The New Humanitarian

The New Humanitarian
  • 0.0 (0)
  • News Commentary
  • Updated weekly

The New Humanitarian brings you an inside look at the conflicts and natural disasters that leave millions of people in need each year, and the policies and people who respond to them. Join TNH's journalists in the aid policy hub of Geneva and in global hotspots to unpack the stories that are disrupting and shaping lives around the world.

  1. 3 days ago

    Grassroots aid is here to disturb the system | Rethinking Humanitarianism

    For Fanta Toure, community-led crisis response efforts like mutual aid are not an emergent movement as some in the international aid system see it, but rather a return "to the way things are supposed to be". Toure, along with Hajooj Kuka of Sudan's emergency response rooms (ERRs) and Bashair Ahmed of Shabaka, joined co-host Christina Bennett to discuss the diversity of grassroots aid efforts, and to challenge the formal humanitarian system to adopt a more humble and supportive position towards locally-led action "What the system can do is to move from leading by default to actually supporting by design," says Ahmed, who points out that diaspora remittances dwarf foreign investment and international aid combined.  Kuka, meanwhile, offers a picture of a lifesaving network of volunteers who lean on flexibility, solidarity, and even joy to keep each other alive.  "What the ERRs did is showing that if the system collapses, we'll be okay," says Kuka. "The system is not what's holding us together; it's our humanity." Guests Fanta Toure, CEO of Resilio Fund Hajooj Kuka, External communications officer for Sudan's Emergency Response Rooms Bashair Ahmed, Founder of Shabaka Key moments [06:35] – Inside Sudan's 800 decentralised mutual aid groups [11:45] – Diaspora remittances are bigger than foreign aid [16:57] – Community-led aid means going back to way things are supposed to be [20:25] – The 'permafrost' of the aid system [32:21] – Flexibility, joy, and dreaming: Lessons from feminist movements  [45:44] – When localisation gets co‑opted  [58:59] – 'Mutual aid is here to disturb the system' [01:14:50] – What if 20% of foreign aid was given directly to communities? [01:19:00] – 'Move from leading by default to supporting by design' Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.  This episode was made in collaboration with Start Network as part of a series that explores what really drives change in the humanitarian system, and what it tells us about future efforts to transform the system for the better.

  2. 20 Aug

    Somalia's plan to break free from aid dependence | Rethinking Humanitarianism

    For Abdihakim Ainte, a senior Somali government official, the international humanitarian system's sudden contraction has been both a "cataclysmic" shock – with devastating immediate consequences – and a reckoning that could ultimately accelerate Somalia's path towards greater self-reliance. Last week's episode explored how shifting power, money, and politics in traditional donor countries is reshaping the humanitarian landscape from the top down. In this follow-up episode, Ainte shares his perspective from the point of view of a country that traditionally receives aid. Guest Abdihakim Ainte, senior adviser for food security and climate change in the office of Somalia's prime minister Key moments [05:28] – Who really controls aid in Somalia? [10:47] – How UN agencies sideline the state in crises [18:24] – "It's very grim": What happened on the ground when donors walked away? [20:28] – Plan B: Private sector, diaspora, and domestic revenues [29:45] – Aid diversion and mutual accountability [37:58] – "The aid cut could be a blessing in disguise" [45:00] – The Türkiye model of donor relations Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.  This episode was made in collaboration with Start Network as part of a series that explores what really drives change in the humanitarian system, and what it tells us about future efforts to transform the system for the better.

  3. 13 Aug

    Will big donors "smell the coffee" or get left behind? | Rethinking Humanitarianism

    Less than a year ago, Colum Wilson left his position at the helm of the humanitarian department in one of the world's largest donor governments. After more than two decades with the UK government, Wilson concludes that "the world's become a colder and crueller place where realpolitik tends to trump humanitarianism". In this second collaborative episode between Rethinking Humanitarianism and Start Network, Wilson joins hosts Tammam Aloudat and Christina Bennett to unpack how humanitarianism is being reshaped from the top down. They discuss the rise of populism and transactional humanitarian policy, the quiet "insurgency" of local responders getting on with change outside the formal system, the potentially disruptive power of middle-tier donors, alternative financing models, and new centres of humanitarian power. Guest Colum Wilson, former Head of the Humanitarian Department for the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO); senior humanitarian policy advisor Key moments [11:35] – National interest versus humanitarianism [14:29] – "The world's become a colder and crueller place" [17:13] – An insurgency from below [20:24] – Interest in maintaining the status quo [24:24] – "The moral argument isn't cutting through" [33:36] – A battle for the heart of humanitarianism [38:44] – "If I controlled UK humanitarian policy…" Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism. This episode was made in collaboration with Start Network as part of a series that explores what really drives change in the humanitarian system, and what it tells us about future efforts to transform the system for the better.

