Daily Inspiration Quote by Jan Egeland

Belatedly is the word that gives the game away. Jan Egeland frames solidarity as a moral impulse, but he also slips in an indictment of the international community’s timing: help is arriving late, after suffering has already become undeniable, televised, or politically unavoidable. That single adverb carries the quiet shame of humanitarian response cycles - attention spikes, pledges flow, then fatigue sets in - and it lets him criticize without openly naming the governments and institutions that delayed.

The phrase “we in the international community” performs a second kind of work. It’s a protective collective: responsibility is acknowledged, but diffused. No one state is singled out; culpability becomes atmospheric. Egeland, a career public servant steeped in UN-style diplomacy, is balancing candor with the constraints of coalition politics. His language signals urgency while staying legible to donors, diplomats, and bureaucracies who prefer consensus to confession.

“Show our solidarity” is also tellingly performative. Solidarity isn’t just delivered; it’s displayed. That reflects a media-saturated aid environment where being seen to care can matter almost as much as acting effectively. Then he pivots to “help them move to better times,” a hopeful, almost gentle euphemism that avoids the brutal specifics - famine, displacement, militia violence, state collapse - while still pointing toward a longer horizon than emergency relief.

The intent is to rally action and resources. The subtext is that the world is arriving late, speaking carefully, and trying to turn remorse into momentum without admitting how political indifference helped make the crisis so enduring.