{{Short description|British volunteer humanitarian aid worker}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Sally Becker | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|3|29|df=y}} | birth_place = [[London]], United Kingdom | occupation = Humanitarian | website = http://www.sallybecker.uk/ }} '''Sally Becker''' (born 29 March 1962) is a British [[Humanitarian aid|humanitarian aid worker]], best known for her work during the [[Bosnian War|Bosnian]] and [[Kosovo War]]s in the late 1990s. She is the founder of charities Road to Peace and Save a Child. She is credited with saving hundreds of lives through her actions in the [[Balkans]], and was frequently referred to in the British media as the "Angel of [[Mostar]]".<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=22 December 1998|title=November: Sally Becker|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/12/98/review_of_98/newsmakers/234607.stm|access-date=12 October 2020|website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>
== Activism == === Bosnia and Herzegovina === Moved by the images of suffering in [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], Becker travelled there to deliver aid to people living close to the front line in west [[Mostar]], driving into and out of the city in an old Renault.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|title=Sally Becker went where angels fear to tread|language=en-US|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/sally-becker-went-where-angels-fear-to-tread/|access-date=12 October 2020}}</ref> As one of the only foreign aid workers able to travel freely in the area, she was asked by a UN officer to try to gain access to the east side of the city, where 50,000 [[Bosniaks]] were trapped. With permission from the [[Ministry of Defence (Croatia)|Croatian Ministry of Defence]], she crossed the front line to evacuate wounded children and their families from the besieged hospital. The mission was successful and she became known as the Angel of Mostar.<ref>{{Cite web|date=28 August 1993|title=Briton rescues five Mostar children: Aid worker braves sniper fire and|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/briton-rescues-five-mostar-children-aid-worker-braves-sniper-fire-and-un-obstruction-to-cross-siege-1463879.html|access-date=12 October 2020|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|author=Guardian Staff|date=9 February 2012|title=Sally Becker, Angel of Mostar|url=http://www.theguardian.com/open-weekend/sally-becker|access-date=12 October 2020|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
On 10 December 1993, she led a convoy of 57 ambulances and trucks from the [[United Kingdom]] to deliver medical aid to besieged hospitals and evacuate wounded children and their families from on all sides of the conflict. She managed to arrange ceasefires, and is credited with saving hundreds of lives. The mission was dubbed Operation Angel.
In February 1994, aid convoys were grounded due to snow, leaving 28 injured children and their families trapped in a monastery serving as a makeshift hospital in Nova Bila. Becker reached the area by helicopter and flew them to safety.<ref>[https://28fae3d0-9df2-462e-be0c-33776265f09a.filesusr.com/ugd/a16f3c_8d0dfff8bde146fea5852daffc98e8c3.pdf ''The Times'' 29 February 1994]</ref>
=== Kosovo === When [[Slobodan Milošević]] ordered his troops into [[Kosovo]] as part of the [[Kosovo War]], Becker led a humanitarian aid convoy to the region. When the borders were closed, she brought the convoys to northern [[Albania]] where thousands of refugees had escaped from the fighting. Led by a soldier from the [[Kosovo Liberation Army]], she crossed the mountains into Kosovo on foot to bring pediatric medicines to a besieged hospital in [[Junik]]. She was asked to take 25 injured children and their mothers across the mountains to safety. They were ambushed by Serb paramilitaries and Becker, who stayed behind to help a woman and two children who were trapped, was captured and imprisoned.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=30 July 1998|title='Angel' ends prison hunger strike|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/142529.stm|access-date=12 October 2020|website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> The families made it across the border and, when Becker was eventually released, she traced them to a refugee camp in northern Albania.
She arranged for them to travel to the United Kingdom for medical treatment but on 13 November 1998, the day the [[Hellenic Air Force]] was supposed to fly them to Britain, [[Home Office]] Minister [[Jack Straw]] refused to issue their visas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Operation Angel chief resigns|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/223265.stm|access-date=12 October 2020|website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> Two days later, Becker was shot by a masked gunman as she returned to her hotel with a colleague.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=15 November 1998|title=Kosovo clashes threaten ceasefire, safety of peace monitors|url=http://articles.cnn.com/1998-11-15/world/9811_15_yugo.kosovo_1_kosovo-clashes-international-verification-force-kosovo-liberation-army-kla/2?_s=PM:WORLD|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324044617/http://articles.cnn.com/1998-11-15/world/9811_15_yugo.kosovo_1_kosovo-clashes-international-verification-force-kosovo-liberation-army-kla/2?_s=PM:WORLD|archive-date=24 March 2012|access-date=12 October 2020|website=[[CNN]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=16 November 1998|title=Becker leaves hospital 'for safety'|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/215147.stm|access-date=12 October 2020|website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> The President of Albania sent his Minister of Health to evacuate her but she refused to leave without the children, remaining in the area until they were accepted for treatment in other countries.
