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Do failed states really affect us all? | Judy Cheng-Hopkins | TEDxPenangRoad

2,376 views · Published 25 July 2017 · 18:23 · Indexed 23 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2017 · Nonprofits & Activism

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"The world we live in today is a much more dangerous place that it ever was." It may be a hard pill to swallo, but it nevertheless paints the ugly truth of what is happening around us. Failed states have a greater impact on us that we may realise. How does a country go from a proper functioning country to a failed state? Shockingly, the characteristics of a failed state is more common place than we would hope. In such fragile situations, what can be done to help recover from that and most importantly, what can we, as a collective do to help the people that are suffering under these conditions.

After a career of 36 years at the UN, Ms Cheng-Hopkins is currently an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Her UN career covered diverse fields of work: development, humanitarian, refugees and peacebuilding. She was Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding from 2009-2014, with the responsibility to build up the organization responsible for bringing the UN's new peacebuilding "architecture" to life.
Prior to that, Ms. Cheng-Hopkins was the UN’s Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, in Geneva, from 2006 to 2009. She served as the Director of the World Food Programme’s Office in New York and as Director for Asia and Eastern Europe, based in Rome for close to 10 years. Prior to that, she served UNDP in Africa for 10 years in Zambia and Kenya (1982-92). She was also UNDP's Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa. Ms. Cheng-Hopkins received a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (1978).
In 2011, Forbes named her one of the 10 most powerful women in the UN and in 2013, she received Columbia University's (SIPA) Global Leadership Award. She was Chair of the Conflict Prevention Council at the World Economic Forum, Davos in 2012.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

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