“It was a Close Protection Officer...who heard me. Had I not decided to knock exactly at that point in time, they would have repaired the backhoe [and] started to dig. They would’ve destabilised the area over which I was lying and I would not be sitting here today.”

It’s been over ten years since Senior Civil Affairs Officer, Jens Kristensen found himself trapped in the earthquake that hit Haiti’s Hotel Christopher. Jens recounts his harrowing experience of being confined in a dark coffin-like space for five days with no water or drink, not knowing when, or if, he would be rescued. He also explains his remarkable decision to return to work after just two days following the rescue knowing that “mentally and physically I was capable and still able to help.” 

“It was a terrible, terrible disaster for the UN. For Haiti. For the world...I think that finding me as a survivor gave people hope. It was a light in the darkness. People were there. People were cheering. It was a new birthday.”

S3-Episode 22: Light in the Darkness - Jens Kristensen (Haiti)

“[There are] two iconic images of the 20th century: Diana walking through the minefield in body armour and then with a little girl who lost a leg to a mine. I was proud to...highlight the incredible work that's been done by deminers around the world by hosting that visit.” 

Paul Heslop is the Head of the UN Mine Action Team in Afghanistan and has been clearing mines in conflict zones for nearly thirty years. He shares the remarkable progress deminers have made in removing explosive devices across the globe with Mozambique (his first post back in ‘94) declaring itself mine-free two years ago. Paul also recounts his time as a field officer for the Halo Trust when Princess Diana came to visit a minefield in Angola where he was working back in 1997. He recalls that epochal moment and how his quick thinking led to the non-profit gaining huge worldwide exposure through the iconic photographs of the trip.&nbsp;

S3 Episode 25: Clearing Mines for 30 Years - Paul Heslop (UNMAS)

“We know that whenever you have these sort of atrocity crimes that happened here [Bosnia and Herzegovina], they're often preceded by hate. They're often preceded by individuals and responsibility, whether they're political leaders, whether they're religious leaders, whether they're average population, putting out hate or putting out ‘the other’ so that religious community is evil, or they're responsible for XYZ.” 
 
Ingrid Macdonald is the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She is tasked with spearheading the UN’s efforts to support development in a country still deeply scarred by ethnic divisions and the legacy of war and the 1995 genocide at Srebrenica.

Ingrid, who was raised in a small New Zealand mining town, joined the UN in 2016. But she has a long record of working in humanitarian, development and human rights jobs around the world, from Darfur to the Philippines and from Peru to Ukraine.

In this insightful episode, she talks about the challenges she faced in many of those roles and her vivid memories of trying to advocate for the vulnerable, including her time helping women in Afghanistan. 

Since relocating to Sarajevo in early 2020, just as COVID-19 was taking hold across the world, Ingrid has been focused on finding ways to bring divided communities together as well as tackle hate speech and genocide denial, just 26 years after Bosnian Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

S4-E4: Build Trust and Build a Future - Ingrid Macdonald (UN Bosnia and Herzegovina)

What is a day like in the life of the epidemiologist heading the global response to COVID-19?
For the past 21 months, WHO COVID-19 Technical Lead Maria Van Kerkhove has been working around the clock with thousands of scientists to try to keep all of us safe. In this personal and insightful episode, Maria shares her memories of the first moment she became aware of COVID-19 – before most of the world knew it existed – and then she takes us behind the scenes of WHO’s early steps to tackle the crisis.
Maria also talks about what, throughout the entire pandemic, motivates her every day to get out of bed and care for others, at the expense of her family life. 
“When I went to China in February 2020… he [my child] was really scared. So, he thought I wasn't coming home and I think everything changed for him. You know, it was this mysterious new virus. Everything was shutting down. People were scared, there was an ominous nature about it and he thought I wasn't coming home. So, for him, that was really scary,” she says.

S4-E8: So Much More that We Can Do to Save Lives Right Now - Maria Van Kerkhove (COVID-19)

What is it like living and working in Afghanistan as a woman leader of a UN Agency?

