The issue I am most passionate about is poverty reduction, both in the UK and abroad. I continue to work with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Genocide Prevention and the Great Lakes Region � I founded this group in 1998, and I am proud that today over 100 MPs are members. We have had notable successes in our work on conflict resolution, and have been commended by the UN Security Council�s Expert Panel for our recommendations on UN peace-keeping.
I also work with the media, and am part of the team that makes the Sky News 7 o Clock show, combining politics and culture. I write for various newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian and the New Statesman. I am very excited about another project I have Chaired for five years, called the Rich Mix Foundation. This is an arts and cultural centre that aims to connect communities and cultures through world-class art in the heart of the East End.
I have recently written a pamphlet for the IPPR (Institute of Public Policy & Research) called �The Battle to Engage�, which looks at what we must do to reduce poverty and inequality, and how this should be linked to a progressive consensus that breaths life into our democracy. That brings me back to THANCS. Politics shouldn�t just be for politicians. If it is, our democracy will wither. So I hope you might be interested in this and other work.
Finally, on a personal note, I live with my Italian husband, Tiberio, in Mile End. I was born in Sheffield, and brought up in Camden, London. My father is African-American from Georgia. My mother is Jewish from Newcastle - and her grandparents were Scottish, Irish, and Hungarian. I was proud to represent London's East End, so diverse, and so often a gateway to the world. And I am excited now to carry on living and working in London�s East End, soon to host the Olympic Games.
Thank you for visiting this site, and I hope you find it of use. - Oona
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