Even before Israel’s current siege, 80% of Gazans relied on international humanitarian aid for survival, according to the UN . But under international law, it’s the occupying power’s responsibility to provide food, shelter, medicine, and other essential needs. Have aid agencies historically let Israel off the hook by failing to challenge the very thing that creates the need for aid in the first place: Israel’s occupation? And if decades of humanitarian response in the region have failed Palestin...
Nov 16, 2023•59 min•Season 4Ep. 3
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.
Nov 09, 2023•23 min
An anonymous aid worker reflects on their time in Palestine as they watch Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza and the escalating violence in the West Bank. Today's First Person essay is read out by The New Humanitarian's Elise Campbell-Bates. 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 stori...
Nov 02, 2023•16 min
Palestinian-American writer and journalist Mariam Barghouti joins host Ali Latifi to discuss how both mainstream media and aid policy help muffle Palestinian perspectives. 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.
Oct 24, 2023•28 min
It has been six months since a military conflict in Sudan began claiming thousands of lives and triggered, according to the UN, the world’s fastest growing displacement crisis. As international NGOs and the UN struggle to access certain areas, decentralised mutual aid networks – known as emergency response rooms (ERRs) – have stepped in to fill the vacuum. In acknowledgement of this reality, donors, international NGOs and UN agencies are trying to shift their programmes to support these local vo...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Conflict analyst Hisham Al-Omeisy joins host Irwin Loy to explain how war has become a profitable business in Yemen, even as millions of Yemenis struggle. 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.
Oct 12, 2023•26 min
What’s Unsaid is our new bi-weekly podcast exploring the open secrets and uncomfortable truths that often surround the world’s conflicts and disasters, hosted by staff editors Irwin Loy and Ali Latifi. A podcast by The New Humanitarian .
Oct 05, 2023•1 min
Menaal Munshey shares how dubious blasphemy accusations in Pakistan make people feel unsafe and lead to vigilante violence. Today's First Person essay is written and read out by Menaal Munshey. The New Humanitaria n 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 on TheNewHumanitarian.org...
Oct 05, 2023•13 min
Aid worker and psychologist Imogen Wall joins host Ali Latifi to discuss how 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....
Sep 28, 2023•31 min
What is a humanitarian crisis, as it’s commonly understood? What’s the historical weight of that term? What happens if we change our common understanding of it? It may seem like a game of semantics, but the answers to those questions are more consequential than we may realise, because they reveal something deeper about who we believe will perpetually be an underclass, what’s deserving of an urgent reaction, and who we see as capable of providing humanitarian assistance. These are questions Patri...
Sep 21, 2023•47 min•Season 4Ep. 1
The UN overstates its claims of climate neutrality and purchases junk carbon credits that do little to cut emissions. This is revealed in a new investigation by The New Humanitarian and Mongabay . Investigations reporter Jacob Goldberg explains why the UN’s climate neutrality claims are problematic, how the investigation evolved, and what the next steps for the UN may be. What’s Unsaid is a bi-weekly podcast that explores the open secrets and uncomfortable truths that surround the world’s confli...
Sep 14, 2023•26 min
If the aim is to see real change in Afghanistan, shouldn’t the Taliban be included in the conversation? In this first episode of What’s Unsaid, we speak to Afghan human rights defender Madina Mahbobi, who says it’s time for the international community to start listening to local voices like hers that are calling for increased engagement with the Taliban. Despite being roundly condemned after making this unpopular case on a recent UN panel, Mahbobi is adamant that people like her must not be dete...
Aug 31, 2023•23 min
Laura, a Colombian refugee living in Ecuador explains why narratives around migration in Latin America need to change. In her essay , Laura shares her experience of how people displaced within Latin America are overlooked as the dominant media narrative is about those heading north for the United States. In order to protect their security, the author uses a pseudonym, Laura, and her essay is read out by The New Humanitarian’s Sofia Kuan. The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugee...
Aug 23, 2023•9 min
A refugee in Malawi shares how their treatment makes them worry about their security and feel like they don’t belong. Today’s essay was written by a refugee living in Malawi. In order to protect their security, the author’s name is not public. Therefore, their essay is read out by The New Humanitarian’s Senior Editor for Inclusive Storytelling, Patrick Gathara. The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by conflict and disaster - placing them...
Aug 09, 2023•8 min
Matai Muon shares how policies suppress the economic potential of refugees, which forces many into a situation of dependency instead of allowing them to contribute to the societies they’re currently living in. Today’s essay was written and read out by Matai Muon. He is a South Sudanese refugee. Although he is currently studying in the United Kingdom, this essay was recorded from his home country of South Sudan where he is conducting research. The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of re...
Jul 26, 2023•8 min
San Thai Shin is a Rohingya researcher and volunteer teacher in a refugee camp in Bangladesh. In his essay , San looks at how restrictive policies suppress refugees’ economic potential, forcing many into a situation of dependency rather than allowing them to contribute to the societies they live in. 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 even...
