When war comes home, with Yacoub El Hillo | Regional Director for Africa at UN DCO | 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 devastating as the one currently decimating Sudan.
In this episode, he reflects on the scale of the human suffering there, looks back on a rich and varied career with the UN, and shares why all nations deserve a chance to strive for a brighter future.
[00:00] Introduction
[01:21] A war like no other
[06:04] When war comes home
[11:21] His family’s flight to safety
[15:27] What’s left behind
[16:28] What keeps Yacoub awake at night
[17:36] Holding onto hope
[19:08] Returning to serve after retirement
[21:23] Yacoub’s starting point
[23:54] A mission, not a job
[24:50] Liberia’s transformation
[27:26] Darkest days in Syria
[30:38] Taking risks to save lives
[32:45] His hopes for Syria’s future
[33:59] Family and sacrifice
[37:36] Closing remarks
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About Awake at Night
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, UN Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications, the podcast ‘Awake at Night’ is an in-depth interview series focusing on remarkable United Nations staff members who dedicate their career to helping people in parts of the world where they have the hardest lives – from war zones and displacement camps to areas hit by disasters and the devastation of climate change.
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