Today, Tomorrow and a Forgotten Story of Sudan
Gwi -Yeop Son is the Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia at the United Nations Development Coordination Office. Ms. Son has 26 years of diverse international development experience, during which she has remained focused on those left furthest behind and has continuously leveraged humanitarian-peace-development nexus practice, organizational and technological innovation and strategic partnerships. Most recently, Ms. Son completed a two-year assignment as the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and Designated Official in July 2020 in Sudan. During this period, Ms. Son supported three simultaneous transitions: the transition from the 30-year dictatorship to a people-led democracy, the transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding in the conflict-affected region of Darfur, and the transition from humanitarian-centered UN action to SDG-centered sustainable development as underscored by the humanitarian-peace-development nexus. Ms. Son was instrumental in organizing the Berlin Partnership Conference that mobilized over USD 1.8 billion for Sudan, reversing the funding trend from humanitarian to development, contributing to political and socio-economic stability while protecting the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable. Co-sponsored with the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights and the Athenaeum.

In her talk, Ms. Son will discuss how today’s polarized geopolitical landscape requires the youth to be the torchbearer for shaping the future we want. She will examine this through the lens of Sudan, studying how the people’s revolution with the youth at the center toppled the 30-year Bashir dictatorship in 2019; explore the root causes of today’s catastrophic crisis; and discuss Sudan’s future and what can be done. How does the interconnectedness of the world mean that what happens in Sudan (and other countries around the world) is in fact our collective affair? Ultimately, it is up to the youth and to all the generations to bring about peace, justice, equality and solidarity. Co-sponsored with the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights and the Athenaeum.

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Location: CMC Athenaeum