Mary-Ellen McGroarty witnessed the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021. As Head of the World Food Programme in the country, she has seen first hand the seismic shift in the economic, political and cultural landscape.

 “Some days, I sometimes wish I hadn't been here before the 15th of August, because then I wouldn't have seen the hope and the promise and the potential.”

Now, over 50% of Afghans are threatened with hunger. People are unable to go out to work either because of the economic crisis or, in the case of millions of women, because of new restrictions on their freedom. In this episode, Mary-Ellen McGroarty reflects on the impact of the takeover, the scale of the ensuing humanitarian crisis, and what it’s like sitting face to face with the Taliban.

S5-E1: Sitting Face to Face with the Taliban - Mary Ellen McGroarty (WFP)

Vladislav Kaim is dedicated to protecting the environment. A member of the UN Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, he promotes green jobs, the energy transition, and generous climate finance - urgent priorities for our rapidly warming world. Yet the war in Ukraine has blown apart regional and global networks working towards a livable future.

“The war is affecting the sustainable development of every single country in our region.” 

As a Moldovan, Vladislav Kaim has seen how the devastating war in Ukraine has affected the region and turned people's attention away from the climate emergency. In this episode, he reflects on the effect of the war on long-term climate action, and on his fears for loved ones in the region.

More information at https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night/S5-E4-climate-action-in-the-shadow-of-war

S5-E4: Climate Action in the Shadow of War - Vladislav Kaim (Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change)

Serge Brammertz is one of the world's leading international prosecutors. As Chief Prosecutor of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, he leads the process of tracking down fugitive criminals from wars in the former Yugoslavia, and the genocide in Rwanda. 

“Every single person indicted is exactly the opposite of a hero. And the only heroes in fact are the survivors and victims.” 

Decades on from the brutal Balkan wars of the 1990s, genocide denial and glorification of war criminals remain rife in the region. In this episode, Serge Brammertz reflects on his life-long quest to bring war criminals to justice, on working with the survivors of genocide, and what he has learned about the human condition.

S5E8: A Life-long Quest for Justice - Serge Brammertz (Criminal Tribunals)

Chris Mburu’s life was transformed by a small act of kindness. Now the UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Congo, he grew up in a Kenyan family struggling to afford his education. That was until a stranger in Sweden offered to pay for him to go to school. 

“When I look at poverty, it evokes memories of my own childhood. What keeps me going is the desire to keep as many people as possible out of poverty, because I remember my past, and where I was, I really do not want to see anybody there.” 

After attending Harvard, the now UN human rights lawyer wanted to give back. Having found his long-lost childhood benefactor, Holocaust survivor Hilde Back, he set up a scholarship in her name to put Kenyan children through school.

In this episode, Chris Mburu reflects on his own path out of poverty, the transformational power of development, and the ripple effect of small acts.

S6E1: The Power of One Small Act - Chris Mburu (UN Resident Coordinator in the Republic of Congo)

Matilda Bogner’s job is to bear witness to unspeakable crimes. As head of the United Nations Human Rights mission in Ukraine, she and her team record accounts of horrific abuses and rights violations in a bid to bring the perpetrators to justice and ease the victims’ suffering.
 
“It's a very complicated job, but it is meeting people and finding out their stories. It's giving voices to victims. That's what motivates me.” 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has devastated millions of lives. Civilians have been subjected to summary executions, disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and mass rape. In this episode, Matilda Bogner reflects on the scale of these horrors, the mental health impact of documenting them, and on her urgent quest to raise the alarm with the rest of the world.

S6E5: Giving Voice to Victims in Ukraine - Matilda Bogner - Head of UN Human Rights mission Ukraine

Denise Brown knows what it takes to work under the shadow of war. As UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, she and her team must brave considerable risks as they strive to meet the colossal humanitarian needs of the Ukrainian people in the midst of a brutal war. 

