Human rights is our strongest tool | Awake at Night

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Published Jun 22, 2024

Volker Türk has the greatest respect for those able to hold onto hope when all appears to be lost. As United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he has devoted his life and career to helping the world’s most vulnerable people.

“What has always struck me was encounters with people who are extremely resilient … who actually see hope, including in the most atrocious circumstances, and who just keep doing the right thing.”
The Office he leads works around the world to uphold human rights, speaking out against all abuses and empowering people to claim their rights. In this episode, Volker Türk reflects on holding rulebreakers to account, the strength displayed by refugees, and why the best ideas often arrive in the dead of night.

“Human rights … is the strongest tool that we have in our hands to be a voice of those who don't have power and to speak truth to those who have the power and to make sure that they understand that yes, that there are limits to power.”
For more information on Awake at Night, visit: https://www.un.org/en/awake-at-night

About Awake at Night:
Hosted by Melissa Fleming, 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.