Elizabeth Kucinich Joins UNRWA USA Board of Directors to Advance Humanitarian Assistance to Palestine Refugees

posted on: Oct 17, 2014

UNRWA USA proudly announces the addition of esteemed human rights champion and leader for peace, Mrs. Elizabeth Kucinich, to its board of directors.

Mrs. Kucinich joins UNRWA USA’s work in supporting the mission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) whose non-political mandate serves more than 5 million refugees from Palestine, in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan through primary and vocational education, healthcare, food aid, social services, microfinance loans, and emergency protection.

UNRWA USA’s Chairman, Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr., said “On behalf of the UNRWA USA board and staff, we are honored to welcome Mrs. Kucinich. She and her husband [Dennis] have always been on the forefront of advocating for peace and for those in need. We look forward to working closely with her.”

Speaking on her new position, Mrs. Kucinich says, “beyond divisive political and ideological rhetoric are the lives of real people who are continually under threat from circumstances beyond their control. The need is for empathy and humanity, not the taking of sides. I look forward to enhancing the message of human unity in America on behalf of Palestinian refugees who face institutionalized violence, military attacks, oppression, and lack the most basic of human dignities. UNRWA works diligently to address very real humanitarian needs under the most challenging of circumstances”.

Mrs. Kucinich has extensive international experience, and has lived and worked in both India and East Africa on human development issues. She holds a degree in Religious Studies and Theology, and a Master’s degree in International Conflict Analysis. Mrs. Kucinich has produced two documentaries, GMO OMG and Hot Water, is a board director of J/P HRO – Sean Penn’s Haitian Relief Organization, the Rodale Institute – America’s oldest organic research institute in America, and is the Policy Director at the Center for Food Safety in Washington, DC.

“Elizabeth joins the board at a critical time for UNRWA, and we are thrilled to have her on our team,” says UNRWA USA Executive Director, Abby Smardon, “together we will reach a wider audience across the United States to advocate for the refugees of Palestine who have been through so much.”

Mrs. Kucinich and her husband, former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, will be joining UNRWA USA at its two Gaza 5K walk/runs in California this October to raise funds for UNRWA’s Community Mental Health Program (CMHP) which supports thousands of Palestinian refugee children in Gaza affected by PTSD and other psychological trauma: San Francisco (October 18) and Orange County (October 25).

Mr. and Mrs. Kucinich have also created a fundraising page to raise additional funds for the Gaza 5K, which you can visit at firstgiving.com/fundraiser/elizabeth-kucinich/gaza5k-la.

UNRWA USA