It is my pleasure to welcome a true humanitarian among us, Mrs. Laura Bush, who has been a cherished friend of Project HOPE.

In 2003, at the request of the former First Lady Laura Bush and Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Project HOPE’s former President and CEO Dr. John Howe visited health care facilities in Iraq to assess the needs there.

As a result of this request and subsequent visit, construction of a modern, state-of-the-art, 94-bed pediatric referral hospital began in 2004 in partnership with the US Army Corps of Engineers. Opened in 2010, the Basrah Children’s Hospital represented the first hospital constructed in Iraq since the 1980s and provided Basrah and the southern governorates with high-impact children’s health services with an oncology focus. Project HOPE had the responsibility for medically equipping the hospital and training the hospital staff.

This project visibly demonstrated our tenacity and commitment for the children of Iraq during a non-permissive security environment, when most NGOs had departed the country.

The compassion that Mrs. Bush showed for the children of Iraq and the faith that Mrs. Bush placed in the hands of Project HOPE led to a successful public-private partnership working with the leadership of Iraq to bring desperately needed health care to the children there. It was a mutual commitment because the children of Iraq – just like children everywhere in the world – deserve no less.

It is now my great honor and privilege to introduce a leading voice for spreading freedom and promoting human rights across the globe – as well as a champion of children – Mrs. Laura Bush.