The woman who saved children from famine

As we celebrate International Women's Day, with children starving to death in Gaza and other war zones, we need the spirit of Eglantyne Jebb more than ever.

Born in Great Britain, it was Jebb who became an activist for feeding starving children because of the First World War and the horrific famine that resulted. She made rescuing children her life mission and drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1924.

That declaration stated "The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif must be sheltered and succoured."

These are timeless words and should apply to every child. Jebb founded the charity Save the Children which has been on the front line of feeding malnourished kids ever since.

Before Save the Children, Jebb was with the Fight the Famine council. This is something we all must be doing today, speaking out against the famine that is taking children's lives every day in Gaza, Sudan, Yemen, Congo, Burkina Faso and many other areas in despair.

We should never accept the starvation of children or become numb to it. It may be happening thousands of miles away but you should not close your eyes to this injustice.

What makes a difference is when people, like Jebb, take action to save starving children. It should be a priority and not get buried in the news media or by politics.

There should never be excuses for not taking action to save children from starvation. There is more than enough food and wealth in the world to feed every child. There just needs to be more people like Jebb so we have enough collective will.

I spoke recently with a representative for Save the Children about how important it was to maintain that spirit of Jebb in rescuing kids from starvation.

In war zones like Gaza and Sudan it becomes extra difficult to reach starving children because of the fighting. That is why it is crucial to advocate for cease-fires and to end conflicts. War means certain starvation for children so it is something that we must always try to prevent.

Right now it’s important that people advocate for a cease-fire in Gaza and humanitarian access to feed starving children. Jason Lee, Save the Children’s Country Director in Palestine says “What we are witnessing in Gaza is a mass killing of children in slow motion because there is no food left and nothing getting to them......Save the Children is calling for an immediate, definitive cease-fire to save and protect the lives of children in Gaza."

We must keep up the calls for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza and safe access for food deliveries.

But we must also be pressing for cease-fires in Sudan, Yemen and other countries where war and child malnutrition are occurring. We must also ensure funding for humanitarian aid. One of the big problems, because of the number of conflicts, is there is not enough funding to feed all children in need. Ration cuts to child feeding programs have tragically taken place. These funding shortages must be prevented.

If we follow Eglantyne Jebb’s example we can save all children from starvation.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the U.N. World Food Program on the book “Ending World Hunger.” His writings have been published by the New York Times, Newsweek, Cleveland Plain Dealer, History News Network and many other news outlets.