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The stories humanitarians tell (and why they need to change) | Rethinking Humanitarianism

Release Date: 07/04/2024

What will stop the fighting in Sudan? | What’s Unsaid

The New Humanitarian

Eighteen months of war have forced more than 10 million Sudanese from their homes, created the world’s largest hunger crisis, and triggered terrible war crimes. It’s a conflict in which regional and global powers are dabbling, arming both sides, intent on pursuing their own geopolitical interests. We ask Solomon Dersso, founding director of Amani Africa, what it will take for the fighting to end? 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.

In crises, can life ever be normal? | What’s Unsaid

The New Humanitarian

Ever wondered what daily life in Afghanistan, Syria, and Venezuela have in common? In this episode, What’s Unsaid host Ali Latifi, who lives in Kabul, speaks to Reporting Fellows Zeina Shahla in Damascus and Iván Reyes in Caracas to discuss dealing with conflict, threats of violence, and economic instability, while also buying groceries, having coffee with friends, and listening to music. It can make for a strange duality: life is normal - but also not. What’s Unsaid is a bi-weekly podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around...

The only thing saving us is us | First Person

The New Humanitarian

“We constantly urge each other to remain tender toward one another”. Our First Person narratives dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges. In this episode, Nour ElAssy, a poet and writer, reflects on a year since Israel began a total war against the entirety of the Gaza Strip and its population. From Deir al-Balah, where she now lives with 27 other family members after fleeing her home on 7 October last year, she contemplates “what it means to have a family, to be a human, and to support each other selflessly”. Read Nour’s story: The New Humanitarian aims to...

Haitian ‘gangs are at war with us’ | First Person

The New Humanitarian

When violent gangs moved into her neighbourhood in April, Haitian journalist and former UN official Monique Clesca left the Caribbean nation. She returned home a few months later, and in this episode, she describes what daily life is now like. “We are in more than a crisis situation”, she says. “The gangs are at war with us”. The ongoing turmoil in Haiti is featured in The New Humanitarian’s , 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...

A Sudanese collective’s care in Cairo | First Person

The New Humanitarian

“We came mainly seeking safety, seeking to live a decent life. But then we found another war” Our First Person narratives dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges. This episode tells a story of the 15,000 Sudanese people living in Egypt’s Masaken Osman area. When the war broke out in April 2023, these tower blocks on the dusty outskirts of Cairo became home to a group of refugees. Meet them as they gather to discuss their current challenges and collective efforts to overcome them. The New Humanitarian aims to amplify the voices of refugees, asylum seekers, and people affected by...

In Syria, 'waiting for war' | First Person

The New Humanitarian

Our First Person narratives dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges. In this episode, Zeina Shahla, a reporting fellow with The New Humanitarian based in Damascus expresses what it is like to live in the shadow of war. With everyone in Syria living on edge since the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was assassinated last month in Tehran, Shahla worries if a regional war is going to break out. 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...

In the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate, ‘everything seems fine, until it's not’ | First Person

The New Humanitarian

Our First Person narratives dig into the humanity of humanitarian challenges. In this episode, Ali Latifi, The New Humanitarian’s Asia Editor and co-host of the What's Unsaid podcast, marks the anniversary of the creation of the Taliban’s Islamic Emirate in his home country, Afghanistan. Three years on, the country is still in the throes of a humanitarian crisis, with 23.7 million people in need of assistance. Latifi says: “We're in a situation full of paradoxes”. He paints a picture of how traders, TikTokers, and the Taliban co-exist, while noting: “In the Islamic Emirate,...

‘Everyone in Gaza is exhausted’ | First Person

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...

Water ‘stress’ affects every aspect of life in Warawa, Nigeria | First Person

The New Humanitarian

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...

Peace in Gaza | What’s Unsaid (REPLAY)

The New Humanitarian

*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.

More Episodes

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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