In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, discuss frontline humanitarian negotiations. The Center of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation recently launched a field manual on the subject, taking the collective experience and perspectives of numerous humanitarian practitioners working in some of the most challenging conflict environments and translating it into tangible tools and resources. Claude Bruderlein, director of the Centre and lead researcher for ICRC negotiation practices talks through the development of the manual, the art of negotiation and how his years of operational experience brought him to his current position. Hosted by Niki Clark.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we come to you from Juba, South Sudan. Following a two week wheelchair basketball training program, we sit down with two athletes from radically different worlds. Malat Wei was a young child when his family was forced to flee South Sudan, shortly after he contracted polio and lost the use of his legs. Though he grew up in an Ethiopian refugee camp, he fell in love with sports, spending his long days at the camp playing soccer with his able-bodied friends. Malat would use only his hands to navigate the dusty pitch. At age 12, his family was resettled as refugees in Texas where a few years later he was introduced to wheelchair basketball by a member of his church. He was immediately hooked. Now 24, he plays university-level wheelchair basketball in Arizona, after a successful stint playing professionally in France from 2015-2016. Jess Markt is from Denver, Colorado. At age 19, he was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Previously a college track-and-field star, wheelchair basketball was a major factor in Jess’ recovery, both physically and mentally. He now serves as the ICRC’s Diversity, Inclusion and Sports Advisor and coaches disabled athletes in war zones, including Afghanistan, South Sudan and the Gaza Strip. Several years ago, Jess and Malat met at a tournament in New Mexico and their friendship was born. When Malat discovered that Jess was coaching in South Sudan, he pitched the idea of going with him to help coach athletes back in his home country. And that’s just what they did. Hosted by Niki Clark.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we discuss the protection of cultural property in the time of armed conflict. It’s no secret that people around the world have a deep connection with places and objects of artistic, historic and religious importance. Archaeological sites connect us to the past. Monuments beckon from afar to be visited and marveled at. Our customs, traditions and values bind us to each other and the places we call “home.”  Cultural property and heritage are vital to the identity of individuals, communities and entire nations. Much more than stone, paper or canvas, ancient statues, manuscripts and works of art provide us with a sense of cultural cohesion and pride. Yet, too often, cultural property comes under attack during situations of armed conflict and violence. Such attacks constitute an affront to our history, dignity and humanity. Importantly, destroying or damaging cultural property in wartime is strictly prohibited under International Humanitarian Law. In this episode, we sit down with Pascal Bongard, Head of the Policy and Legal Unit of Geneva Call, and Cori Wegener, the director of the Smithsonian Institution Cultural Rescue Initiative. Hosted by Niki Clark.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we discuss the protection of civilians in partnered operations. National security and defense strategies, as well as trends in US military operations around the globe, reflect a preference for working by, with and through partners to achieve common security objectives. These partnerships in the context of armed conflict can aggravate or reduce the risk of harm to civilians depending on the form and significance of the partnership.  CSIS, Interaction and CIVIC recently launched a report—The Protection of Civilians in U.S. Partnered Operations—that further delves into some of the issues around these operations, including lessons learned by practitioners in the field, policy recommendations and protection concerns. To speak more broadly on the topic we have with us Jenny McAvoy, the Director of Protection at Interaction and Dan Mahanaty, Director of the Center for Civilians in Conflict U.S. Program. Hosted by Sarah Holewinski.

In this episode of Intercross the Podcast, we sit down with Jenelle Eli, Director of International Communications, Amanda Nieman, Bangladesh Program Officer and Brad Zerivitz, a Photographer and Director of Video Services, all at the American Red Cross. They recently spent two weeks in Bangladesh, capturing stories of the crisis in Cox’s Bazaar. Since August 2017, more than a million people have fled Rakhine state, Myanmar to Bangladesh because of violence. We spoke last week with ICRC’s outgoing head of delegation in Myanmar about the situation there and in this conversation, we talk about the other side of the border. How do you visually capture a crisis of such magnitude? How is the Red Cross movement responding? How does disaster preparedness and volunteers play a role? And in such desperate circumstances, what stories of hope rise to the top? Hosted by Niki Clark and Sara Owens.