Book Launch with Stephen Hill

Book Launch: In Defence of Our Humanity - Real Life as a United Nations Ambassador in a Troubled World with Stephen Hill

Stephen has called his latest book, his fifth within the last seven years, “In Defence of Our Humanity – Real Life as a United Nation Ambassador in a Troubled World”. As a Biography, the book’s story is of Stephen’s direct experience working with the United Nations for many years as Professorial Advisor, and Policy Consultant across the world, then for over a decade as full time Member of Staff – based in Indonesia and part-time in Paris, serving as United Nations Regional Director for Science for Asia and the Pacific as well as Principal Field Director and Ambassador of the United Nations Agency UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Written for the general public, ‘In Defence of Our Humanity’ is dramatic and engaging as Stephen is opening up the inside-story of his life within the United Nations, making a positive difference out in the very real troubled world of developing and volatile countries.

Listening and Trust were at the centre of his experience, and allowed Stephen with his UN Teams, amongst many other initiatives, to establish Internet for Science in North Korea, bring women into international science across Asia and the Pacific, build Media Freedom in both law and practice out of prior total censorship in Indonesia, transform Indonesia’s entire Basic Education System from centrally controlled rote learning to open, creative decentralised education for 20 million children across the whole country …. and assist recovery for Papuan Highland tribespeople, many of whom had suffered the massacre of their family and local neighbours by Indonesian military violence. Amongst other initiatives, he flew 108 pigs to replace those killed by the Indonesian military and freedom fighters … and put the program on the official UN books as “The United Nations Flying Pigs Operation.” Many of the tribal elders had never been out of the jungle before, and wanted to know what the outside world was like, so, as start of an ongoing program, Stephen and his team brought 27 of them by ship to Jakarta to see. This became a major media event, including a formal meeting with them requested by President Soeharto, and an International Press Conference Stephen led where the tribal chiefs wished to dress formally and then greeted the world media naked except for their penis gourds. 

It was not always a quiet life. Stephen had to handle the negotiations and aftermath of two of his own UN staff (plus from WWF and a student group from Cambridge University) taken hostage in 1996 for five months by freedom fighters into the jungles of West Papua; the May 1998 Revolution in Indonesia where he had to escape his house at 2.00am through mobs and fires while his own security staff had changed into civilian clothes and run off down the street to escape,  then evacuate everyone else, but stay to report to the UN Security Council and liaise with the incoming Transition Government. In the early 2000s Stephen needed to escape Indonesia, under UN Security instruction, from the terrorist organisation, Abu Sayyaf from Mindanao, the Southern Philippines, when they sent a Hit Squad down through Manado and across Sulawesi towards Jakarta to assassinate him in Jakarta because of his collaborative work throughout Mindanao’s previous fundamentalist Islamic conflict zones, amongst other things, bringing literacy to 7,000 villagers, mainly women, building nine radio stations with community support across religious lines, and introducing basic education into Islamic Schools previously teaching only the Koran and Arabic.

Stephen’s “In Defence of Our Humanity” book captures all, and more, of this rather exciting life but delivers a message from direct experience – the Power of Community and Cultural Empowerment in successful United Nations Action to bring positive change into the world.

There will also be an opportunity to buy the book and have it signed by the author. Pre-order available at Unishop

The author - Stephen Hill

Stephen Hill is a polymath, qualified at research level and experienced in both natural and social science, and Professor of Sociology at age 30, now Emeritus Professor. He has published prolifically across a broad field from global economics to dynamics and values of humanity and social change, and including over twenty individually or jointly authored books . His published books already deal with real-life adventures, eg: “Captives for Freedom”, the personal story of dealing with the abduction into the jungles of West Papua of two of Stephen’s UN staff plus aftermath. He was invited to Launch his latest previous book “Cultivating Compassion – Going Beyond Crises” last December (2023) in the Headquarters Humanistic Buddhism Monastery in Taiwan, and, back in Australia is now committed to presenting many popular talks on current issues to community groups. He tells a good story.

Speakers

Chairman
Gordon Bradbery, Lord Mayor, Wollongong

Keynote Launch Speaker
Hugh Mackay, Author

Additional Speaker
John Hatton, Corruption Fighter and ex-Politician

Commissioning Editor
Juno Kawakami

Author
Stephen Hill