Ronan Seamus Farrow

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Ronan Farrow, Genocide Intervention Network Representative and UNICEF Spokesperson for Youth

Ronan Seamus Farrow (born Satchel O'Sullivan Farrow on 19 December 1987) is an American human rights activist and freelance journalist. His writings have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal and other publications, focused primarily on human rights issues in the Horn of Africa. 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 currently a student at Yale Law School.

1 Early life
2 Human rights activism
3 See also
4 References
- 4.1 Writings
- 4.2 Coverage
5 External links

[edit] Early life

Ronan Farrow is the son of director Woody Allen and actress Mia Farrow, and was one subject of their well-publicized custody dispute.

Farrow himself first came to prominence as a child prodigy when he began college at Simon's Rock College, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, at the age of 11. Although Simon's Rock specializes in teaching "younger scholars," most of its incoming first-year students are age 16. After receiving his A.A. degree, Farrow transferred to Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, where he moderated in the biology department and ultimately completed his senior thesis project in political science and philosophy. He went on to become the college's youngest ever graduate at age 15.

At age 16, Farrow was accepted into law school at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. He deferred his admission until the fall of 2006 to work as Special Assistant to Richard Holbrooke, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and for additional work with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

[edit] Human rights activism

Since 2001, Ronan Farrow has worked as a UNICEF Spokesperson for Youth in Nigeria, Angola, and Sudan. In 2001, he worked with youth groups and local leaders on the AIDS epidemic in Nigeria. In 2002, he traveled to Angola, assisting in fundraising and addressing United Nations groups on that country's needs in the immediate aftermath of decades of civil war. On 1 June 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.^[1]

In 2004, Farrow worked in the Darfur region of Sudan, where he was joined by his mother advocating for refugees. During the following year, his writings on the Darfur conflict appeared in Newsday and the Boston Herald. He has since appeared on MSNBC, ABC, and CNN advocating for the protection of Darfuri refugees. Ronan Farrow returned to Darfur with UNICEF in June 2006. While there, Farrow continued to author reports from the region, including a column on child soldiers fighting in the region that ran in the International Herald Tribune on 4 July 2006.[1] and an article on the relationship between China and the government of Sudan, which appeared in The Wall Street Journal on August 10, 2006.^[2]

In 2005, Farrow signed on as a representative of the Genocide Intervention Network, working to build support for the protection of civilians threatened by genocide.^[3]

In 2007, he served under the chief counsel of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. In Spring 2008, he accompanied a congressional delegation to the Horn of Africa, during which he authored a column for the Los Angeles Times on Ethiopia's brutal counter-insurgency in the Ogaden desert.[2]

Farrow's most recent column for the The Wall Street Journal, focusing on the controversial track record of the United Nations Human Rights Council, appeared on 29 January 2008.^[4]

On 4 October 2007, Farrow testified before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus, advocating for increased funding for UN Peacekeeping efforts.^[5]