The Carter Center (audio)

For more than 35 years, The Carter Center has worked in the public eye and behind the scenes to help bring an end to conflicts across the globe. Get an inside look at how the Center’s conflict resolution team goes about its work in places like Syria, Sudan, Mali, and more. What principles guide them? What challenges do they face? What does success even look like? Moderator: Jim Clancy, broadcast journalist. Panelists: Hrair Balian, director of the Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program; Kate Keator, manager of the Carter Center’s Syria Conflict Mapping Project; Bisa Williams, former U.S. ambassador to Niger and current Carter Center special advisor on Mali.

December brings the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a United Nations document that lays out an individual’s inalienable rights. To mark the occasion, a panel of religious leaders will explore what the scriptures of some of the world’s major religions have to say about human rights. How can we align religious life with human rights? What role should spiritual leaders play in promoting human rights? And what can everyday people of faith do to defend human rights and encourage mutual respect between people of different religions? Moderator: Karin Ryan, Carter Center senior advisor on human rights and special representative on women and girls. Panelists: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; Rabbi Jill Jacobs, executive director of T'ruah, the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights; Imam Omar Suleiman, founder and president of the Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research.

Trachoma is a leading cause of blindness, yet it is easily prevented with a readily available antibiotic, and its effects often can be halted with a short surgical procedure. For 20 years, The Carter Center has helped lead the charge against trachoma, but we are not alone. Hear what the Center, the International Trachoma Initiative, and other partners are doing to control this painful disease and learn about Atlanta’s ever-expanding role in the battle to improve global health locally and abroad. Moderator: Teya Ryan, CEO and President of Georgia Public Broadcasting. Panelists: Kelly Callahan, director of the Carter Center's Trachoma Program; Jason Carter, chairman of the Carter Center Board of Trustees; Paul Emerson, director of the International Trachoma Initiative.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter discuss how the Center wages peace and fights disease to build hope for millions around the world and take questions.

Liberian democracy took an important step forward in late 2017 when citizens elected a new president to replace Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who voluntarily stepped down when her term expired. Several Carter Center programs joined forces to help support a peaceful transition, and though the process was at times rocky, peace prevailed. Learn more about this historic election, the Carter Center’s long-term programming in Liberia — including mental health, justice, and access to information efforts — and what the future may hold for Africa’s oldest republic. Panelists include: Jason Carter, chairman of the Carter Center’s Board of Trustees; Eve Byrd, director of the Carter Center’s Mental Health Program; Pewee Flomoku, the Carter Center’s chief of party in Liberia, who oversees the Center’s Access to Justice Project; Laura Neuman, director of the Carter Center’s Global Access to Information. Program Moderator: Jim Clancy, journalist and former CNN International anchor.

Introducing two 360° virtual-reality videos from HuffPost’s “Project Zero,” which documents neglected tropical diseases, including the Carter Center’s work on river blindness and lymphatic filariasis in Nigeria. A panel discusses the challenges of eliminating the diseases worldwide and their experiences creating stories with this cutting-edge technology. Panelists include: Benedict Moran, an award-winning journalist and independent filmmaker specializing in human rights and humanitarian emergencies; Dr. Frank Richards, director of the Carter Center’s River Blindness Elimination Program and Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program. Moderator: Jo Confino, HuffPost Executive Editor of Impact & Innovation.

Islamophobia and violent extremism are inextricably linked. As Islamophobia continues to grip much of the Western world, join us in discussing the effects of stigmatizing Muslims and learn more about what The Carter Center and others are doing to help stem the tide of anti-Muslim hatred and discrimination. Moderated by Dr. Houda Abadi, associate director of the Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program, panelists include: Dr. Suzanne Barakat: motivational speaker and the sister of Deah Barakat, one of three Muslims killed during a 2015 shooting in Chapel Hill; Dr. Deepa Kumar: award-winning scholar and activist, and author of “Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire”;Dr. Tariq Ramadan: contemporary Islamic studies scholar who was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2004.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter discuss recent Carter Center peace and health initiatives around the world, and take your questions about issues big and small.

From Latin America to Africa to the Middle East, The Carter Center is making behind-the-scenes and forward-facing contributions to peace. Hear from two of our directors – Hrair Balian of the Conflict Resolution Program and Jennie Lincoln of the Latin America and Caribbean Program – about the situation on the ground in Syria and Colombia and what The Carter Center is doing in these countries to bring an end to violent conflict.

In the poorest parts of the world, people still suffer from diseases that have long since disappeared from more prosperous areas. The Carter Center has worked for decades to combat these neglected diseases and is now very close to eradicating one: Guinea worm disease. As The Jimmy Carter Library and Museum unveils “Countdown to Zero,” an exhibit dedicated to disease control and eradication, come learn about innovative approaches to battling ancient scourges.