Perdita Huston (1936-2001)

Ms Huston, a native of Maine, obtained her university degrees in International Relations and Journalism in France; in her early career she was English Assistant to the Tunisian Minister of Information and then a medical social worker in rural Algeria during its war for independence.

Ms Huston worked for Time Inc and LIFE Magazine in Paris and became Director of Public Affairs for Time Inc. in French-speaking countries. Following her return to the US in 1971, she directed national programs for the US Bicentennial Administration and became Regional Director of the US Peace Corps for North Africa, the Near East, Asia and the Pacific (1978-81). She has since directed programs at the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in Switzerland and at the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) in London and has been a consultant with UNDP, UNIFEM, UNFPA, UNICEF and the Secretariat for the 4th World Conference for Women. As the request of UNDP Administrator Bradford Morse, Ms Huston was Public Affairs Advisor to the InterAction Council of Former Heads of Government in the mid 1980s.

Her journalism interests have resulted in three books are based on conversations/interviews : Message from the Village, UN Population Fund 1978; Third World Women Speak Out, Praeger and Overseas Development Council 1979 and Motherhood by Choice, Feminist Press 1992.

Her next book, to be published in April 2001, is based on interviews with three generations of families in eleven countries. Entitled Families As We Are, Conversations from Around the World, the book received funding from five UN specialized agencies and the Secretariat for the UN Year of the Family. She has worked in films and produced African Recovery, documenting recovery efforts from the 1984 Sahelian drought, that was projected at the UN Special Session on African Recovery.

Ms Huston holds two honorary doctorates and is a recipient of the Margaret Mead Award for "Contributions to International Understanding". She is a former board member of Amnesty International/USA, and is currently associated with the Center for Ethics in Action, the International Development Conference, Kumarian Press, Inc., the Union of International Associations, Brussels, and the United Nations Association of Washington, D.C.