“The missiles slow us down, but they don’t stop us. That's testament to the courage, determination, and experience of the people we have there.” 

Close to 18 million Ukrainians are now in need of humanitarian aid and protection. Millions have been forced from their homes by intense fighting that has killed and injured thousands. 

In this episode, Denise Brown reflects on life under bombardment, on the dangers of trips to the front line, and on making a difference in the most difficult of circumstances. 

“We're in [some] places where very few others are. And we have the means, the experience, the capacity, that determination to be there. We are very strong when we want to be. And that inspires me.”

S7E1: The Missiles Don’t Stop Us - Denise Brown - UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine

Dr. David Nabarro has dedicated his life to global health. After a long career that’s taken him from the horrors of war torn Iraq, to the devastating aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami, he is still spurred to action by the tremendous inequalities in global access to medical care. 

“The thing that keeps me awake most at night is the rampant inequities in our world…We see an awful lot of needless suffering.” 

A passionate advocate for sustainable development, David Nabarro has seen in his own family how medicine can transform lives. In this episode, he reflects on his lifelong struggle against inequality, the lessons of misfortune, and why communication is always at the heart of healing. 

“We're not doing this work to make ourselves feel better … [but] because we are totally convinced that it's not necessary in today's wealthy world … for so many people to be experiencing hardship [and] have their lives and their livelihoods imperiled.”

S7E2: Bringing Health to the World - David Nabarro - Sp. Envoy of WHO Director-General on COVID-19

“It's not just food and assistance, you need to give these children a life, a life of full opportunities… So, I think we're so far from where we need to go, to make the difference.” 

When thousands fled the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov, fearing the loss of millions of lives, stayed on. Every day since, the former UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in the country has fought to ease the acute suffering of its people. 

“I believe we are the last, best hope that humanity has. And we have to stand for it. For [many] we represent this larger world of justice, the moral compass. We must keep that.” 

More than 9 in 10 Afghans now live in poverty, with 24.4 million reliant on humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, mounting restrictions on freedoms have excluded millions of women from work and study. In this episode, Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov reflects on three painful years of Taliban rule, on the desperate need for long-term prospects, and on finding hope amid the darkness. 

“Imagine someone sitting under plastic sheeting and munching on a high energy biscuit and waiting - now for 20 years. That provisional shelter and biscuit will save your life today. But without education, health services, jobs, or income … you will run, you will join a radical group, you will eventually end up selling children, and organs.”

S7E5: The Last Best Hope Humanity Has - Ramiz Alakbarov - UN humanitarian coordinator Afghanistan

Stephen Jackson fell hard for Africa three decades ago, and never looked back. Now the UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, he channels his passion into his work, bringing together UN agencies to support the continent in its drive for sustainable development.

“Sometimes in this job, you just end up falling in love with the country where you work. Kenya is a very special place, and I think is a country on an extraordinary upwards curve, a very rapid one. You meet incredibly inspiring people here, and I love it to bits.”  

Africa is a continent set on rapid development, with many observers pointing to Kenya’s maturing democracy and green transition as a model for other nations. In this episode, Stephen Jackson reflects on Africa’s fascinating diversity, as well as its invigorating self-confidence, resilience and ambition.

S8E2: Invigorated by Africa - Stephen Jackson - UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya

Dr. Alice Jill Edwards  spends many of her days listening to the testimonies of torture victims. Now the UN’s  Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, she works towards a world in which torture is finally a thing of the past.

 “I do remember the faces of most of the people I've met, and in fact, they keep me going in this work. And at the same time, of course, their stories haunt me.”   

The United Nations Convention on Torture bans all forms of torture and other inhuman treatment, and yet these malpractices are on the rise worldwide in a mounting number of conflicts. In this episode, Dr. Alice Jill Edwards reflects on the challenge of holding states to their commitments, the visible and invisible scars torture leaves behind, and on the need to recharge without guilt.

