Sally Becker
'Sally Becker partly redeemed the good name of Western Europe by the heroic work that she carried out in Bosnia at the height of the war.' Tom Gallagher Professor of the study of Ethnic Conflict and Peace at the Department of Peace studies at Bradford University.
Moved by the images of suffering, Sally Becker set off to the war torn region of Bosnia Herzegovina determined to try and help. It was 1993 and the country was in the midst of a civil war. Croats, Muslims and Serbs were fighting for control of Mostar where 50,000 people were trapped on the east side of the city, crammed into an area just twenty miles long. There was no electricity and very little food and the area was constantly targeted by snipers and rocket propelled grenades. No one could get in or out of the city and people were dying for want of the most basic medical supplies. Sally was approached by an officer from the United Nations and asked to help a child in need of medical treatment. With permission from the warring parties, she drove an ambulance across the front line and began ferrying sick and injured children and their families to safety. Read more
When the war spread to Kosovo Sally enlisted the help of volunteer drivers to bring convoys of aid to the region but as the conflict escalated, the aid agencies pulled out and the borders were closed. Sally crossed the mountains on foot to bring medical supplies to a hospital in Junik, a town surrounded by Serb forces where she was asked to take sick and injured children and their families across the border to Albania. Read more
In July 2012 Sally carried the Olympic flag for Peace and Justice alongside Mohammed Ali and Ban Ki-moon at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games.
In 2016 she travelled to Northern Iraq to help victims of ISIS. Together with a paediatrician from Italy she helped to set up emergency paediatric units in Mosul, Dibis Camp and Sinjar and is credited with helping thousands of children. Read more
Upon her return to the UK she founded Save a Child, a British charity dedicated to providing medical treatment for children in areas of conflict. In 2021 she launched a mobile telemedicine programme connecting local doctors with a global network of paediatric specialists helping to save the lives of children in besieged and remote areas. Read more
When Russia declared war on Ukraine, Sally was asked to help evacuate orphaned children and their carers from the war torn region and over the next few months she and her small team of volunteers helped to bring 240 children and women to safety.
In 2024 Sally helped to orchestrate the medical evacuation of critically injured Palestinian children from Gaza. These missions, executed in collaboration with Gaza Kinder Relief and Project Pure Hope, faced numerous logistical challenges, including complex negotiations with Palestinian and Israeli authorities to secure safe passage to Egypt and onward to Italy. Read more
A truly passionate advocate of those who have been affected by war, Sally Becker is a powerful, humorous and inspirational keynote speaker who draws upon her own experiences in some of the worlds worst conflict zones to show that with determination and courage virtually anything is possible. If you'd like to book her for your event please click here.
Sally's memoir Where Angels Fear to Tread is available from Harper Collins from 10th April
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