what are your thoughts on the male population in sri lanka, especially women and children, the displacement? >> the camels have recently been put down according to the government, and it's a serious situation in terms of the plight of those who are in the camps. we have had personnel go and try to assess what is happening, and we are calling on the government to do all that they can to begin to change the situation. but it is a worrisome one. >> what specifically are you hoping to accomplish in this coming year, and how do you see yourself actually making a difference? >> well, you know, i think success in this new role will be determined by how well we integrate these issues into the overall work of the state department. as you know, i think, the state department has many responsibilities. there are regional bureaus literally covering the face of the globe. there are economics bureaus, human rights, the office for trafficking of persons and so on. it is our hope that eventually this position won't be needed because women's issues will become part of everything else the state department doe

>> i -- from the sri lanka -- it's a u.n. peace corps -- not peace corps, a u.n. peacekeeping mission. a u.s. army helicopter -- a u.s. army ambulance drove me the hour from where we were to port-au-prince where then i was put on a private jet with i think seven other wounded american citizens and we flew quickly to miami where we were brought here. >> larry: in view of all of this, you plan to go back to haiti? >> several people have asked me and i don't quite yet have an answer. i do want to be sure that the people of haiti get the help that they need because the sanitation conditions there are really terrible and they need all the medical assistance they can get and they need not only to be dependent on immediate aid right now but also need to build into this a future economy where they're not as dependent on aid. >> larry: boy, i wish you the best. what are you majoring in? >> i'm studying sustainability. >> larry: perfect topic. >> yep. i -- i think there's a lot to be learned about it from my experience. >> larry: good luck, christa. we want to thank the coo

what are your thoughts on the male population in sri lanka, especially women and children, the displacement? >> the camels have recently been put down according to the government, and it's a serious situation in terms of the plight of those who are in the camps. we have had personnel go and try to assess what is happening, and we are calling on the government to do all that they can to begin to change the situation. but it is a worrisome one. >> what specifically are you hoping to accomplish in this coming year, and how do you see yourself actually making a difference? >> well, you know, i think success in this new role will be determined by how well we integrate these issues into the overall work of the state department. as you know, i think, the state department has many responsibilities. there are regional bureaus literally covering the face of the globe. there are economics bureaus, human rights, the office for trafficking of persons and so on. it is our hope that eventually this position won't be needed because women's issues will become part of everything else the state department doe

as you remember from sri lanka and the wake of the tsunami, there was mass graves there as well. you have to do that when there is death on this scale. at least they were taking pictures of the dead so loved ones can maybe identify them. there are no names being taken, no pictures being taken. i don't know if they're actually counting the numbers. they're digging these pits and burying them. these people are going to simply disappear. they could be americans, they could be haitians, they could be from some other country. we won't know where they've ended up. they'll simply disappear. the little girl's hand ivan held, they're stupid deaths happening right now. it's very upsetting to see. >> larry: stupid because? >> because a little girl is dying because her leg was crushed. i mean, somebody doesn't have to die of that. you know, a leg can be amputated if there is a doctor who can do it. if there's antibiotics, an infection can be treated. it doesn't have to be spread through the body and kill somebody. it's really stupid. i mean, it's infuriating. >> larry: where are the antibiot

same respect for human rights as we were expecting the government of saddam or the government of sri lanka. so i think amnesty should be proud of applying the same standards of human rights across the world. we would like to see governments it away from double standards where they are very happy to point a human rights problems elsewhere, but not so happy when the light is shone on nonperformance. >> another question from the audience. is not a basic cause of paying the result of a deliberate policy and laws that benefit the rich? for example, in the lack of equitable health care benefits, the wealthy health insurance corporations fight poverty, don't we need to redistribute wealth and power by a radical change in laws and policies? >> well, laws and policies, it's interesting that you raise the issue of laws and policies. you know, laws and policies -- laws are there to protect all of us, but the reality actually shows that the law doesn't work in favor of the poor. very often. tarballs of commission of commission set up. it included madeleine albright, mary robinson, very eminent people,

in have in sri lanka, there was certainly a concern about that. but kids are often sold off or given to poor families or other families living in the city, and those kids will grow up as domestic servants working for a family. so that's something that's a form of trafficking which happens right here in haiti and happened long before the earthquake. >> larry: lisa, how does trafficking work? give us the mode us op -- mo. what happens? >> often they develop relationships, and the kind of trafficking that happens in places like haiti, the stay with if phenomenon is something that happens when a family feels like they can't care for their children properly and they send them to be with another family in another area to provide domestic servants in exchange for food, clothes and possibly an education. what happens often, however, is that the terms of the child living there are not very well -- they're not monitored at all, they're not well established, can the children are treated harshly. sometimes there's violence, sometimes they're not entitled to t

we saw this in the wake of the sue nam ne sri lanka. we investigated those.ce of it. haiti does have a history of not just child trafficking internationally or going to a dominican republic but also internally. kids are sold, often, or given to other families living in the city. those kids will grow up as domestic servants working for a family. that's something that's a form of trafficking which happens right here in haiti and happened long before the earthquake. >> lisa, how does trafficking work? give us the modus operandi. what happens? >> it's dilt to say, obviously, because it's a clandestine form of activity. but often traffickers are people who are known in communities. they develop relationships. often the kinds of trafficking that happened in places like haiti, the restavec, in french, stay with, phenomenon, is something that happens when a family feeling it can't care for their children adequately and they send them to what they presume to be a wealthier family in the area to provide domestic service in exchange for food and shelter and clothes and