Broadcaster Natasha Kaplinsky chooses Eglantyne Jebb as a history hero <\/p>
Eglantyne Jebb was a British social reformer who founded the charity Save the Children with her sister Dorothy Buxton in 1919, initially to raise money for hungry children in Germany and Austria following the First World War. She went on to become one of the world\u2019s most influential champions of children\u2019s rights and drafted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which was adopted by the League of Nations in 1924, and adopted in an extended form by the United Nations in 1959.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019ve been a Save the Children ambassador for over a decade and have had the privilege to be involved in the incredible work that the organisation, which she started all those years ago, still does today. The more I learn about her, the more I admire her.<\/p>\n
Eglantyne was born into a well-off Shropshire family, with a strong social conscience, and was actively involved with the Charity Organisation Society \u2013 which sought to bring a modern, scientific approach to charity \u2013 before setting up Save the Children. She had a vision: to achieve and protect the rights of children worldwide. She was driven by the belief that all children \u2013 whoever they are, wherever they are \u2013 have the right to a healthy, happy, fulfilling life.<\/p>\n
Moreover, she believed change was within reach with courage, determination, imagination and good organisation. She was a pioneer, leader and activist known as the \u2018White Flame\u2019 for her burning commitment, passion and conviction. A true visionary, she made the world see that children have rights.<\/p>\n
She selflessly dedicated her life and defied convention, and even the law, to save children\u2019s lives after seeing the effects of the devastating famine following the First World War. And it was her respect for children that, five years later, led her to pioneer the then revolutionary concept of children\u2019s human rights.<\/p>\n
At the 1924 League of Nations convention in Geneva, she \u2028presented her Declaration of the Rights of the Child to world leaders: \u201cThe 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.\u201d It was adopted a year later, and subsequently in an extended form by the United Nations. The declaration later inspired the landmark 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.<\/p>\n
Eglantyne and her sister Dorothy launched their Save the Children Fund at the Royal Albert Hall in May 1919, and the audience was poised to retaliate and oppose their vision [because they were seeking to aid countries that Britain had recently fought].<\/p>\n
But Eglantyne\u2019s speech was a moment in history, conveying with gravitas her passion. They were overwhelmed with donations and Save the Children was created. It went on to embody their vision to support millions of children around the world.<\/p>\n