UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Cate Blanchett pays tribute to her fellow ambassador Emi Mahmoud who is named one of TIME’s Most Influential Rising Stars.

Those of us who know Emi Mahmoud can attest to her work’s unstoppable nature. In 2017, Emi created the first fully inclusive civilian peace talks in Sudan, lifting up the voices of women and displaced people. She then walked from El Fasher in North Darfur to Khartoum—over 1,000 km—to call for peace, capturing global attention and support. Today, she is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and the founder of the aid campaign Taharuk, as well as a poet, author, and humanitarian. Through her advocacy, Emi brings to light the plight of more than 122 million forcibly displaced people in the world as well as victims of war, genocide, and gender-­based violence. She speaks not only for her community as an Indigenous Darfuri woman, but also for all whose voices are marginalized by those in power. Amid the ongoing civil war in Sudan, there’s urgency to her work with the IDP ­Humanitarian Network to provide ­much-­needed aid to people displaced by conflict in Darfur. Through it all, Emi’s relentless courage and clarity are both a reminder of the responsibility we all have to each other, and a force to be reckoned with. I am proud to call her a friend.

Cate lent her voice for Louis Vuitton’s Spring/Summer 2026 show.