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Sean Hepburn Ferrer says his mother, Audrey Hepburn, would be deeply saddened by the state of the world today
Drawing on her work with UNICEF, he pointed to ongoing conflict, inequality and humanitarian crises as issues she cared deeply about
Ferrer also emphasized that her lifelong focus remained on protecting women and children and prioritizing compassion
Long before her legacy as a humanitarian took center stage, Audrey Hepburn was celebrated as one of Hollywood’s most beloved icons.
Yet in the later chapters of her life, she deliberately stepped away from film to devote her energy to helping others. Her work with UNICEF became not just a passion, but a defining mission. Decades after her passing, her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer continues to reflect on how deeply that work shaped his mother.
“She always talked about her UNICEF years as her second and most important career. I think all of it was very meaningful to her in the sense that she really took it seriously,” Ferrer told Woman’s World in a recent interview.
“She wasn’t just a celebrity that showed up and was given a memo. She really studied, took it seriously and prepared for her role as an ambassador the same way she prepared for her roles in film,” he added.
Audrey Hepburn with local women on her first field mission for UNICEF in Ethiopia (1988).
Credit: Derek Hudson/Getty
The Breakfast at Tiffany’s actress served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador from 1988 until 1993, traveling extensively to regions across Africa, South America and Asia to advocate for children in crisis.
According to her son, this work was not symbolic, but deeply personal. “Once you’ve taken care of your family, you can step back, look at people around you and then ultimately do something good for society,” Ferrer explained, emphasizing the philosophy that guided her later years.
Her experiences in the field left a lasting impression. Ferrer recalled how his mother described visiting war-torn communities, noting, “she always used to say when she went to Vietnam, you would go to a village, and there was the outline of the school that had been bombed out. But when there’s an outline, you can rebuild. There’s a soul there that you have to put back into the life of the village.”
Still, some places proved even more devastating. “What was very, very hard for her was places like Somalia and Sudan — there was nothing there to rebuild, so you have to start from scratch,” Ferrer told the outlet.
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Audrey Hepburn.
Credit: Roger Allen/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty
Reflecting on today’s global challenges, Ferrer believes his mother would be deeply troubled.
“I think she’d be crushed,” he said, pointing to ongoing humanitarian crises and emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, that could be misused.
Echoing his mother’s long-held beliefs, Ferrer added that society has lost sight of what truly matters, recalling how Hepburn often stressed that “we study war, but we never study peace,” and believed women and children should remain at the center of global priorities.
“When a ship is sinking, it’s women and children first,” Ferrer told Woman’s World. “Well, the ship is sinking, people. We seem to have forgotten that saying.”
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