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| Jo Cox MP: 'A humanitarian with political nous' | Jo Cox MP: 'A humanitarian with political nous' |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Hours after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed her husband Brendan said she had fought for "a better world". | Hours after Labour MP Jo Cox was killed her husband Brendan said she had fought for "a better world". |
| But, long before she set about that work as an elected politician, Mrs Cox had built a successful career in the charity sector fighting human suffering. | |
| Eight years working for Oxfam - where she met her husband - enabled her to show inspiring leadership and political intelligence, despite her remarkably young age, her former colleagues recall. | Eight years working for Oxfam - where she met her husband - enabled her to show inspiring leadership and political intelligence, despite her remarkably young age, her former colleagues recall. |
| Mrs Cox's charity work took her around the world to tackle issues such as poverty and maternal mortality - issues she previously helped put on the European Parliament, as a researcher for Glenys (now Baroness) Kinnock, who was then an MEP. | Mrs Cox's charity work took her around the world to tackle issues such as poverty and maternal mortality - issues she previously helped put on the European Parliament, as a researcher for Glenys (now Baroness) Kinnock, who was then an MEP. |
| It was around this time, in 1997, when Ed Cairns, Oxfam's senior policy advisor, first met Mrs Cox - quickly coming to regard her as a "key contact" for the charity. | It was around this time, in 1997, when Ed Cairns, Oxfam's senior policy advisor, first met Mrs Cox - quickly coming to regard her as a "key contact" for the charity. |
| "She was about the greatest person I ever met at combining a humanitarian passion with political nous," he said. | "She was about the greatest person I ever met at combining a humanitarian passion with political nous," he said. |
| "It is very rare to have someone with as much political intelligence as Jo had to actually show how you can achieve things in the real world." | "It is very rare to have someone with as much political intelligence as Jo had to actually show how you can achieve things in the real world." |
| Together, they worked to convince the EU to establish a new code of conduct in the arms trade, which was successfully adopted in 1998, he said. | Together, they worked to convince the EU to establish a new code of conduct in the arms trade, which was successfully adopted in 1998, he said. |
| In 2001, she started working for Oxfam and quickly became head of the charity's Brussels office, where Mr Cairns said she dealt with "one humanitarian crisis after another". | In 2001, she started working for Oxfam and quickly became head of the charity's Brussels office, where Mr Cairns said she dealt with "one humanitarian crisis after another". |
| Talking to the Huffington Post last year, Mrs Cox herself said: "I would jump on a plane and be in Kabul one week and then Darfur the next." | Talking to the Huffington Post last year, Mrs Cox herself said: "I would jump on a plane and be in Kabul one week and then Darfur the next." |
| Oxfam's Max Lawson described her campaigning to end the conflict in Darfur as "particularly brilliant" and added: "She was as a ball of energy, always smiling, full of new ideas, of idealism, of passion." | Oxfam's Max Lawson described her campaigning to end the conflict in Darfur as "particularly brilliant" and added: "She was as a ball of energy, always smiling, full of new ideas, of idealism, of passion." |
| Together with Amnesty International, Mrs Cox also pushed for a global arms trade treaty, which was eventually adopted in 2014 after a decades-long campaign. | Together with Amnesty International, Mrs Cox also pushed for a global arms trade treaty, which was eventually adopted in 2014 after a decades-long campaign. |
| At the 2005 World Summit, she had successfully argued for the international community to agree a "responsibility to protect" and intervene when governments fail to stop crimes against their citizens. | At the 2005 World Summit, she had successfully argued for the international community to agree a "responsibility to protect" and intervene when governments fail to stop crimes against their citizens. |
| Mr Cairns said no matter how many setbacks the charity encountered, Mrs Cox would always stay positive. | Mr Cairns said no matter how many setbacks the charity encountered, Mrs Cox would always stay positive. |
| He said: "She was always the first to get over the dejection of a setback, and in about half a second she would say 'Right, we are going to do something else'. | He said: "She was always the first to get over the dejection of a setback, and in about half a second she would say 'Right, we are going to do something else'. |
| "She was completely committed to achieving something tangible rather than just saying the right things." | "She was completely committed to achieving something tangible rather than just saying the right things." |
| Mrs Cox herself told the BBC: "I've been in some horrific situations - where women have been raped repeatedly in Darfur, I've been with child soldiers who have been given a Kalashnikov and kill members of their own family in Uganda. | Mrs Cox herself told the BBC: "I've been in some horrific situations - where women have been raped repeatedly in Darfur, I've been with child soldiers who have been given a Kalashnikov and kill members of their own family in Uganda. |
| "That's the thing that all of that experience gave me - if you ignore a problem, it gets worse." | "That's the thing that all of that experience gave me - if you ignore a problem, it gets worse." |
| In 2007, she moved to Oxfam's New York office and became head of humanitarian campaigning around the world until 2009. | In 2007, she moved to Oxfam's New York office and became head of humanitarian campaigning around the world until 2009. |
| Mr Cairns said she was instrumental in the publication of a "landmark book" called For a Safer Tomorrow, which analysed how the world's humanitarian policies were changing. | Mr Cairns said she was instrumental in the publication of a "landmark book" called For a Safer Tomorrow, which analysed how the world's humanitarian policies were changing. |
| "She was remarkably young for such a senior position," Mr Cairns said. | "She was remarkably young for such a senior position," Mr Cairns said. |
| "But she had a brilliant touch with everybody that she managed, she really encouraged people and was a great, motivating people manager. | "But she had a brilliant touch with everybody that she managed, she really encouraged people and was a great, motivating people manager. |
| "I remember she quite often used the word 'heroic' to describe people's efforts at work, which is ironic really because she has been the real hero in all this." | "I remember she quite often used the word 'heroic' to describe people's efforts at work, which is ironic really because she has been the real hero in all this." |
| Mrs Cox left Oxfam in 2009 and became the director of ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife Sarah's Maternal Mortality Campaign, which campaigns for women's right in the developing world. | Mrs Cox left Oxfam in 2009 and became the director of ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown's wife Sarah's Maternal Mortality Campaign, which campaigns for women's right in the developing world. |
| And even when she moved into politics, she continued to work as a strategy consultant for Save the Children and then the NSPCC. | And even when she moved into politics, she continued to work as a strategy consultant for Save the Children and then the NSPCC. |