When war comes home, with Yacoub El Hillo - Regional Director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office

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. "[Serving refugees] is not a job, it's a mission, and there's always fire in the belly that keeps you wanting to do more, but also never giving up. This is the UNHCR I joined."

You can listen to When war comes home, with Yacoub El Hillo - Regional Director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

When war comes home, with Yacoub El Hillo - Regional Director for Africa at the UN Development Coordination Office is an episode from Awake At Night by Tulin Battikhi.

This episode is 39:08 long.

This episode was published on Aug 21, 2025.

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