Intercross The Podcast

Disclaimer: The advice, opinions and statements contained in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC.  What are the principles guiding humanitarians in their work? And do they need a refresh? Today on the podcast, we learn more about the principles guiding humanitarian action. Then we meet Dr. Paul Spiegel, Director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, who is reimagining how the humanitarian system works. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc Music By:  Beat Mekanik /Baby Girl-Free Music Archive/(CC BY)    

Disclaimer: The advice, opinions and statements contained in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. Does artificial intelligence make wars better or worse? That was the provocative question we asked participants at an AI Expo hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project earlier this summer. SCSP is, a non-profit whose mission is to help strengthen U.S. competitiveness in artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies that shape national security, the economy, and the way the US fights wars. We dig into the question with drone enthusiasts, tech CEOs, and Mark Montgomery from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. For the ICRC’s views on new and emerging technologies used in war, please visit us at https://www.icrc.org/en/law-and-policy/new-technologies-and-warfare.  Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on X.com, @IC

Disclaimer: The advice, opinions and statements contained in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. Today we’re doing something different on the podcast.  We’re going to hear from our colleagues at the American Red Cross about their disaster relief response efforts in times of hurricanes. Experts with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say hurricane season isn’t just June through November any more, but year round; much like the American Red Cross’s disaster response. We’re going to walk you through the Red Cross’ response before, during, and after a disaster and talk about their partnerships with non-profits in vulnerable communities to ensure long-term recovery and resilience. Music Credit: Cinematic Film Music - I - Bells and Piano Version.wav by GregorQuendel -- https://freesound.org/s/650342/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe

After 14 years of registering more than 35,000 people as missing, the International Red Cross can finally bring some solace to families on the fate and whereabouts of their missing loved ones in Syria. We sit down with the head of the Syria delegation, Stephan Sakalian, to talk about how the International Committee of the Red Cross is working to provide some consolation to those seeking missing loved ones and what it will take to rebuild the country under the new government.  Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc See bonus materials and additional information on our website.  Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Music for this episode thanks to 687949__seelengold__german-melancholy. Disclaimer: The advice, opinions and statements contained in this podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC.  

It’s been a challenging time to be part of a humanitarian organization in the U.S. The terms: foreign assistance aid and foreign aid have been discussed a lot lately. But, what do they really mean? Can humanitarian aid to help people affected by conflict and violence—the work we do at International Committee of the Red Cross—really meet an America-first agenda?  On today’s episode, ICRC’s Head of the US & Canada Delegation Fabrizio Carboni sits down with Kathryn-Jean Lopez, editor-at-large at the National Review, a U.S. magazine and news website publishing conversative commentary. Music for this episode was provided by: Tension Music Box by Universfield -- https://freesound.org/s/735313/ -- License: Attribution 4.0 Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See bonus materials and additional information on our website.  And follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc      

Since the beginning of time, war has been used as a tool to resolve disagreements. While countless numbers of civilians die in war, the cost of war only gets more expensive each year. In this episode, we look at one of the only programs on the globe that brings together adversaries and allies to talk through ways to reduce the costs of war—in treasure and in lives--and maybe build toward positive peace. We sit down with Thom Geiser, an armed services advisor with the ICRC, and Paul Sotomayor, the deputy division chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command J7. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc      

In this Digital Dilemmas 2.0: Deepfakes episode, we take a look at two poignant questions: “How do we distinguish truth from manipulation? Who owns the truth?“   We tour a deepfake exhibit created by the ICRC and L'École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) at the United Nations. Then, we zoom out and look at how dissemination of harmful narratives projected in images, videos, or other information affect communities in conflict and situations violence. See bonus materials, additional information, and a hearing imparied script of the episode on our website. Please follow, like, rate, and review Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc    

In a country of more than 100 armed groups, the Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the most protracted and forgotten conflicts in the world. In the latest Intercross episode, we ask what the recent hostilities that started around December mean for the more than 4.5 million people who have been forced to flee their homes? And what is the ICRC’s response? In this episode, we hear from Francois Moreillon, ICRC's Head of Delegation in Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC. Please rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc    

We'll be back soon with new episodes.  For now please like, follow, rate, review, and subscribe to Intercross wherever you listen to podcasts. Follow us on X @ICRC_dc Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See archived episodes, bonus materials, and additional information on our website.        