S8E6: Haunted by Tales of Torture - Alice Jill Edwards - UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

Christian Ritscher’s work brings him into contact with some of humanity’s worst outrages. As head of the United Nations investigative team to promote accountability for the crimes committed by ISIL in Iraq, he seeks justice for victims of the notoriously violent terror group.

 “Justice gives relief not only to the victims, but to a prosecutor as well. That is what keeps you upright and keeps you going on and says it is meaningful what you're doing.”  

Islamic State, or ISIL, stands accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Iraq’s Yazidi community were among those worst hit, with thousands killed or enslaved by the group. 

In this episode, Christian Ritscher reflects on the impact on survivors, the difficulty of gathering testimony and on keeping faith in humanity when faced with its darkest acts. 

“When you're an investigator, you'll see pretty clearly that ISIL did not hesitate at all to commit these crimes, while terrorizing the population and trying to establish their own caliphate or regime.”

S8E8: Pursuing Justice in ISIL’s Wake - Christian Ritscher - UN Special Adviser

Karolina Lindholm Billing was posted to Ukraine less than a year before the full-scale Russian invasion. As the UNHCR Representative in the country, she draws hope from witnessing the power of community volunteer networks in supporting displaced people in their hour of need.  

“Volunteers from all areas of society have helped people who have been directly impacted by the war. They're cooking meals, giving clothing, giving money, opening their homes.”  

War has forced around one-third of Ukrainians from their homes, in what is currently one of the world’s largest human displacement crises. UNHCR is assisting them with housing, cash, and legal assistance. 

In this episode, Karolina Lindholm Billing reflects on Ukrainian resilience, the drive to rebuild, and why people long to stay in their own homes, even in a war zone.

“Living in displacement somewhere where you have to start new is very difficult, emotionally, and economically. And it's also the unknown. So … many stay where they have their homes, and return home as soon as it's felt to be safe to do so.”

S9E10: Rebuilding Lives in Ukraine - Karolina Lindholm Billing - UNHCR Representative in Ukraine

Conflict, humanitarian disasters, climate change. Our world and its people are facing huge challenges. Wherever and whenever crisis hits, the United Nations staff are both on the ground saving lives and negotiating at the highest levels to alleviate suffering. This work is only possible due to the personal sacrifices made every day by UN staff around the world. So, what motivates someone to lead the global fight for human rights, equality, or justice? 

Join UN chief communicator Melissa Fleming as she gets to know the extraordinary people behind the organisation. 

Coming soon from the United Nations, Season 9 of Awake at Night.

Season 9 coming soon

Philippe Lazzarini holds one of the most challenging positions in the whole of the United Nations. As head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), he is leading the backbone of the humanitarian operation in Gaza.

“Ceasefire, ceasefire, ceasefire. If we have a ceasefire and the opening of the crossing, and we can flood assistance to the Gaza Strip, we would be able to prevent this catastrophe.”

Following the devastating terror attacks by Hamas and others on 7 October, Israel’s military operations in Gaza have brought unspeakable death and destruction. 

2.2 million Palestinians are in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe. The world’s leading experts on food insecurity have clearly documented that famine in the northern part of Gaza is imminent. The healthcare system is collapsing. Desperation and scarcity have led to a near-total breakdown in law and order.

In this episode, Philippe Lazzarini reflects on the trauma of the past months and the human cost of war. ** Episode recorded on 22 April 2024

S9E1: The Human Cost of War - Philippe Lazzarini - Head of UNRWA

A former child refugee, Mohamed Yahya knows the life-long pain of yearning for a lost home. That’s why some of his most emotional experiences with the United Nations have involved helping displaced people return to their towns years after they fled a brutal conflict.   

“A little bit of me was, I must say, envious of them, that they're able to go back home. I always imagine how I'll feel when I go back home without fear.”   

Until recently working with internally displaced communities in northern Nigeria, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Pakistan is a life-long champion of community-led development. 

