The New Humanitarian

Our First Person narratives dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges.

In this episode, Mahmoud Shalabi describes the difficult reality of life in his home, Beit Lahia. When the Israeli military issued orders last October for 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate their homes in the north of Gaza, Shalabi refused to leave. "I believed that remaining in my home would be a form of resistance," he says. Now, nearly 11 months later, the Deputy Director for programs for the UK-based NGO, Medical Aid for Palestinians, explains why he is 'exhausted'.

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.

Our First Person narratives aim to dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges.

In this episode, Yusuf Sa'adu, a shopkeeper in Warawa in Nigeria's Kano state, points out that "whoever has abundant water has wealth". He shares how water scarcity made him lose out on education and still impacts personal relationships.

"If you are experiencing water stress, you will not be able to do a lot of things", Yusuf explains.

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.

*This episode was originally published on November 9, 2023.

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.

Iyad Agha, a Syrian now living in Germany, has been working on his country's humanitarian crisis for nearly a decade. The United Nations itself recently said that "Syria is in danger of being forgotten", while noting that the country is facing the highest levels of humanitarian need since the start of its 13-year war. Some 7.2 million people have been forcibly displaced inside the country, and another 5.1 million are refugees in neighbouring countries. Türkiye is host to 3.3 million refugees who are increasingly subjected to harassment, not to mention arbitrary arrest, detention, and deportation by authorities. In this First Person account, he narrates his experiences as an aid worker in Türkiye, and laments how many times Syrians have had to rebuild their lives.

The continuing conflict in Syria is featured in The New Humanitarian's annual list of ten crises that demand your attention now, which highlights places in the world where needs are rising, aid budgets have been cut or are insufficient, and where people feel forgotten by the international community. Over the coming months, our First Person series will feature aid workers and people affected by the crises on this year's list.

*This episode was originally published on September 27, 2023.

Aid worker and psychologist Imogen Wall tells host Ali Latifi that 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.

When crises hit, a host of questions arise, among them: Who needs humanitarian aid? How much? Who delivers it? And who has the power to make all of those decisions?

How aid agencies and the media choose to frame this information doesn't always help.

For the last year, researchers at ODI's Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) have been trying to understand narratives and the role they play in humanitarian response and policy. What they're finding so far is that human stories are more powerful than data when it comes to influencing change in the sector, and yet humanitarians don't take their role as storytellers seriously enough.

In this bonus episode, we get a snapshot of HPG's ongoing exploration of humanitarian narratives from one of its main researchers, and we bring together a local organisation founder, a researcher, and a journalist to discuss the power humanitarians have to shape the stories that affect crisis response.

Guests: John Bryant, research fellow at ODI's Humanitarian Policy Group; Leen Fouad, research officer at ODI's Humanitarian Policy Group; Mohamed Ali Diini, founder of Iftiin Foundation and chair of the Shaqo Platform; Patrick Gathara, senior editor for inclusive storytelling at The New Humanitarian.

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SHOW NOTES

• Understanding the role of narratives in humanitarian policy change | ODI
• Change without transformation: how narratives influenced the humanitarian cash agenda | ODI
• What is a humanitarian crisis, really? | Rethinking Humanitarianism
• Gaza: a litmus test for the humanitarian sector's commitment to decolonisation? | ODI
• How do you break the mould around international aid? Try genuine trust

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

Exiled from a country plagued by decades of civil war, allegations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, and limits on basic democratic rights, Maung Zarni, an academic, human rights activist, and Nobel Peace prize nominee, explains why the Rohingya cannot rely on protection from within the country. "I'm Burmese myself," he tells host Ali Latifi. "We have proven incapable of maintaining peace and stability in our own country for the last 75 years".

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.

Viewed from Western aid capitals, the international humanitarian system is overwhelmingly secular. But for much of the rest of the world, people's lived realities are very different. As Amjad Mohamed Saleem, a development and peacebuilding entrepreneur tells host Obi Anyadike, being a person of faith in the aid industry is a "dynamic struggle".

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.

One and a half million people have been uprooted by the conflict between the M23 rebel group and the national army in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Many are now living with host families, little-heralded frontline responders who play a central role in relief efforts across the region. Nicholas Bahati Ndoolé, a humanitarian worker based in the city of Goma, is one such host. In this First Person essay, he shares the many challenges his family faces, and explains why he feels he must shelter his relatives.

The continuing conflict in the DRC is featured in The New Humanitarian's annual list of ten crises that demand your attention now, which highlights places in the world where needs are rising, aid budgets have been cut or are insufficient, and where people feel forgotten by the international community. Over the coming months, our First Person series will feature aid workers and people affected by the crises on this year's list.

*As Martin Griffiths serves his last month at the helm of OCHA, take another listen to this episode from January 26, 2022 on his vision for the future of humanitarian aid, and his hopes for a non-British successor.

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In the final episode of Season 2 of the Rethinking Humanitarianism podcast, host Heba Aly sits down with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths to discuss his priorities in the role, how he intends to address unequal power dynamics in the aid sector, the increasing influence of donors, and why humanitarians should push back against an ever-expanding scope of activity.

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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

• Griffiths steps down as relief chief
• UN aid chief seeks more focused and inclusive humanitarian efforts
• The next UN humanitarian chief should be picked on merit