ATHA Podcast

Humanitarian actors are increasingly finding themselves in contexts where the application of the norms and concepts of international humanitarian law (IHL) is contested.

On August 24, 2016 the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, commonly referred to as the FARC, signed a peace deal after 52 years of internal conflict. This peace deal marks a potential end to the over half century of violence that has killed over 220,000 Colombians and displaced more than six million. Dr. Jennifer Schirmer, a current fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government spent fourteen years working on peace-building and preparatory dialogue training in Colombia.

In this practitioner profile, ATHA is joined by Sareta Ashraph, Chief Analyst on the Commission of Inquiry on the Syria since May 2012. The Commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in August 2011 to investigate and document violations of international law in Syria. Sareta led the investigation and drafting of the Commission's recent report "They Came To Destroy: ISIS Crimes Against the Yazidis", which determined that ISIS was committing the crime of genocide.

The World Humanitarian Summit, held in Istanbul on May 23-24, 2016, was guided by a framework articulated by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s “Agenda for Humanity,” focusing on areas such preventing and ending conflicts, and enhancing promotion of community resilience, proactive emergency planning, and inter-organizational coordination.In this Practitioner Profile, ATHA is joined by Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Under Secretary General for Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Dr. Mahmood shares her insights on the results and outcomes of the discussions and commitments in Istanbul.

The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) convened 9,000 representatives from humanitarian agencies, governments, crisis-affected communities, and the private sector. Driven by a consensus that the current humanitarian system is unable to cope with the intensifying needs of populations affected by conflict and disaster, the WHS aimed to take stock of the achievements and failed interventions of a sector confronted with rapidly evolving challenges and recommit stakeholders to the foundational principles of humanitarian assistance, protection, and institutional reform. Speakers: Christina Bennett, ODI; Dr. Martin Barber, Special Advisor to OCHA on WHS; Hugo Slim, Head of Policy, ICRC, James Munn, Head of Policy, NRC; Raphael Gorgeu, Director of Partnership and Policy, ICVA.

Two years of conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine has continued to intensify since early March of this year. An estimated 3.1 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. In this episode, we examine the barriers humanitarian organizations face as they try to access and assist this population. Speakers: John Cerone, Visiting Professor of International Law, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; Simon Eugster, Chief Observer at the OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk; Kristina Jovanovski, Journalist; Annette Lyth, Humanitarian Consultant; Florian Razesberger, Head of Human Dimension Unit, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine; Giancarlo Stopponi, WFP Head of Office in Ukraine.

In this Practitioner Profile, ATHA is joined by Dr. Michael VanRooyen, an emergency physician with a wealth of experience in humanitarian response. Michael has worked for a number of NGOs in over thirty countries affected by war and disaster. He is a Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health as well as the Director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

In conversations with key experts and practitioners, this podcast will consider how the practical implementation and enforcement of IHL affects men, women, girls and boys differently. We will examine the gendered nature of protections under IHL, and assess what progress has been made in addressing the gendered nature of international law. Finally, we will consider how to address disparities in the law and in its implementation with regard to gender and humanitarian protection. Expert commentators: Cpt. Anna Björsson, Gender Advisor to the Chief of Operations at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters; Helen Durham, Director for International Law and Policy, ICRC; Rebecca Eapen, Senior Gender Equality Adviser Division of International Protection, UNHCR; Charlotte Isaksson, Gender Adviser, SACEUR and Allied Command Operations (NATO); Arwa Mhanna, Humanitarian Consultant; Sebastián Molano, Gender and Development Consultant; Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Professor of Law, Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University; Cecilia Tengroth, Senior Legal Adviser, Swedish Red Cross

In conversations with key experts and practitioners, this podcast will assess current information management methodologies and practices applicable to humanitarian response, the continued development of professional standards in this area, and the policy implications of leveraging information technology to address large-scale protection challenges. Expert Commentators: Vlatko Avramovski, Human Mobility Tracking Expert, IOM; Devin Balkind, President, Sahana Software Foundation; Tina Comes, Senior Fellow, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative; Kimberly Roberson, Chief of Field Information and Coordination Support, UNHCR Headquarters; Patrick Vinck, Director, Program on Peace and Human Rights Data; Genevieve Wills, Head of the Operational Information Management (OIM) Unit and the WFP Operations Centre (OpsCen)

In this one-on-one interview with Beth Maclin, co-author of a new report on community responses to the LRA conflict, we examine methods of resilience and responses to violence in areas affected by protracted crises.

This one-on-one interview with practitioner Eunice Apio, Director, Facilitation for Peace and Development focuses on lessons learned from her work in peace and reconciliation and community development in LRA-affected communities.

A new study from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative uses the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) conflict as a case study to explore some manifestations of community resilience and self-protection mechanisms. In conversations with key experts and practitioners, this podcast focuses on lessons learned from the LRA conflict and draws the practical and policy implications for humanitarian actors seeking to support communities affected by the LRA, or other non-state armed groups such as Boko Haram or Al Shabab. Expert commentators: Eunice Apio, Director, Facilitation for Peace and Development, Jérôme Grimaud, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, UN OCHA, Jocelyn Kelly, Director, Women in War Program, Sean Poole, Director of International Programs, Invisible Children, Paul Ronan, Project Director, The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative, Father Ernest Sugule, Peace Mediator, founder of Solidarity and Integral Assistance to Destitute People (SAIPED), D.R.C.

Using contemporary examples such as Afghanistan and Yemen, our panel of experts discuss key dilemmas of access faced by humanitarian aid workers in the field, and reflect on practical and policy solutions that may be developed in order to ensure proximity to civilian populations in need. Expert commentators: Ashley Jackson, Research Associate, Overseas Development Institute (ODI); Michaël Neuman, Director of Studies, MSF-Crash; Jonathan Somer, Founder, Persona Grata Consulting; Eva Svoboda, Research Fellow, Humanitarian Policy Group

ATHA's panel of expert commentators assess current response mechanisms and identify strategies and practical approaches to addressing the vulnerabilities of displacement, with a special focus on understanding migration patterns from the Middle East to Europe through Turkey and Greece. Expert commentators: Abeer Etefa, Senior Spokeswoman, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP); Frédéric Morlet, Volunteer's Coordinator in Lesvos, Greece; Kathryn Sokol, Emergency Program Coordinator, International Rescue Committee; Dr. Apostolos Veizis, Director of Medical Operational Support Unit, Medecins Sans Frontieres-Greece; Martin Xuereb, Director, Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

In this episode, ATHA speaks with Stuart Campo, Innovation Deployment Specialist with UNICEF's Global Innovation Center. We discuss common misconceptions about innovation in the humanitarian sector, how humanitarian organizations can support and encourage innovation among beneficiary populations, and what humanitarians can we learn from other fields of innovation.