In this episode, Mohamed Yahya reflects on the challenge of rebuilding scattered communities, on his experiences of being a refugee twice, and on the lasting allure of home.    

“Somebody who lived in an IDP camp … [is] suddenly back home, in dignity, self-reliant and thinking, ‘I want to reimagine what life means for me’ … Yes, I'm very proud.”

S9E2: No Place Like Home - Mohamed Yahya - UN Resident Coordinator, Pakistan

Appointed to a senior UN role aged just 26, Jayathma Wickramanayake’s career trajectory testifies to the power of education. Now senior policy advisor at UN Women, she is working to empower all women and girls to fulfill their potential – whatever their background. 

“I was never told that because I was a girl, I couldn't do X, Y or Z. [My parents] always encouraged us to explore our passions … as long as we put education first, because that was non-negotiable.” 

Despite significant progress on gender parity, too many girls and women still miss out on quality education, with women making up about two-thirds of the world’s 776 million illiterate adults. 

In this episode, Jayathma Wickramanayake reflects on the global hunger for learning, her beginnings in conflict-ridden Sri-Lanka, and her hopes for her own baby son. 

“I would always say, don't wait for advice. Don't wait for invitations. Just look around, you will find ways to contribute to change in your own family, in your own community, in your college, in your university and in your country.”

S9E3: Unlocking the Power of Youth - Jayathma Wickramanayake - Sr. policy advisor, UN Women

“2.6 billion people don't have access to the internet … if you're not part of the digital revolution, you're not going to be part of the AI revolution – we’ve got to close that gap.”

Doreen Bogdan-Martin’s fascinating career handed her a front row seat for the digital revolution. Now Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), she’s among those leading global efforts to set guardrails on the use of Artificial Intelligence.   

“I think we've never seen anything like this before … the plane is in flight and we're building it while we're flying - it's tremendous.”   

AI presents huge opportunities for humanity, but also poses great risks. In this episode, Doreen Bogdan-Martin reflects on working to ensure the humane and sustainable use of AI, on connecting the billions around the world who are not yet online, and on juggling a career with four children.

S9E4: With AI, We’re Building the Plane Mid-Flight - Doreen Bogdan-Martin - ITU Secretary-General

Big or small, Joyce Msuya has always found ways to give back. Now Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, she oversees the global response to the world’s worst crises. 

“For me, personally, it's a privilege to serve humanity. I wake up every morning and think about how I can shift the needle in someone's life.” 

From Gaza to Ukraine, Haiti to Sudan, the UN estimates 300 million people around the world are in need of life-saving assistance and protection. In this episode, Joyce Msuya reflects on keeping hope alive despite waking to fresh crises every day, on the shocking impacts of climate-related extreme weather, and on the long-term benefits of a strict boarding school. 

“A peaceful world would be a gift for all humanity. There's just too much suffering everywhere. If we can live a better and more peaceful world for our children than what we are currently living with, then humanity will be well served.”

S9E5: A Privilege to Serve Humanity - Joyce Msuya - OCHA - Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Amy Pope has always championed humane and orderly migration as an opportunity for societies, not a problem. Now the first female Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) she is campaigning for a fundamental shift in attitudes towards newcomers.  

“You just give somebody a little space. Everybody has purpose. Everybody has dreams, everybody wants to be seen.”  

Human migration is likely to rise over the coming decades, with the IOM predicting that hundreds of millions of people could be displaced due to climate change alone. In this episode, Amy Pope reflects on how better to prepare communities and why celebrating the contributions of migrants is a win-win for societies around the world.

“The evidence is pretty overwhelming that it doesn't even take very long for migration to actually pay out pretty significantly for the communities who host the migrants, and definitely for the communities that migrants are coming from.”

S9E6: Everybody has Purpose - Amy Pope - Director General - International Organization for Migration

Volker Türk has the greatest respect for those able to hold onto hope when all appears to be lost. As United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he has devoted his life and career to helping the world’s most vulnerable people.  

