Ronan Farrow is a former human rights lawyer and journalist, currently serving as Special Advisor for Humanitarian and NGO Affairs at the Department of State.
His writings on human rights policy issues have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He has appeared as a frequent commentator on major networks and as an expert witness before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus.
Since his appointment to State Department, Mr. Farrow has served in the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Mr. Farrow’s appointment created the first portfolio in the State Department’s history to focus on NGOs, a move billed by Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke as an unprecedented show of commitment by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the civil society and non-governmental actors that will play a critical role in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
Previously, Mr. Farrow served as a UNICEF Spokesperson, working with youth groups on the AIDS epidemic in Nigeria, on post-war reconstruction efforts in Angola, and in the Darfur region of Sudan. He has appeared on MSNBC, ABC, and CNN among others, speaking on refugee issues. He has written extensively on issues associated with children in conflict zones, and emphasized outreach to young people in his advocacy work, working at the forefront of the student movement on Darfur and touring the country speaking at universities as a Representative for the Genocide Intervention Network.
In 2008, Mr. Farrow was awarded Refugees International's McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award, for "extraordinary service to refugees and displaced people." In 2009, he was named by New York Magazine as their "New Activist" of the year and included on their list of individuals "on the verge of changing their worlds.” In 2010, Harper’s Bazaar named him their “up-and-coming politician of the year.”
Farrow is a graduate of Yale Law School and a member of the New York bar. During his time at Yale Law School, he practiced at New York-based law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell. He has also served on the legal counsel team for the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, working on international human rights law issues.
