<\/p>\n
Msuya, from Tanzania, has spent the past four years as Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Msuya said service to humanity had been the defining experience of the role.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Msuya said joining OCHA six days before the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 had coincided with a period of mounting global crisis. Msuya said the years that followed brought three major wars, Ukraine, Gaza and, more recently, Iran, creating both a humbling experience and a deeper understanding of the contribution made by the UN, humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organisations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Msuya also said serving in the role as someone from the Global South had carried significance as a platform, while also offering an opportunity to open doors for others.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Among the encounters that remained most vivid, Msuya recalled meeting a mother of four in an internally displaced camp in northern Yemen. Msuya said the woman, who had lived through repeated displacement because of war, still spoke with kindness and generosity despite severe hardship. Msuya said the woman\u2019s hopes for peace, education and stability for children closely reflected Msuya\u2019s own hopes, reinforcing a belief that people share more in common than in difference.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Msuya also reflected on more than 40 briefings to the UN Security Council, describing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as the most difficult subject to address. Msuya said advocacy for humanitarian access had taken place in a context of division among major powers, while humanitarian workers and OCHA staff continued operating despite deaths, family loss and separation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Msuya said a lack of respect for international humanitarian law had remained a major concern, although support for humanitarian work across the multilateral system had offered hope.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Engagements with students in nearly 20 meetings across different countries also shaped Msuya\u2019s outlook. Msuya said students often asked difficult questions about the UN response to conflict, including inconsistencies in public positions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Msuya said such exchanges created opportunities for open discussion, while also highlighting the need to help young people distinguish between fact and misinformation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In a final message, Msuya urged support for multilateralism, service to displaced people and continued backing for the United Nations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35842,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-35841","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Veteran Humanitarian Joyce Msuya has reflected on a career in global service ahead of departure from the United Nations (UN) at the end of the month, describing the role as \u201cthe privilege of a lifetime\u201d.","published_date":"","news_description":"Veteran Humanitarian Joyce Msuya has reflected on a career in global service ahead of departure from the United Nations (UN) at the end of the month, describing the role as \u201cthe privilege of a lifetime\u201d.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35851,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35841\/revisions\/35851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}