Citizen of the World: Soon-Young and the UN

From North Korean Refugee to the United Nations: A Courageous and Compassionate Memoir

Soon-Young Yoon understood from an early age that people's destinies are connected to international events. This book is a collection of her reflections as a women's human rights advocate speaking up to end violence against women and change the world to ensure gender equality, sustainable development, and peace.

Yoon has seen the struggle for human rights in all corners of the world, meeting with people in urban slums and the offices of the United Nations. She urges us to look at the world through women's eyes to understand why gender equality and women's empowerment, particularly for the poorest and most vulnerable populations, is essential to our collective good.

In Citizen of the World, you'll be inspired by Yoon's stories on

Ending violence against women and girls

Finding the Earth's balance

Claiming the right to social and economic development

Portraits of great women leaders

Collective voices that are changing the world

Challenges working as a feminist anthropologist inside and outside the United Nations

Written through the lens of an anthropologist, these essays reflect her belief that one needs to understand a wide range of issues to shape our common future.

Students, academics, and activists in the fields of women's studies, international relations, anthropology, and social justice will find Citizen of the World both unique and eye-opening—and filled with hope for a better future for us all.