The Nansen Lecture, June 2011

The event was co-hosted by the Women's Refugee Commission, the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations and the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in New York, in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The lecture was named after Fridtjof Nansen, an acclaimed Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel laureate. This year marks the 150th anniversary of his birth. Here, Women's Refugee Commission Executive Director Sarah Costa introduces Keynote Speaker Jan Egeland, Director of the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, who speaks about the impact of climate change on the world’s poor, the special vulnerability of women and the protracted nature of some refugee situations as well as his hope for humanitarian action for refugees and the internally displaced.