‘Rainbow Warrior’ scholarship funds emergency stu

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A “Rainbow Warrior” scholarship has been awarded to Massey PhD student Laura Jacobs-Garrod, for her work on improving the way military and humanitarian organisations work together in complex emergencies. The prestigious Peace and Disarmament Education Trust scholarship provides $21,000 to support Ms Garrod’s study, funded from the $1.5 million received from France in recognition of the events surrounding the destruction of the Rainbow Warrior. The trust’s aim is to advance education and thereby promote international peace, arms control and disarmament.

Ms Jacobs-Garrod, a Centre for Defence Studies graduate student, is completing her thesis on The Humanitarian and the Soldier: Partners for Peace? Case studies on Somalia, Bosnia, East Timor and Afghanistan have been developed to compare US and New Zealand military and non-governmental organisations.

“In the past military forces and NGO professionals have been at odds as to how to carry out their respective mandates – often they have very different goals. It’s a relationship of necessity so the question is how do we enable them to work together more effectively.”

Ms Jacobs- Garrod completed her BA in political science at the University of Oregon, and an MA in international relations at Victoria University on a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship. Originally from the US, Ms Jacobs-Garrod’s father was in the United States Marine Corps and her mother worked for the Red Cross.

“My real interest in this subject stems from a UN peacekeeping course I did during my undergraduate study,” she says, “looking at the problems post-Cold War and ways to improve our approaches to complex emergencies.

“Complex emergencies are continuing to emerge, that’s the unfortunate trend so how we respond is only going to become more of a pressing issue.”

Caption: Laura Jacobs-Garrod is completing her thesis on how military and non-governmental organisations can work more effectively in emergency situations.

ENDS

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