The New Humanitarian

*This episode was originally published on November 23, 2023. Human rights lawyer and war crimes investigator Yasmin Sooka joins host Ali Latifi in a conversation about using the word "genocide", and why language matters – in the middle of a crisis, and in the aftermath of mass violence.

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.

*This episode was originally published on January 11, 2023.

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 poverty, prisons, capitalism, war – we are engaging in science fiction." With science fiction, she added, we can start with the question "What do we want?" rather than the question "What is realistic?"

In this first episode of the New Year, host Heba Aly looks to the future to explore how science fiction can bring about paradigmatic change by helping us believe a better world is possible.

She is joined by sci-fi authors whose work speaks directly to the future of global governance and how to better address crises. Kim Stanley Robinson is the acclaimed science fiction writer behind the Mars trilogy, and, more recently, The Ministry for the Future. Malka Older is the author of Infomocracy and The New Humanitarian short story Earthquake Relief. Mexico City. 2051.

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If you've got thoughts on this episode, write to us or send us a voice note at [email protected].

SHOW NOTES

• Disaster response 2.0: What aid might look like in 30 years time (by Malka Older, for The New Humanitarian)
• Decolonising Aid: A reading and resource list
• Why Science Fiction Is a Fabulous Tool in the Fight for Social Justice | The Nation
• Kim Stanley Robinson: Remembering climate change ... a message from the year 2071 | TED Countdown

BOOKS AND AUTHORS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• Kim Stanley Robinson, The Ministry for the Future (2020)
• Malka Older, Infomocracy (2016)
• Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (1993)
• Edward Bellamy, Looking Backward: 2000–1887 (1888)
• H. G. Wells, A Modern Utopia (1905)
• Ursula K. Le Guin (see The Dispossessed, 1974)
• Walidah Imarisha (see Octavia's Brood, 2015)
• Joanna Russ (see The Female Man, 1975)
• Cory Doctorow, Walkaway (2017)
• Neon Yang, The Tensorate series (2017-19)
• Martha Wells, The Murderbot Diaries series (2017-21)

Refugees International, The New Humanitarian, and Asylum Access hosted an event on the sidelines of the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva for a candid conversation about how to truly include refugees in the policy decisions that shape their lives.

SPEAKERS

• Sana Mustafa, Asylum Access CEO (moderator)
• Ana Maria Diez, President of Coalición por Venezuela and Fellow at Refugees International
• Matai Muon, South Sudanese refugee and graduate student
• Mohammed Naeem, Deputy Director of Strategy and Partnerships at American Immigration Council, and Advisor on the U.S. Refugee Advisory Board
• Farhad Shamo Roto, Founder of Voice of Ezidis and Fellow at Refugees International
• Hafsar Tameesuddin, Co-Secretary General, Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN)

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Got a question or feedback? Email [email protected] or have your say on Twitter using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.

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SHOW NOTES

• Flipping the Narrative
• The roots of the refugee protection system are colonial and racist by Sana Mustafa
• Let refugees be economic contributors by Matai Muon

From new conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, to flood disasters in Libya and East Africa, to earthquakes in Morocco, Syria, and Türkiye, humanitarian crises around the world drove more than 350 million people to need help in 2023. While funding to address those needs reached record levels, so too did the funding gap. Only a third of the $57 billion that humanitarians appealed for this year was actually received – the largest shortfall in years.

For the last episode of 2023, we reflect on the year that's been, Rethinking Humanitarianism-style. Which events have forced a rethink in aid? Have any lines been drawn in the sand? And how has 2023 been a turning point in the way aid is delivered?

Co-hosts Heba Aly and Melissa Fundira convene a roundtable for a wide-ranging discussion on everything from humanitarianism's more prominent role in the climate agenda, to shifting ideologies on neutrality and mutual aid networks, and of course funding.

Guests: Nazanine Moshiri, senior analyst (Climate, Environment & Conflict, Africa) at the International Crisis Group; Irwin Loy, senior policy editor at The New Humanitarian; Dustin Barter, senior research fellow at ODI's Humanitarian Policy Group

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Got a question or feedback? Email [email protected] or have your say on Twitter using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.

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SHOW NOTES

• Inklings | The Gaza effect, 2024 budgets, obscure acronyms
• What happened on COP28's big humanitarian day?
• Myanmar, Gaza, and why it's time for humanitarian resistance
• For some aid workers, internal Gaza tensions unearth long-overdue debates
• How mutual aid in Sudan is getting international support
• Why the Africa Climate Summit can't afford to overlook conflict
• Global Humanitarian Overview 2024: UN launches $46 billion appeal for 2024 as global humanitarian outlook remains bleak

Could talking about aid diversion actually help people who need aid? Ashley Jackson is the co-director of the Center on Armed Groups and a former aid worker. She has researched aid diversion in Afghanistan, Somalia, and elsewhere, and joins host Irwin Loy for a candid conversation.

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.

Ala Majid Khayrullhah, a medical student and climate activist, shares what he witnessed in Libya a month after the devastating floods.

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 on TheNewHumanitarian.org

Human rights lawyer and war crimes investigator Yasmin Sooka joins host Ali Latifi in a conversation about using the word "genocide", and why language matters – in the middle of a crisis, and in the aftermath of mass violence.

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.

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 Palestinians thus far, as some argue, but halting it would be catastrophic, as others say, then how should aid agencies pivot?

Guests: Yara Asi, assistant professor in the School of Global Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida, co-director of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights, US Fulbright scholar to the West Bank; Chris Gunness, former UNRWA spokesperson

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Got a question or feedback? Email [email protected] or have your say on Twitter using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.

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SHOW NOTES

• Aid to Palestinians has failed. Here's how to fix it.
• In freezing aid to Palestinians, donors trample a well-worn path
• What's Unsaid | The media's silencing of Palestinians
• Prior to current crisis, decades-long blockade hollowed Gaza's economy, leaving 80% of population dependent on international aid | UNCTAD
• Responding to the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: Damned if you do... Damned if you don't!

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.

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 stories at TheNewHumanitarian.org