In this episode we spoke with Ahmad Helmi, Co-Founder and Manager of the Ta'afi Initiative. Ahmad shares his story as a Syrian human rights defender and survivor and the impetus for founding the Ta'afi Initiative. During the episode, he explains the importance of survivor-led and survivor-centered justice, as well as the vision set out in the Truth and Justice Charter. Ahmad also discusses how the international community can better support Syrian survivors, including through the establishment of a dedicated institution to determine the fate of the missing and disappeared in Syria.

In our first episode of 2023 we sat down with our Executive Director, Savita Pawnday. During the episode Savita shares how her experience as a human rights advocate at the Global Centre has grown alongside the evolution of the Responsibility to Protect principle and reflects on the challenges the international community continues to face in preventing and responding to atrocities. She highlights how the unique mandate and work of the Global Centre aims to address these challenges, as well as bridge the gap between affected communities and policy-makers to develop rights-based and community-informed prevention strategies and responses.

In our final episode of 2022 we spoke with Tiffany Easthom, Executive Director of Nonviolent Peaceforce. During the episode, Tiffany discusses the unique model of Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP) and shares how it can be used to address critical gaps in the protection and prevention architecture. While highlighting countries where UCP has been implemented, she shares her views on how it can be a useful tool in the prevention of mass atrocities.

In this episode we spoke with Beatriz Borges, Executive Director of Centro de Justicia y Paz (CEPAZ). During the episode, Beatriz shares her unique experience as a human rights defender from Venezuela and sheds light on the risks faced by civil society across the country. She also highlights the important avenues through which the international community and external stakeholders should address the multidimensional crisis in Venezuela.

The episode begins with an overview of the Global Centre's assessment of the situation with our Venezuela Expert, Elisabeth Pramendorfer.

In this episode we spoke with Patricia Sellers, an international criminal lawyer currently serving as the Special Advisor for Slavery Crimes for the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, where she previously served as the Special Advisor for Gender. During the episode, Patricia explains the unique ways in which gender makes one vulnerable to atrocities, as well as how the landmark judgements at the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia have helped facilitate the future prosecution of acts of sexual violence as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. She also highlights some key lessons learned regarding early warning signs of gendered crimes.

This episode is the first of a two-part series examining the situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country during August 2021. For part one we sat down with Horia Mosadiq, an Afghan human rights defender, journalist and Director of the Conflict Analysis Network. During the episode, Horia explains how the treatment and targeting of particular populations - including women, civil society and ethnic and religious minorities - over the past year has contributed to complex atrocity risks. She also shares her insight on how the international community should respond.

In this episode we sat down with Dr. Chile Eboe-Osuji, former President of the International Criminal Court and current Distinguished International Jurist at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University. During the episode, Dr. Eboe-Osuji reflects on the lessons learned from his diverse career in international justice and provides insights on the enduring value of the Responsibility to Protect as a norm in international law and international relations.

Coinciding with the release of the UN Secretary-General's report on the Responsibility to Protect - which this year focuses on the impact of atrocities on children and the role of youth in preventing atrocities - in this episode we sat down with Adrianne Lapar, Director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict. During the episode, Adrianne reflects on the progress made on the Children and Armed Conflict mandate as we commemorate its 25th anniversary this year, as well as various UN tools for the assessment of violations against children. Adrianne also provides reflections on how the atrocity prevention community can better address the unique risks faced by children.

In this episode we sat down with Nury Turkel, a Uyghur lawyer who is currently Vice Chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and Chairman of the Board of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. During the episode, Nury discusses how his personal experience with China's long-standing persecution of the Uyghurs has shaped his work. He details the Chinese government's systematic campaign of genocide against the Uyghurs and calls on the international community to be more outspoken against China's atrocities, as highlighted in his new book entitled "No Escape: The True Story of China's Genocide of the Uyghurs."

In this episode we sat down with the Professor the Hon. Gareth Evans, Chair of our International Advisory Board and one of the architects of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). During the episode Professor Evans discusses the inspiration for his decades-long career in human rights and conflict resolution. He also reflects on the benchmarks against which he judges the success of R2P and shares why he is optimistic about the future. We also explore highlights from his new book, entitled "Good International Citizenship: The Case for Decency."