‘Everyone in Gaza is exhausted’ | First Person
Our First Person narratives dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges. In this episode, Mahmoud Shalabi describes the difficult reality of life in his home, Beit Lahia. When the Israeli military issued orders last October for 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate their homes in the north of Gaza, Shalabi refused to leave. “I believed that remaining in my home would be a form of resistance,” he says. Now, nearly 11 months later, the Deputy Director for programs for the UK-based NGO, Medical Aid for Palestinians, explains why he is ‘exhausted’. The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and disaster – placing them at the centre of the conversations about the policies and events that shape their lives. Find more first-person stories at TheNewHumanitarian.org.
8 Aug 202413min
Water ‘stress’ affects every aspect of life in Warawa, Nigeria | First Person
Our First Person narratives aim to dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges. In this episode, Yusuf Sa’adu, a shopkeeper in Warawa in Nigeria’s Kano state, points out that “whoever has abundant water has wealth”. He shares how water scarcity made him lose out on education and still impacts personal relationships. “If you are experiencing water stress, you will not be able to do a lot of things”, Yusuf explains. The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and disaster – placing them at the centre of the conversations about the policies and events that shape their lives. Find more first-person stories at TheNewHumanitarian.org.
1 Aug 20247min
Peace in Gaza | What’s Unsaid (REPLAY)
*This episode was originally published on November 9, 2023. Palestinian peace activist Nivine Sandouka discusses the difficult way forward for building trust between Israelis and Palestinians. Hosted by Irwin Loy. What’s Unsaid is a bi-weekly podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around the world’s conflicts and disasters.
25 Jul 202423min
A Syrian reminder: The ones you once saw suffering, still are | First Person
Iyad Agha, a Syrian now living in Germany, has been working on his country's humanitarian crisis for nearly a decade. The United Nations itself recently said that “Syria is in danger of being forgotten”, while noting that the country is facing the highest levels of humanitarian need since the start of its 13-year war. Some 7.2 million people have been forcibly displaced inside the country, and another 5.1 million are refugees in neighbouring countries. Türkiye is host to 3.3 million refugees who are increasingly subjected to harassment, not to mention arbitrary arrest, detention, and deportation by authorities. In this First Person account, he narrates his experiences as an aid worker in Türkiye, and laments how many times Syrians have had to rebuild their lives. The continuing conflict in Syria is featured in The New Humanitarian’s annual list of ten crises that demand your attention now, which highlights places in the world where needs are rising, aid budgets have been cut or are insufficient, and where people feel forgotten by the international community. Over the coming months, our First Person series will feature aid workers and people affected by the crises on this year’s list.
18 Jul 202413min
The preventable trauma of humanitarians | What’s Unsaid (REPLAY)
*This episode was originally published on September 27, 2023. Aid worker and psychologist Imogen Wall tells host Ali Latifi that the way humanitarian organisations are run, can do as much damage to aid workers' mental health as being confronted with war, hunger, and rights abuses. What’s Unsaid is a bi-weekly podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable truths around the world’s conflicts and disasters.
11 Jul 202430min
The stories humanitarians tell (and why they need to change) | Rethinking Humanitarianism
When crises hit, a host of questions arise, among them: Who needs humanitarian aid? How much? Who delivers it? And who has the power to make all of those decisions? How aid agencies and the media choose to frame this information doesn’t always help. For the last year, researchers at ODI’s Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) have been trying to understand narratives and the role they play in humanitarian response and policy. What they’re finding so far is that human stories are more powerful than data when it comes to influencing change in the sector, and yet humanitarians don’t take their role as storytellers seriously enough. In this bonus episode, we get a snapshot of HPG’s ongoing exploration of humanitarian narratives from one of its main researchers, and we bring together a local organisation founder, a researcher, and a journalist to discuss the power humanitarians have to shape the stories that affect crisis response. Guests: John Bryant, research fellow at ODI’s Humanitarian Policy Group; Leen Fouad, research officer at ODI’s Humanitarian Policy Group; Mohamed Ali Diini, founder of Iftiin Foundation and chair of the Shaqo Platform; Patrick Gathara, senior editor for inclusive storytelling at The New Humanitarian. ____ SHOW NOTES Understanding the role of narratives in humanitarian policy change | ODI Change without transformation: how narratives influenced the humanitarian cash agenda | ODI What is a humanitarian crisis, really? | Rethinking Humanitarianism Gaza: a litmus test for the humanitarian sector’s commitment to decolonisation? | ODI How do you break the mould around international aid? Try genuine trust ____ Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or have your say on Twitter using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.
4 Jul 20241h
Who can the Rohingya rely on? | What’s Unsaid
Exiled from a country plagued by decades of civil war, allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and limits on basic democratic rights, Maung Zarni, an academic, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace prize nominee, explains why the Rohingya cannot rely on protection from within the country. “I'm Burmese myself,” he tells host Ali Latifi. “We have proven incapable of maintaining peace and stability in our own country for the last 75 years”. What’s Unsaid is a bi-weekly podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around the world’s conflicts and disasters.
27 Jun 202425min
Faith as a way forward | What’s Unsaid
Viewed from Western aid capitals, the international humanitarian system is overwhelmingly secular. But for much of the rest of the world, people’s lived realities are very different. As Amjad Mohamed Saleem, a development and peacebuilding entrepreneur tells host Obi Anyadike, being a person of faith in the aid industry is a “dynamic struggle”. What’s Unsaid is a bi-weekly podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around the world’s conflicts and disasters.
20 Jun 202424min
