Everybody has Purpose - Amy Pope - Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Release Date: 06/13/2024
A ray of hope for cancer patients, with Dr. May Abdel-Wahab - Director of the Division of Human Health at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Awake At Night
Whenever a new cancer patient entered her office in the U.S., Dr. May Abdel-Wahab knew she could help by palliating their pain and working towards a cure. Now, as Director of the Division of Human Health at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), she delivers hope to patients in places where treatment has until now been unavailable. “So much can be done to treat cancer, but too many people in the developing world have no access to care. It's unthinkable. It's unfair.” With global cancer cases expected to mount in the next two decades, the IAEA is equipping low- and middle income...
info_outline
Nothing keeps me awake, everything keeps me going, with Peter Hawkins - UNICEF Representative in Yemen
Awake At Night
Every day, Peter Hawkins wakes up filled with determination to make a difference. As the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Yemen, he puts that boundless energy into helping young people survive one of the world’s most intractable humanitarian crises. “Despite serving in some of the most challenging and difficult places, I've been lucky,” he says. “I've loved my life. I have no regrets. Every day I wake up, I feel there's something I can do. There's things I enjoy. So nothing keeps me awake, everything keeps me going during the day.” After a decade of...
info_outline
Working for peace in the DR Congo, with Vivian van de Perre - Deputy head of peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
Awake At Night
Vivian van de Perre’s calling is to help nations transition from conflict to peace. Now the deputy head of peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), she leads a life-saving operation in the rebel-held city of Goma. “It's tragic and it's unimaginable, but at the same time, people live their lives and they do the best they can, and they remain generous and warm, despite the circumstances that they live in. You go to these places and you see the worst and you see the best, and it's all in one package, and it is just something that really, really touches you. It's not like a...
info_outline
When war comes home, with Yacoub El Hillo - Regional Director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office
Awake At Night
Yacoub El Hillo spent more than thirty years serving refugees and displaced people in some of the world’s worst conflict zones. But when cataclysmic war erupted in his hometown of Khartoum, Sudan, the Regional Director for Africa at the United Nations Development Coordination Office (DCO) had to help his own family flee the violence. “I don't think there's any home in Khartoum that was spared … the assumption is that everything is gone.” Having served in more than 16 duty stations, from Liberia to Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan, Yacoub El Hillo has rarely seen any conflict as...
info_outline
Why I’ll always champion Afghan women, with Georgette Gagnon - the UN Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan
Awake At Night
With her background in human rights law, Georgette Gagnon was once said to represent the conscience of war. Currently serving as the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, she has been devastated by the sweeping loss of rights for women and girls there. “You used to see across the country hundreds of girls going to school... Now, of course, you don't see that, and it's heartbreaking. It's such a huge loss for the entire society,” she says. Afghanistan has one of the highest numbers of people in need of humanitarian support, and drastic cuts to...
info_outline
Do not take Democracy for granted, with Nicholas Haysom - Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan and Head of UNMISS
Awake At Night
As a young white activist in South Africa, Nicholas Haysom risked detention to oppose the apartheid regime, later working alongside Nelson Mandela. Now Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan and Head of the United Nations Mission there, he is still striving tirelessly in pursuit of peace and human rights. “The lesson of [Nelson] Mandela is not just being a nice person, it's perseverance in your ideals. It'll change the world.” After a long and varied career, Nicholas (Fink) Haysom is supporting recovery and resilience in South Sudan, the UN’s newest member...
info_outline
What next for Syria’s refugees, with Gonzalo Vargas Llosa - UNHCR Representative to Syria
Awake At Night
Rather than follow in the footsteps of his late father, a Nobel-prize winning writer, Gonzalo Vargas Llosa opted instead to serve humanity. Now the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ Representative to Syria, he just witnessed a historic end to 14 years of conflict and crisis. “There were these long, long lines of cars of Syrian refugees coming back from Lebanon. So many of them stopped the car the moment that they entered Syria, they got out of the car, they kissed the ground … saying we are so happy to be back in this new Syria.” The fall of the Assad regime has brought fresh...
info_outline
Season 11
Awake At Night
Our troubled world can be a source of great joy, and great suffering. United Nations staff witness both, day in day out, as they serve humanity in some of the toughest places on earth. They do so at considerable risk, and with shrinking resources. Yet despite all the challenges, dedicated UN staff around the world continue to find the strength to keep making a difference to millions of lives. Join UN chief communicator Melissa Fleming as she gets to know the extraordinary people dedicating their lives to service. Coming soon from the United Nations, Season 11 of Awake at Night.
info_outline
Women’s rights are human rights, with Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda - ASG and Deputy Exec. Director of UN Women
Awake At Night
Having grown up in war-torn rural Zimbabwe, Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda overcame extreme hardship to pursue a career at the highest levels of the United Nations. Now UN Assistant Secretary-General, and one of two deputy executive directors of UN Women, she wants little girls everywhere to aspire to the same heights. “Peace is a prerequisite. It's so critical for development… for unleashing the potential of the little girls. Peace is so important for enabling mothers, widows to give the best they can.” UN Women works to uphold women’s human rights and ensure that every woman and girl...
info_outline
Protecting children in crisis, with Catherine Russell - Executive Director of UNICEF
Awake At Night
Catherine Russell never forgets the children she meets. As Executive Director of UNICEF, she bears witness to the stories of tens of millions of children and young people suffering around the world, and shares causes for optimism and hope wherever she finds it. “Children just want to be children. No matter what, the bleakest situation, the most terrible things, they still want to play right? They want to find some joy. They want to just be kids, and I think that's what we have to all work to protect.” 2024 was one of the worst years on record for children in conflict, a...
info_outlineAmy 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.”