  4. 6 Aug

    Error and trial: What really makes the humanitarian system change? | Rethinking Humanitarianism

    Humanitarianism evolves, whether the system is ready or not. This six-episode series explores how. Ben Ramalingam has spent 20 years thinking and writing about the complexity of the humanitarian system and what makes it shift. His conclusion? It changes the wrong way around. "We've tended to evolve not through trial and error, but through error and trial. So we respond to what goes wrong, we absorb the shock through processes which are often very painful, and then we return to something that's not too far removed from what we had before." In this first collaborative episode between Rethinking Humanitarianism and Start Network, hosts Tammam Aloudat and Christina Bennett set the stage for a series that explores how the humanitarian system can change for the better as it faces a crisis of legitimacy and funding. Guests Ben Ramalingam, author of Aid on the Edge of Chaos Nadine Saba, president of the Akkar Network for Development Key moments 07:11 – "Error and trial" and doing the right thing too late 11:18 – Was the Grand Bargain ever really "grand"?  21:13 – Reforming policies vs changing mindsets  23:30 – Cash as a disruptive force  36:06 – How systemic change actually happens (in three steps) 43:23 – "People don't care about our jargon"  50:18 – Fear, funding, and the myth of neutrality  53:13 – If the system is so misaligned, why keep it?  59:31 – Tammam and Christina discuss why this podcast collaboration came to be Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism. This episode was made in collaboration with Start Network as part of a series that explores what really drives change in the humanitarian system, and what it tells us about future efforts to transform the system for the better.

  5. 7 Jul

    Lessons on media ethics from the Middle East | Decolonise How?

    What are we getting right, what are we getting wrong, and how could we do better? A recent live webinar hosted by Patrick Gathara, with historian Assal Rad and media critic Sana Saeed, digs into the framing of the genocide and wars in the Middle East with the goal of drawing lessons that could be applicable to a wide range of crises. Decolonise How? is a new podcast by The New Humanitarian that examines the stories we tell about humanitarian crises.

  6. 23 Jun

    How to change reporting | Decolonise How?

    We've diagnosed the problem. What comes next? On the podcast: what it takes to change how crises are spoken about in newsrooms and aid organisations. Researcher Jess Crombie and journalist Chika Oduah encourage "uncomfortable conversations" to confront colonial legacies.  "Really, what we're talking about is about acknowledging power and making efforts to undermine existing power structures," Crombie says.  Decolonise How? is a new podcast by The New Humanitarian that examines the stories we tell about humanitarian crises.

  7. 19 Jun

    Event | Who owns the narrative?

    Across newsrooms, stages, screens, and funding tables, there's a growing movement to reshape how migration and displacement are understood. So what does it look like when the people at the heart of these crises tell their own stories, and could it influence the systems that shape their lives? The New Humanitarian hosted a night of film and conversation with journalists, artists, and cultural funders to explore these very questions. This event was moderated by Eric Reidy, Migration and Special Coverage Editor at The New Humanitarian, and featured: Bridgit Antoinette Evans | Artist, culture change strategist, and CEO of the Pop Culture Collaborative Arian Moayed | Actor, writer, director, and co-Founder of Waterwell Mazin Sidahmed | Co-Founder and Executive Director, Documented Annie Slemrod | Journalist, storyteller, and Middle East Editor at The New Humanitarian _____ This event was presented in partnership with the New York Office of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

  8. 9 Jun

    Crisis comms: donations vs. dignity | Decolonise How?

    NGO ads don't have to be a balance between dignity and donations. A look at the ethics and power dynamics of crisis communications, and how humanitarian agencies can do better for the communities they serve, with Levis Nderitu, a Kenyan DEI specialist, and Marie-Rose Romain Murphy, a Haitian-American community development expert.  "At the core of your communication should be people, should be dignity, should be: how would I want to be portrayed myself?" Decolonise How? is a new podcast by The New Humanitarian that examines the stories we tell about humanitarian crises.

See All (100)

Trailer

About

The New Humanitarian brings you an inside look at the conflicts and natural disasters that leave millions of people in need each year, and the policies and people who respond to them. Join TNH's journalists in the aid policy hub of Geneva and in global hotspots to unpack the stories that are disrupting and shaping lives around the world.

Information

  • Creator
    The New Humanitarian
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    The New Humanitarian

More From The New Humanitarian

You Might Also Like