Giving Compass' Take:

• Americans in the UN is a blog interview series hosted by the United Nations Foundation. This post focuses on the work that Sandra Mitchell is doing as the Assistant Secretary-General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees on educating millions of Palestinian children. 

• What current partnerships exist within the United Nations in order to increase and expand foreign aid programs? How much money and time do they give to each cause? 

• Read about the United Nation's development program with a new strategic plan. 

As part of our “Americans in the UN” project to share the stories of Americans who work for the United Nations, we connected with Sandra Mitchell, who is the Assistant Secretary-General for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Prior to joining the UN system, Mitchell worked in the legal field where she held senior roles with the American Bar Association and the International Human Rights Law Group.

Below find excerpts from the interview:

What is your message to Americans about the importance of the UN?

Sandra Mitchell: I can’t imagine the world without the UN. There’s no other forum that brings countries together as quickly on such critical issues. It may not be perfect, but it is the only forum available for the large powers of the world to meet on a daily basis.

From your experience, what is an example of how the UN has made a difference in someone’s life?

SM: Speaking from the organization I work for right now, UNRWA, every day we educate 525,000 Palestinian boys and girls. If we weren’t doing that, then this is a whole generation that could possibly grow up without an education. So, in that regard, the impact is tremendous.

Read the full article about Americans in the UN by Erika Briceno Howard at United Nations Foundation