Awake At Night

Fighting for and believing in change is in Jorge Moreira da Silva's blood. Now executive director of UNOPS, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), the former Portuguese minister is helping to improve lives. From restoring roads and repairing power plants to running health centres and constructing renewable energy mini-grids, UNOPS implements projects in more than 130 countries – o...

Elpida Rouka's first name means hope in Greek, a feeling that can sometimes be elusive when serving in the most troubled places on earth. Currently a senior political affairs officer in Geneva, she is a survivor of the 2003 Baghdad Canal Hotel bombing, the deadliest attack in UN history. "First you feel the shake, and the light, and then the blast, the sound comes. I blacked out between exiting th...

Former Ghanian Foreign Minister Hanna Tetteh knows first hand the responsibility that comes from being an elected politician. Now head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, she draws on that experience as she works to get the nation onto a peaceful and democratic footing. "I have to be optimistic. Otherwise I'll stop. And I think that when you're doing this kind of job, you have to keep...

From Bangladesh to Kosovo, Syria to Sudan, Kelly Clements has spent more than 30 years helping to save lives during some of the biggest refugee and humanitarian crises in recent times. Now the outgoing Deputy High Commissioner at the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, she's making an impassioned case for a more humane world. "How can we convince those that continue to wage wars that continue to treat peo...

 Bintou Keita knows instinctively that some moments call for a more human response than words alone can offer. Once, at a ceremony to mark the end of the devastating Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, she found herself hesitating to deliver her pre-prepared statement to a grief-stricken crowd. "I have my statement, but I can't deliver [it] because there's something else I have to do before. And in th...

 A medical doctor by training, Dr. Felipe Paullier is a passionate advocate for young people. Two years ago, aged just 32, his life took a new turn when he became the first-ever Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, the youngest senior appointment in the history of the United Nations. " Leaving young people at the sidelines of how we find solutions is not the way. It's really bringing the...

 After enlisting at 18, Cheryl Pearce battled rigid gender barriers to rise through the military ranks. Now the UN's Acting Military Adviser for Peacekeeping Operations, the Australian-born Lieutenant General is the highest ranking woman in uniform within the United Nations. "Peace for me, is seeing communities having food security, having water security, education, knowing, you know, as a mum mys...

 Jean-Martin Bauer was just a teenager when a visit to his uncle's Haitian rice farm planted the seed of his life-long passion for food security. Now Director of Food Security and Nutrition Analysis at the World Food Programme (WFP) he works to feed hungry people worldwide. " Even now, even during these dark times … there are opportunities to sow seeds for a better future."  The world faces a glob...

 Former German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock is a new face at the United Nations. Sworn in as President of the General Assembly in September, she brings experience and energy at a time of challenges and new beginnings – including the selection of the next Secretary-General. "We need this place where countries, big and small, rich and poor, are coming together and have an equal say and an equa...

Filippo Grandi has devoted more than three decades to easing the suffering of refugees: "My pride after all these years is that the center of this effort of my lifetime has been on people, and especially on the people that suffer most in the world, including refugees." Now, shortly before his term comes to an end, and as more than 117 million people worldwide remain forcibly displaced, the long-se...

Every day at noon, Stéphane Dujarric steps on stage to field questions about the United Nations from international journalists. As spokesman for the Secretary-General, he must be ready to talk on all aspects of the organization's work at a time of unprecedented financial and political strain. "There is no way we can move forward in this world without multilateralism, without an organization like t...

A life-long humanitarian, Matthias Schmale has borne witness to a number of seismic moments in world history. Currently United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, he is overseeing efforts to help Ukrainians prepare for a fourth winter at war. "The longer this lasts, the more the resilience will go down, the more the psychological damage will take hold [...] There are nights w...

How does one out of five sisters from rural Nigeria grow up to be UN Deputy Secretary-General? Blessed with tenacity, determination and grit, Amina Mohammed has always been driven to improve the lives of her fellow human beings and our planet. Rising to the top of the United Nations, her vision has helped shape the world's blueprint for a brighter future. "One step at a time, this whole life is ab...

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...

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...

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 circums...

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 … th...

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...

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'...

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...

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...

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 potent...

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? The...

Carmen Corbin dreamt of serving with the United Nations from an early age. Now head of transnational organized crime, illicit trafficking and terrorism prevention programs at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in East Africa, she is dedicated to protecting children from shocking online exploitation. "We won't know who is real and who is not real. We can't keep up. All of us, in s...

Celeste Saulo has always been fascinated by the weather. Now Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), she is seeing climate breakdown warp global weather systems beyond recognition, with devastating impacts on countless lives and livelihoods. " We can see how many people are suffering…We can see that people are running out of food, are running out of water, and the real na...