Dr Hazel Smith with the Bushs

Originally Published 16 July 2002

Dr Hazel Smith, from the University of Warwick's Department of Politics and International Studies has been appointed to join former US President, and former US First lady, George and Barbara Bush on the Honorary Committee of AmeriCares - a non-profit international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organisation which provides immediate response to emergency medical needs and supports long term healthcare programme.

Dr Smith is a particular expert on North Korea and recently served as program adviser for the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Pyongyang, North Korea. She has also served as consultant on North Korean issues to the WFP and UNICEF, and has advised the UK government on these issues. Writing in the Far Eastern Economic Review earlier this year Dr Smith wrote the following about life in the North Korean capital Pyongyang :

"Winter in Pyongyang finds a country in increasingly desperate straits and still reliant on foreign help. Though residents in the capital face power cuts every year, this winter they've come more frequently-several times a day and for longer periods-despite temperatures well higher than last year's record lows. At night, apartment blocks appear dark or lit with flickering candles. Once-productive factories are being pulled down for scrap metal, as there is no power, spare parts or raw materials to keep them going. At those still running, workers are pushed to increasing manual effort-yet these workers cannot be paid in anything other than the virtually worthless won, and cannot be fed because the country has neither produced enough food to feed its population nor has enough dollars to import the food it needs."

For further information contact:

Dr Hazel Smith

tel: 024 76523110