“What has always struck me was encounters with people who are extremely resilient … who actually see hope, including in the most atrocious circumstances, and who just keep doing the right thing.”  

The Office he leads works around the world to uphold human rights, speaking out against all abuses and empowering people to claim their rights. In this episode, Volker Türk reflects on holding rulebreakers to account, the strength displayed by refugees, and why the best ideas often arrive in the dead of night. 

“Human rights … is the strongest tool that we have in our hands to be a voice of those who don't have power and to speak truth to those who have the power and to make sure that they understand that yes, that there are limits to power.”

S9E7: Human rights is our strongest tool - Volker Türk - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

Born in Brazil to German parents, Achim Steiner knows first hand the power of cultural exchange to drive international cooperation. Now head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), he leads global efforts to secure a better future for our planet and its people.

“The clearest lesson from 50 years of modern development thinking is don't try and just pick one aspect and put all your eggs in that basket. Society is complex, development is about choices. And you will either get them right and succeed or you will fall apart.” 

Across the world, the UN supports efforts to end poverty, tackle climate change, and break barriers to progress and development. Yet brutal conflicts can reverse decades of progress in a few short months. In this episode, Achim Steiner reflects on the thorniest challenges facing humanity, on his hopes for a fairer, cleaner future, and on the vital lessons he learned in rural Pakistan. 

“How, in our age, do we overcome this competition between ecology and economy, which is leading us to so many destructive and ultimately, increasingly catastrophic realities around the world?”

S9-E8: Breaking Barriers to Progress - Achim Steiner - Head of UN Development Program (UNDP)

Growing up on a farm, Beth Bechdol never dreamed of following in her agricultural family’s footsteps. Now Deputy Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), she has not only returned to her roots, but is now fighting the corner of farmers the world over.  

“I know what it takes to grow a crop and to provide enough support for your animals. And if you don't have access to any of that, it's crushing. These are the things that on a regular basis keep me up at night.” 

The United Nations works to defeat hunger and achieve food security around the world, providing emergency agricultural aid to help mitigate food crises. In this episode, Beth Bechdol reflects on the perils of donor fatigue, on the devastation wrought on agriculture by war and climate change, and on what the world can learn from the wisdom of farmers.

S9-E9: To fight global hunger, farmers know best - Beth Bechdol - Deputy Director-General - FAO

Matthew Hollingworth has worked in conflict zones around the world, from Ukraine to South Sudan and Syria. Previously in charge of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) emergency operations in the West Bank and Gaza, Matthew was responsible for delivering life-saving aid to desperate people. 
“People ask me every single day when I'm in Gaza: “When will the bombs stop? When will the fighting stop? When will they stop blowing things up? When can I go home?” We don't have the answers. But we do know that that is what's needed.” 
WFP delivers food relief to more than 120 countries across the world suffering the impacts of conflicts, disasters and climate change. In this episode (recorded on 21 June 2024), Matthew Hollingworth reflects on his daily struggle to prevent famine in Gaza, on the apocalyptic scale of the destruction there, and on the morale boost he gets from working with extraordinary colleagues on the ground. 

S9-E10: Racing to prevent famine in Gaza - Matthew Hollingworth - World Food Programme (WFP)

Growing up as a refugee in Burundi, Juliette Murekeyisoni dedicated herself to helping others from an early age. In her recent role as UNHCR’s deputy representative in South Sudan, she continued to keep hope alive by encouraging refugees to focus on their education and long-term perspectives. 
“For me, every time I meet them, I tell them: “Don't lose hope, you are not going to be a refugee forever. One day you'll go home, and you can use the skills you have learned here. So, any opportunity you have, learn.”
South Sudan hosts around 330,000 refugees as well as 2 million others internally displaced due to conflict, insecurity and the impact of climate change. In this episode, Juliette Murekeyisoni reflects on improving prospects of those forced to flee, on her own traumatic experiences during the Rwandan genocide, and on a life touched by the kindness of strangers. 