=== Other countries === In August 2006, she brought humanitarian aid to families trapped in shelters during the conflict between [[Israel]] and [[Lebanon]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=12 June 2014|title=Sally Becker|url=https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2014/06/12/profile-sally-becker/|access-date=12 October 2020|website=Hadassah Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> Becker was appointed as a [[goodwill ambassador]] for [[Children of Peace]], a multi-faith charity dedicated to building friendship, trust and reconciliation between Israeli and [[Palestinians|Palestinian]] children.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Jacobs|first=Gerald|date=1 November 2012|title=Sally Becker looks back on a life in the war zone|url=https://www.thejc.com/lifestyle/features/sally-becker-looks-back-on-a-life-in-the-war-zone-1.37760|access-date=12 October 2020|website=Jewish Chronicle}}</ref>
In 2016, Becker founded Road to Peace, a British charity helping children in areas of conflict.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Yazidi boy who survived ISIS captivity can't come to Canada unless he leaves his big brother behind {{!}} CBC Radio|language=en-US|work=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5672830/yazidi-boy-who-survived-isis-captivity-can-t-come-to-canada-unless-he-leaves-his-big-brother-behind-1.5672833|access-date=12 October 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Phillips|first=Kristine|date=12 February 2017|title=A severely injured Iraqi toddler has been in the U.S. for three months — without his parents|newspaper=[[Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/02/12/a-severely-injured-iraqi-toddler-has-been-in-the-u-s-for-three-months-without-his-parents/|url-access=subscription|access-date=12 October 2020|quote=Three months after the explosion, Becker, founder of Road to Peace, a nonprofit that facilitates medical treatment for wounded children in war-torn countries, visited the camp and found out about Dilbireen.}}</ref> In 2016 she attempted to negotiate temporary asylum in the United Kingdom for 1400 [[Yazidi survivors]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Mark S|date=29 April 2016|title='Angel of Mostar' calls on UK Government to open its doors to Yazidi women and children – with the support of Scots MPs|url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14462184.angel-of-mostar-calls-on-uk-government-to-open-its-doors-to-yazidi-women-and-children-with-the-support-of-scots-mps/|access-date=12 October 2020|website=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]]|language=en}}</ref> In 2018 she and her volunteers provided medical treatment for children fleeing from [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIL]] in [[Syria]] and northern [[Iraq]] and established an emergency medical facility for Yazidi children in [[Sinjar]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-06-26 |title=Battle for Mosul: Iraq forces repel IS counter-attack |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40402501 |access-date=2023-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Iraq's Yazidis return to a healthcare crisis |url=https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2018/03/16/iraq-s-yazidis-return-healthcare-crisis |website=The New Humanitarian |access-date=22 January 2021 |language=en |date=16 March 2018}}</ref> From Mostar to Mosul and across the Middle East, Sally and her volunteers have helped thousands of sick and injured children.
Becker is the founder and Executive Director of Save A Child Global Paediatric Network, a registered British charity helping to save the lives of sick and injured children in besieged or remote areas across the globe.{{Citation needed|date=February 2023}}
== Awards and honours == {{BLP sources section|date=February 2023}}
* 1994 - Unsung Heroes - The Celebrity Guild of Great Britain. * 1994 - The Ross McWhirter Award for Bravery * 1994 - Women of the Year Great Britain * 1995 - Special Award from The Variety Club of Great Britain * 1999 - Woman of the Year - Blue Drop Group Sicily * 2001 - Sally was granted the 'Freedom of Tropoje' * 2012 - Sally was an Olympic flag bearer representing Peace and Justice at the [[2012 Summer Olympics]] in London alongside [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|United Nations Secretary-General]] [[Ban Ki-moon]] and boxer [[Muhammad Ali|Muhammed Ali]].<ref name=":1"/> * 2020 - Sally was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by a group of academics from Slovenia for her work in the Balkans and other war torn areas.
== Books == *Becker's memoir, ''Sunflowers and Snipers'', was published by The History Press in 2012. * And ''Where Angels Fear to Tread: The Memoir of a Humanitarian Aid Worker'' was published by Harper Collins in April 2025.
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.sallybecker.uk/}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Sally}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:British philanthropists]] [[Category:Mostar]] [[Category:1962 births]]