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Stories of hope from around the world

UNCovering Hope

UN City Podcast

At a time when it can feel hard to see where hope fits in among the many headlines we’re faced with, the UNCovering Hope podcast is about slowing down for honest conversations. We ask people inside the United Nations – who spend their days trying to make cooperation work – about the real, practical ways cooperation can lead to meaningful change in people’s everyday lives.

About what actually fuels progress. About the moments where hope leaves the realm of idealism and becomes a reason to keep going.

Episode #1: Hope in Practice When Progress is Hard – From Promises to Delivery

Jorge Moreira da Silva was 17 when he helped organise a grassroots campaign against pollution near his school in Portugal. Today, he leads the global operations of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), working in some of the world’s most fragile and conflict-affected places. 

In the first episode of UNCovering Hope, Jorge reflects on what it takes to keep building, repairing, and showing up when systems fail, progress is slow, expectations are high, and conditions are dangerous. Drawing on years of climate negotiations and hands-on infrastructure work, he speaks candidly about accountability at climate conferences, operating in places like Gaza and Afghanistan, and why solidarity across countries is not merely a moral imperative but a matter of global security. 

Listen in to a conversation about delivery, accountability, and what keeps people going when progress is hard and pressure constant.

Read more about Jorge Moreira da Silva and UNOPS.

Highlights

Emergency aid saves lives. Recovery rebuilds them. 

When war, climate shocks, and hunger overlap, people don’t just need tents and food. They need their schools back. Their jobs. Their homes. They need to rebuild their lives. 

Hope means reconstruction – and international support that shows up when countries can’t rebuild on their own. 

In Episode #1 of UNCovering Hope, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNOPS, Jorge Moreira da Silva, reflects on recovery, reconstruction, and solidarity beyond moral imperatives.

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