Jul 12, 2023•9 min
Hala al-Karib shares how the days unfolded when the violence started in Sudan, and what some of the root causes are according to her, including the failings of the international community. Today’s essay was written and read out by Hala al-Karib. She is the regional director of SIHA - the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa. 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...
Jun 28, 2023•14 min
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. Today’s essay was written and read out by Liban Mahamad. He is a freelance journalist and writer from Somalia. In his essay, Liban looks at the limitations of international aid in Somalia, and in particular at how its short-termism risks perpetuating a cycle of need for mil...
Jun 14, 2023•11 min
Flipping the Narrative is an ongoing series by The New Humanitarian. It aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, placing them at the centre of the conversations about the policies and events that shape their lives. Today’s essay was written and read out by Sana Mustafa. She is a feminist human rights defender and CEO of Asylum Access. In her essay, Sana looks at power imbalances within the international refugee protection system, and calls for those who have been for...
May 31, 2023•11 min
Christian Saunders was appointed as the UN’s special coordinator on improving the response to sexual exploitation and abuse in July. The New Humanitarian’s Investigations Editor Paisley Dodds spoke with him on 19 April following his recent trip to South Sudan, where allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation surfaced last year at a UN-run camp for civilians in the northern city of Malakal. In their wide-ranging interview, Saunders says he believes in “radical transparency”, he doesn’t think th...
Apr 25, 2023•37 min
Does the humanitarian sector have something to learn from this celebrity’s approach to relief work? Chef José Andrés took his cooking skills to disaster zones and began distributing hot meals to people in need, via the NGO he founded: World Central Kitchen. Their model is simple: Respond quickly after a disaster by tapping into resources already available in affected communities – local chefs – and without all the bureaucracy of a big aid organisation. In this episode of Rethinking Humanitariani...
Apr 12, 2023•54 min
At the European Humanitarian Forum, The New Humanitarian's CEO Heba Aly moderates a panel on principled humanitarian action in Ukraine.
Apr 02, 2023•1 hr 16 min
Are more equitable trade policies possible at a time many countries are turning to protectionism? Why have developing countries and emerging economies not benefited as much from the globalised trade architecture as multinational corporations and international investors? And what needs to change for global trade to be more equitable? This episode of Rethinking Humanitarianism explores whether a re-imagined global trading system could reduce aid needs in the Global South. Guests: Nick Dearden, Dir...
Feb 22, 2023•44 min
The COVID-19 pandemic showed that the current global health architecture is not fit for purpose. While rich countries hoarded vaccines, low and middle income countries were left behind, coping with massive global healthcare inequalities. Despite lofty promises, COVAX, the global initiative launched during the pandemic to ensure a fair and equitable distribution of tests, treatments, and vaccines failed to deliver on its promises. This episode of Rethinking Humanitarianism explores how the global...
Feb 08, 2023•41 min
For one week every year, some of the world’s richest business people and most powerful politicians descend on the Alpine ski town of Davos, Switzerland. They’re here for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting, which bills itself as the premiere global forum for the public and private sectors to join forces to “drive tangible, systemic change for the future”. But systemic change would require them to give up some of their wealth and power, like paying their fair share of taxes, or ending the s...
Jan 27, 2023•45 min
The effects of the war in Ukraine continue to ripple across the globe. We are near the point of no return for those on the front lines of the climate crisis. Soaring public debt is preventing governments from being able to prepare for crises. These trends are shaping the world – and humanitarian needs – in 2023. But what are policymakers doing about them? Listen to policymakers from both donor and national governments as they discuss their priorities for the year ahead with civil society represe...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 26 min
Time and again, guests on this season of Rethinking Humanitarianism have called for systemic changes to the humanitarian system and global governance – from alternatives to the UN to revolutionised global climate financing. But how can you imagine something you’ve never seen before, while being grounded in the realities of today? In many ways, this is the domain of science fiction. The writer and activist Walidah Imarisha once said: “Any time we try to envision a different world – without povert...
Jan 11, 2023•59 min
The call for reparations, which has long reverberated in former colonies, is now gaining momentum in the aid and philanthropy sectors, too. It’s a call that rejects the idea of aid as charitable giving, and instead reframes it as justice for the ravages of colonialism and imperialism. But like similar conversations in the United States around slavery, the idea of international reparations for colonialism is a political hot potato. This, despite the many precedents for reparations programmes, inc...
Dec 14, 2022•57 min
For many countries in the Global South, tackling today’s interlocking crises – climate change, the pandemic, the rising cost of living supercharged by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – is made practically impossible by sky-high interest rates on runaway government debt. Enter Barbados. No world leader is being invoked more at the moment than Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley, along with her ambitious plan to change the global financial system to end crippling debt and build climate resilience: t...
Nov 30, 2022•56 min
For the first time in the COP summits’ nearly 30-year history, a call for climate reparations championed by the world’s most vulnerable nations has made it onto the official agenda. It’s formally called loss and damage, and it entails payouts from developed countries (who have profited the most from burning fossil fuels) to developing countries (who are suffering the worst from the impacts of climate change). Will this notion be accepted by rich countries? Or will political realities and develop...
Nov 16, 2022•55 min
