Awake At Night United Nations, Melissa Fleming

My guest is Richard Ragan, the Country Director of the World Food Programme 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 for the emergency response to Ebola. A keen outdoor sportsman, Richard never misses the chance to surf or climb, and has even snowboarded through Pyongyang. Nonetheless, he says it is his responsibility to feed the hungry that keeps him awake at night.

This week’s guest is Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait, which delivers education in humanitarian crises through funding investments for UN agencies and civil society organizations. Yasmine describes herself as a pragmatic idealist, who was taught by her mother not to look for success in life, but to seek to serve. Before her current role Yasmine worked for UNHCR resettling refugees. She says that her mission now is crucial to helping people overcome crises and rebuild their lives.

This week's guest is Martin Griffiths, the Secretary General's Special Envoy for Yemen, a country that’s been devastated by civil war. Martin’s job is to try to keep open routes to negotiation between the warring parties. He speaks candidly about his struggles with depression, the mental toll humanitarian work can have, and the importance of empathy when mediating between sides in a conflict. "The job of a mediator, I think, is to infuse hope into people, to say there can be a solution to this."

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.

Funmi Balogun is the head of Humanitarian Action at UN Women, supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable women and girls - people who are displaced or refugees. She works to make sure that the humanitarian response does not perpetuate gender inequality. Funmi's upbringing in Nigeria spurred her to fight against gender inequality - it’s something she has experienced in her own community. The rolling back of rights for women across the globe in recent years keeps Funmi awake at night.

Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, is working to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person's potential is fulfilled.

“You really see… how important it is to have peace in the home and the ability for girl child in particular to be able to scream at the top of her lungs if she feels that something wrong is happening to her.”