User:Henrythomasalexander/Kate Holt

Kate Holt is a photojournalist, born "Katherine Emily Holt" to British and South African parents in 1972.

Biography
Kate Holt was born Zimbabwe, grew up in Newfoundland, Canada and was educated in the U.K. at St. Annes School, Windermere, from the age of eleven. Before going to university she spent a year working in the Negru Voda Orphanage in Romania with HIV positive and disabled children. She returned there each summer during her years as a student. It was during this period that she realised that aid work only scratched the surface of much bigger issues and chose journalism as the way to expose these issues to a wider audience. She completed her studies with a History Masters from St Andrew's University, Scotland and a Post Graduate Diploma in Photojournalism from The London School of Printing, London.

Career
She started her career with the BBC, working on Breakfast News and News 24. Her first field experiences was in Kosova, documenting the humanitarian effects of the conflict. From there she went on to write her first investigative report that uncovered the trafficking of young girls from Eastern Europe into in Bosnia and on to the UK. This work was published as a cover feature Sunday Times Magazine and in The Observer. It was the first time the issue of trafficking of women from Eastern Europe for sexual purposes was exposed. Since then she has travelled extensively documenting refugee, the effects of war and poverty on women and children, in conflicts in the Dem. Rep. of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Iraq and Afghanistan. Her work has been published in:

The Independent The Times The Observer The Mail on Sunday The Financial Times

Sexual Exploitation by UN Peace Keepers and the resignation of the High Commissioner
In '04 and '05 Kate uncovered the story of sexual exploitation by UN peace keepers in the Dem. Rep. of Congo in a series of articles for The Independent entitle: "When PeaceKeepers Become Predators." The story led to Kofi Annan announcing a"Zero Tolerance" policy to the issue. She went on to uncover an extensive cover-up by the UN in New York of the issue which led directly to the resignation of High Commissioner for Refugees (and former Prime Ministers of the Netherlands), Ruud Lubbers. She exposed the findings of an OIOS report which cited Lubbers had sexually harassed members of his staff. The report had been hidden by the UN and never published.