The Norwegian Refugee Council plaque was awarded yesterday to Charles H. Jordan, director-general of the Joint Distribution Committee and chairman of the governing board of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies.
The award is presented annually to an individual or an organization but it is rarely given to an official of a voluntary organization outside of Norway. King Olaf of Norway was the first recipient. The award was presented to the JDC official at a plenary session of the ICVA general conference being held at the Palace of Nations here.
William S. Boe, representing the Council, declared at the presentation that “in the task of caring for refugees, it is impossible to work only with one’s head or one’s heart-it has to be both. As an individual and as head of JDC, Mr. Jordan has the perfect balance, although it is clear that his heart is in the lead. When he talks about 10,000 refugees, he is talking about 10,000 people.”
In his response, Mr. Jordan said he welcomed the opportunity to pay public tribute to the work of the Norwegian Council and the Norwegian people. He said that “little Norway has made a larger contribution to solving the refugee problem than countries three times its size.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