AAN S9: Keeping hope alive - Juliette Murekeyisoni - UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

Mike Ryan, Executive Director of The Health Emergencies Programme for the World Health Organization (WHO), is leading the team responding to the international containment and treatment of COVID-19. He tells Melissa Fleming how he had to give up on dreams of becoming a trauma surgeon, after he broke his spine in a car crash in Iraq. He was held hostage there while working in an Iraqi hospital during the first Gulf War. That experience set him on the path that led him to the WHO, with a specialism in infectious diseases. "It was very clear to me that you were either a surgeon or a good infectious disease doctor, because that seemed to be the two things a doctor could make a difference with, in many developing country environments". 

From SARS to Ebola to Avian Flu to Covid-19, Mike Ryan has committed his life's work to fight the spread of infectious diseases. He says "The info-demic can be just as damaging as the pandemic itself, because if people aren't getting the right information, if they're not able to trust that information, and then we have a problem. There's no point having solutions to offer people if they don't hear about them, or they don't believe in them."

S3-E4: We Need to Save More Lives - Mike Ryan

This week's guest is Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Filippo is recovering from Covid-19, and says it's given him a sense of the fragility of life, especially for refugees and displaced people. Filippo says that feeling motivates him in his work, and his constant concern is to do everything possible to support those in need. 

“What keeps me awake at night in general, in this job, I think, it is the thought that I have not done everything that I could to help the people that we work with. This is what keeps me awake at night. This is what has kept me awake at night for years. Have I done everything possible, humanly possible? We don't go to sleep if we have not finished doing everything that we can do to solve the problem, to rescue a person, to allow a refugee to have access to safety, to find the solution for a group of displaced people.”

S3-E12: They Want to Go Back Home - Filippo Grandi

My guest this episode is Richard Ragan, the Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh. Richard says a sense of adventure drew him to working for the UN, and his career has taken him all over the globe - including to North Korea, and to Liberia to coordinate the emergency response to Ebola. A keen outdoor sportsman, Richard never misses the chance to surf or climb wherever he is, and he has even snowboarded through the streets of Pyongyang. Nonetheless, he says it is his responsibility to feed the hungry that keeps him awake at night. 

“I don't want one person that I'm responsible for to be hungry. And you know, that, that keeps me up at night, for sure. But the thing that scares me, probably more than anything, and, you know, there's no vaccination for it is, is climate change. You know, I think COVID is a wake-up call for all of us, it does not discriminate. It's like the waves or the mountains, it doesn't care.”

S3-E15: I get very calm in chaos - Richard Ragan

This week’s guest is Jean-Nicolas Beuze, the Representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Yemen - a country where two-thirds of the population relies on our humanitarian assistance for their daily survival. Beuze discusses the disparity between the Western world's outlook and the harsh realities most of the Yemeni people face “The Western world worries about the coronavirus. Yemen cannot even afford to worry about the coronavirus because we have malaria, chikungunya, cholera and dengue fever. All that. Plus, there is a famine.”

In a deeply personal interview about his career helping refugees and victims of torture, he describes being driven by the “denial of their human rights” and that “injustice was something I could not accept”. He also reveals fearing for the first time for his own loved ones who face the dangers of COVID-19 back home.

S3-E18: Believe in Humanity - Jean-Nicolas Beuze (UNHCR)

Website: https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaFlemingUN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelissaFleming
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissarfleming

What does it take to be a United Nations worker in some of the world’s most complex and dangerous places? How are UN humanitarians, human rights advocates, prosecutors, development experts, climate leaders and peacekeepers improving our world? Stationed in all reaches of the world and witness to suffering and atrocities, how are they helping people and coping themselves? 

To find out, Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, meets them.

Here, you will discover extraordinary personal stories from people who devote their lives to helping others.

Popular tracks by AWAKE AT NIGHT - with Melissa Fleming