Arvind Kumar – When communication becomes responsibility

Early in his career, Arvind Kumar struggled with language.

Moving from a small town to a larger professional setting, he realised how much influence communication carries — not only as a technical skill, but as access to opportunity and confidence. An army officer once told him: fear remains until you face it. For Arvind, that meant learning to speak, to listen, and to bridge differences across cultures and contexts.

Later, working in frontline humanitarian settings, another moment deepened that insight. In an IDP camp, he met an eleven-year-old girl caring for her siblings while continuing her schooling. Her resilience reframed his own sense of challenge. Problems could be faced differently. Perspective mattered.

A third experience came while supporting women-led solar initiatives in Yemen. Innovation succeeded not because it was well designed on paper, but because communication created trust and ownership across humanitarian and development actors.

In this episode, Arvind reflects on how communication is not simply about conveying information. It is about connecting community realities to institutional decision-making, and bridging humanitarian and development approaches in fragile settings.

When language fails to translate lived experience into institutional action, trust weakens. Arvind’s moment shows how responsibility grows when communication becomes a form of accountability.

Lucija Popovska – When what seemed unthinkable becomes real

Growing up in Yugoslavia, Lucija Popovska did not believe the country could fall apart in the way it eventually did. Political tensions were visible, but they felt distant. The foundations of shared life — rights, norms, coexistence — were assumed to hold.

That assumption collapsed when violence became real.

Working at the border between Kosovo and North Macedonia during mass displacement, Lucija witnessed hundreds of thousands of people stranded between states. Governments debated procedures while families stood without shelter, sanitation, or safety. Systems that were meant to protect people proved fragile under pressure.

What struck her was not only the scale of suffering, but how quickly what seemed stable could unravel.

Years later, in a very different setting in Lesotho, another moment stayed with her. In a village marked by loss and hardship, she sat with children who began playing with her long hair, laughing and inventing games. Amid vulnerability and uncertainty, a simple human connection persisted.

In this episode, Lucija reflects on how witnessing both collapse and humanity reshaped her understanding of responsibility.

When values we assume to be stable prove vulnerable, leadership shifts from implementing solutions to defending the conditions that make shared life possible. Lucija’s moment shows that responsibility begins with vigilance — and with recognising how easily exclusion can become normalised if left unchallenged.

Luis Francisco Thais – When creating space becomes the responsible act

Over the course of his career, Luis Francisco Thais noticed a recurring pattern.

Capable and motivated people often had ideas, energy, and solutions of their own. Yet institutional processes, even when well-intentioned, sometimes left little room for those voices to shape outcomes.

What shifted for him was not his commitment to development, but his understanding of responsibility within it.

Acting responsibly no longer meant primarily designing stronger interventions or moving more efficiently. It meant paying attention to when action begins to crowd out agency rather than enable it.

This did not imply stepping back from structural work. Barriers to education, health, and basic services remain real and demand active engagement. But once those conditions are in place, responsibility changes. Leadership becomes less about steering results and more about creating space for others to define and pursue them.

In this episode, Luis reflects on how creating space — internally within teams and externally within communities — reshaped his approach to leadership.

When institutional action begins to replace rather than release local agency, legitimacy thins. Luis’ moment shows how responsibility shifts from directing outcomes to enabling others to own them.

Devanand Ramiah – When institutional promises meet their limits

As a young UN volunteer in Timor-Leste, Devanand Ramiah stood before communities preparing for a referendum and reassured them that the United Nations would remain present to protect them.

When violence erupted, international staff were evacuated.

The promise, though institutionally made and sincerely conveyed, could not be kept.

That moment stayed with him. It reshaped how he understood responsibility, trust, and the weight of representing an institution in fragile contexts.

Later in his career, another influence reinforced this shift. Working with a senior leader who modelled empathy and accountability, Devanand saw that authority is not only about mandate, but about how one carries responsibility toward others.

In this episode, he reflects on what it means to lead when institutional commitments meet uncertain realities.

When institutions cannot fully shield those they serve, credibility rests not on certainty, but on how leaders respond after trust is tested. Devanand’s moment shows how responsibility deepens when promises prove fragile.

Armen Grigoryan – When preparedness becomes a responsibility, not an afterthought

As a young volunteer during the 1988 earthquake in Armenia, Armen Grigoryan witnessed something that stayed with him.

International assistance arrived, but it was uneven and poorly coordinated. Local systems were overwhelmed. Even foreign aid, though well-intentioned, was not organised to meet the scale of the disaster.

What struck him was not only the devastation, but the lack of preparedness at every level.

That experience reshaped his career. Armen went on to study disaster management and conflict resolution and spent decades working to strengthen national systems for crisis response.

In this episode, he reflects on how early exposure to uncoordinated aid changed his understanding of responsibility in fragile contexts.

When crisis response depends on improvisation rather than preparedness, the cost is paid by those already affected. Armen’s moment shows what happens when readiness becomes an ethical obligation rather than a technical afterthought.

Jan Thomas Hiemstra – When “how” becomes as important as “what”.

Early in his career at UNDP, Jan Thomas Hiemstra noticed something uncomfortable.

In crisis settings, the organisation was strong on designing programmes. The “what” was clear. Employment schemes, reconstruction plans, recovery frameworks. But when it came to implementation, the “how” often fell short.

Country offices were expected to deliver in fragile environments without the systems, surge capacity, or operational support to do so.

What began as a small internal observation became a defining shift in his career. Jan Thomas realised that credibility in crisis work does not rest on good ideas alone, but on the ability to deliver them reliably.

In this episode, he reflects on how focusing on the “how” reshaped his understanding of responsibility, legitimacy, and impact.

When strong intentions are not matched by operational readiness, trust erodes quietly. Jan Thomas’ moment shows what happens when preparedness becomes a responsibility rather than an afterthought.