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El 3 de noviembre de 2023, tuve el placer de participar en un intercambio en la Oficina de las Naciones Unidas en Ginebra con Guy Ryder, Secretario...

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On 3 November 2023, I had the pleasure of joining an exchange at the United Nations Office in Geneva with Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General...

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The 22nd annual BEN-Africa (Business Ethics Network of Africa) conference was held in Gqeberha, South Africa from 1-3 November 2023. The...

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Globethics is welcoming a new cohort of executives and a broader-interested audience of individuals from around the globe in this second semester....

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Manifold opportunities for cooperation and substantial interest in Globethics: This was a major impression during my two weeks in China in...

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Innovation for a more sustainable world depends to a substantial extent on fostering talents. During my academic work in China as a visiting...

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¿Qué es la innovación?La innovación es la principal forma que tienen las economías para crecer de manera estable y es una de las fuentes...

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Las sequías han demostrado ser una de las mayores amenazas para el desarrollo sostenible en todo el mundo, afectando a países en desarrollo y, cada...

null Restorative Hope and Ethical Leadership in Times of Natural Catastrophes

Aya – A sign of hope. Aya, Arabic for “a sign from God,” is the name of a Syrian baby girl, whose mother died after giving birth to her amidst the ruins of their home in Jenderis during the recent earthquakes. She appears to be just this sign of hope in dark times, for her surviving family, for her affected community, and for the world witnessing this catastrophe from afar. Not a symbol of hope that denies or glosses over the devastating losses, destruction and cries of despair, but a sign of hope for restoration. Hope that is nourished by the indestructible dignity and willpower of the most affected to rebuild what has literally been shaken to the ground, and to actively participate in the process of restoration and healing.  

Aya’s tragic birth reminds us not only of the vulnerability and giftedness of all life, but also of the responsibility and mutual care we are called to exhibit in protecting it, even under adverse circumstances. Ethical leadership represents such a life-preserving ethos. It is not an inward-looking, isolating attitude, but rather the cultivation of values that uphold the humanity in each individual and the interrelatedness of all humans with the living world. The praxis of such an ethical leadership, however, cannot be prescribed. The situations, locations, experiences, and even our worldviews may vary, but the responses culminate in the common desire to uplift the humane and the integrity of all life so that present and future generations can live.

What would otherwise remain abstract, becomes a lived reality in the example of Aya’s great-uncle, who is taking her into his family, currently living under a tent having lost their home. He may be perceived as such an ethical leader – not triumphant and overbearing – but humble and determined, marked by the thousands of deaths around him, and yet responsible and care-giving to Aya, and thereby modelling an outlook on the world and a behaviour that radiates far beyond Syria.      

A tender story of hope for restoration amidst destruction and an inspirational story of ethical leadership. Life continues amidst all brokenness and can be rebuilt in a restorative, life-affirming and values-driven perspective.

Amélé Adamavi-Aho Ekué
Academic Dean