Featured Stories
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 #2: Hope at the Last Mile – On Human Agency and What It Takes to Reach People Where It Matters Most
Diene Keita was born in Guinea, raised in Italy, and has spent over three decades working across some of the world’s most fragile contexts – from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti, Mauritania and beyond. Today, she leads the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), focusing on issues that shape people’s lives in fundamental ways: health, dignity, and the ability to decide what happens to your own body and your future.Â
In this episode of UNCovering Hope, Diene reflects on human agency, and on the realities that determine whether a woman survives childbirth, whether a girl can stay in school, and whether a young person has a real chance to shape what comes next.Â
We also discuss the role of youth associations and community leadership, how the United Nations is adapting to keep reaching people where it matters most, and why the way we speak about issues shapes whether they are understood, trusted, and acted on.Â
Listen in to a conversation about what hope means to Diene in today’s global landscape – and the vision that keeps her going.Â
Read more about Diene Keita and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Highlights
What does hope mean when you spend your life working at the fault lines of global inequality?Â
In episode 2 of UNCovering Hope, we speak with Diene Keita, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNFPA about human agency, dignity, and protection for all.Â
We talk about unexpected ways of reaching young people, including through capoeira, what Diene witnessed in remote regions, what it takes for support to reach people in crisis settings, and what has to come together, locally and globally, for that to happen in time.Â
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.Â
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.Â
Listen in to a conversation about delivery, accountability, and what keeps people going when progress is hard and pressure constant.
Highlights
Emergency aid saves lives. Recovery rebuilds them.Â
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.Â
Hope means reconstruction – and international support that shows up when countries can’t rebuild on their own.Â
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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