the student advocacy movement against genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...

.

In 2007, he served under the chief counsel of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. In April 2008, he accompanied a congressional delegation to the Horn of Africa
Horn of Africa
The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...

, during which he authored a column for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

on Ethiopia's brutal counter-insurgency in the Ogaden desert. On October 4, 2007, Farrow testified before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus
Caucuses of the United States Congress
This is a list of every congressional caucus of the United States Congress listed by the U.S. House Committee on House Administration, showing the years each caucus was active...

, advocating for increased funding for UN Peacekeeping efforts.

Obama administration appointment

At the State Department since 2009, Farrow has directed the US government's relationship with nongovernmental actors in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His appointment was billed by late Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....

 as an unprecedented show of commitment by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the civil society and non-governmental actors playing a critical role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. At the time of Farrow's appointment, a State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity referred to him as "a friggin' genius," adding that "he’s young but he has a depth of experience that many people twice his age lack."

Pakistani daily The Nation praised the State Department for selecting Farrow, claiming that “with his undoubtable access to corridors in Washington, [he] is worth many Haqqanis” (referring to former Pakistani Ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani
Husain Haqqani
Husain Haqqani or Hussain Haqqani is the former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, appointed by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani in April 2008 and was resigned on November 22, 2011...

) and projecting that he would revitalize efforts to combat poverty - “we have the expertise and the energy, and with people like Farrow to bring in business partners, we can do it.”

In his capacity as a State Department official, Farrow has spoken extensively, particularly at universities on the subject of youth engagement.

Writings and policy positions

Despite his own background within the U.N.'s humanitarian branches, Farrow has sharply and repeatedly criticized the U.N.'s political bodies, including the predecessor to its Human Rights Council, which he called, in the Wall Street Journal, "a cancer on the United Nations." He supported, but expressed skepticism regarding the U.S. decision to join the U.N. Human Rights Council in early 2009.

Farrow was a vocal advocate for international military intervention in Darfur, where he worked with UNICEF in refugee camps. He authored a string of columns on the subject between 2004 and 2007, interviewing U.N. Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno as early as 2006 on the need for troop contributions.

Farrow has written repeatedly on China's investments in the Horn of Africa, including a series of exposés on their alleged arming and funding of the Sudanese government's brutal offensive in Darfur. His writings on this subject, beginning with an August 2006 piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled 'China's Crude Conscience', were some of the earliest to publicly link Beijing to the Darfur genocide and are often credited with sparking advocacy on the subject.

He eventually pressed for diplomatic pressure on China, criticizing the George W. Bush administration's engagements with Beijing during the 2008 Olympics.

After working for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and accompanying a congressional delegation to Eritrea, Farrow authored an emphatic critique of Bush-era Ethiopia policy. Farrow highlighted atrocities allegedly committed by Ethiopian forces in the country's Ogaden desert and questioned what he described as a policy of "no strings attached" military support of the country.

Farrow publicly defended Obama's appointment of Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh
Harold Hongju Koh is an Korean American lawyer and legal scholar. He currently serves as the Legal Adviser of the Department of State. He was nominated to his current position by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2009, and confirmed by the Senate on June 25, 2009.In public service, Koh...

 (a former teacher of his at Yale Law School) as State Department legal adviser, writing in Forbes that Koh had been the victim of a campaign of "preemptive discreditation" based on Koh's putative Supreme Court candidacy.

Selected bylines

  • "Beware of the U.N. Human Rights Council", by Ronan Farrow, published in Wall Street Journal, 6 April 2009
  • "No Olympic Medal for Bush", by Ronan Farrow, published in the Wall Street Journal, 11 July 2008.
  • "Ethiopia's war on its own", by Ronan Farrow, published in the Los Angeles Times
    Los Angeles Times
    The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

    , 25 February 2008.
  • "The U.N.'s Human-Rights Sham", by Ronan Farrow, published in the Wall Street Journal, 29 January 2008.
  • "Darfur's Forgotten Rebel", by Ronan Farrow, published in the Wall Street Journal, 21 June 2007.
  • "The 'Genocide Olympics'", by Ronan Farrow and Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...

    , published in the Wall Street Journal, 28 March 2007.
  • "International Community Paralyzed By Khartoum", by Ronan Farrow, published in the Washington Post's PostGlobal blog, 26 September 2006.
  • "China's Crude Conscience", by Ronan Farrow, published in the Wall Street Journal, 10 August 2006.
  • "Yahia's Question: Who Will Protect Darfuris?", by Ronan Farrow, published in the International Herald Tribune
    International Herald Tribune
    The International Herald Tribune is a widely read English language international newspaper. It combines the resources of its own correspondents with those of The New York Times and is printed at 38 sites throughout the world, for sale in more than 160 countries and territories...

    , 4 July 2006.
  • "Darfur needs follow-through", by Ronan Farrow and Rebecca Hamilton, published in the Boston Herald
    Boston Herald
    The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...

    , 26 November 2005.
  • "The Cries of Darfur Fall on Deaf Ears", by Ronan Seamus Farrow, published in Newsday
    Newsday
    Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...

  • "Mia & Ronan Farrow Report from Darfur", published on the Genocide Intervention Network
    Genocide Intervention Network
    thumb|right|300px|Genocide Intervention Network logoThe Genocide Intervention Network is a non-profit organization that "envisions a world in which the global community is willing and able to protect civilians from genocide and mass atrocities...

     website

Coverage

  • "Live From Second Life: Crisis In Darfur Ronan Farrow, Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...

    , John Heffernan
    John Heffernan
    John Heffernan is an Irish retired sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Nenagh Éire Óg in Tipperary, and was a member of the Tipperary senior inter-county team in the late 80's. Heffernan won an All-Ireland winners' medal in 1989 and three Munster winners' medals in 1987, 1988, and...

     and photojournalist Ron Haviv
    Ron Haviv
    Ron Haviv is a photojournalist, producing work covering a broad spectrum of international conflict. He is the author of several photographic collections and the recipient of a number of awards. Haviv is also a co-founder of VII Photo Agency, which is dedicated to documenting change, conflict, and...

    , Jan. 9, 2007, Second Life
    Second Life
    Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...

     (posted on ummyeah.com on March 12, 2007)
  • "Mia and Ronan: Like Mother, Like Son", by Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, The Washington Post
    The Washington Post
    The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

    , 11 August 2006.
  • "Chilling Permanency", interview with Ronan and Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow
    Mia Farrow is an American actress, singer, humanitarian, and fashion model.Farrow first gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the soap opera Peyton Place, and for her subsequent short-lived marriage to Frank Sinatra...

    , by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...

    's Committee on Conscience "Voices on Genocide Prevention" podcast, 10 August 2006.
  • "UNICEF Youth Spokesperson Ronan Farrow heads call for universal access to HIV treatment", by Rachel Bonham Carter, UNICEF, 1 June 2006.
  • Discussing Darfur, on Hardball with Chris Matthews
    Hardball with Chris Matthews
    Hardball with Chris Matthews is a talk show on MSNBC, broadcast weekdays at 5 and 7 PM hosted by Chris Matthews. It originally aired on now-defunct America's Talking and later CNBC. The current title was derived from a book Matthews wrote in 1988, Hardball: How Politics Is Played Told by One Who...

    , May 13, 2005
  • "Ronan Farrow: A prominent voice advocating for children in Darfur", by Kun Li, UNICEF, 20 December 2005.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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