In 2017, a battle raged in Mosul, as Iraqi armed forces and their international supporters fought to dislodge Islamic State fighters from the city. Almost 2 million people—half of Mosul’s population--fled from the fighting. During the battle, over 9000 civilians were killed and more than 130,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. In the latest episode, we hear from the staff at one of the hospitals decimated by the fighting. Then we turn to our team in Mosul and ask: How do largely populated cities like Mosul, after so much destruction and human tragedy, carry on after the conflict ends? See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.   Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc  

Following the end of the Islamic State Group’s caliphate in Mosul, Iraq in 2017, hundreds of women and children were detained in facilities throughout Iraq and Syria, and left in a state of limbo, not knowing when or if they would be released and repatriated into third-party countries. In this episode, we meet one family that has at least partly managed to leave detention and the war behind them to find a home in the Kyrgyz Republic with the help of their host community. We then speak to Elena Esanu, the ICRC’s deputy protection coordinator in Kyrgyzstan, to talk about how the ICRC is working in these host communities to build acceptance and help this family and others reintegrate into society. We ask Elena whether this family’s reintegration experience is a blueprint for other countries of origin to follow for families who remain stranded and separated. See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on X.com, @ICRC_dc      

While media images showed the initial destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam leaving thousands of homes underwater and civilians without electricity or clean drinking water, it wasn’t able to show the unexploded ordnances lurking under the surface, affecting untold numbers of people. Today go to the Kherson Region, which has been heavily impacted unexploded ordnances, and hear from civilians and a Ukrainian Red Cross worker on the ground about how the contamination of landmines has frozen every day life. Then we turn to an interview with the Head of Weapons Contamination in Kyiv, Andy Duncan, to explain how this work is the very core of the ICRC’s mandate. See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on Twitter @ICRC_dc. You can also follow our team in Ukraine on X.com, formerly known as Twitter, @ICRC_UA to learn more about our work there.    

Today, we have an archived episode for you from last year called “Inside the Central Tracing Agency.” It’s a 150-year-old division of the ICRC that today is a crucial resource for families searching for loved ones gone missing due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, or along the migration route.  We hope to be back in the New Year with all new episodes for you. So stayed tuned and enjoy! See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on X.com @ICRC_dc        

The level of armed violence in Haiti—akin to what we see in areas of conflict around the world—has had a direct and devastating impact on the population living in and around the capital of Port-au-Prince. For about the last two years, these neighborhoods have been living under protracted armed violence and suffer from the absence of basic services like safe drinking water, and emergency healthcare. In this episode, we hear from a Haitian Red Cross volunteer about their work on an ambulance service despite the violence and lack of medical infrastructure. And then we turn to an interview with Mickael Payet, the former ICRC health coordinator in Haiti, to talk about how we work with HRC volunteers in communities to ensure access to emergency health service when people need it most. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on X.com @ICRC_dc See bonus materials and additional information on our website.        

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains sounds of an explosion and may be disturbing to some listeners.  Digital dilemmas surrounding internet connectivity, artificial intelligence, and data surveillance are becoming more ubiquitous in our everyday lives as technology advances. It’s difficult to keep pace with those changes. But now picture yourself with one of these digital dilemmas in the midst of an armed conflict or other situation of violence anywhere in the world. This week on the podcast, how do technologies affect our choices and options in a crisis? And, what is the International Committee of the Red Cross doing to alleviate some of these issues? We walk through a hypothetical scenario based on real-life stories with our senior advisor on digital technology and data protection, Laura Walker McDonald, and then interview Philippe Marc Stoll, ICRC’s senior techplomacy delegate in Geneva. If you liked this episode, please leave a review on your favorite podcasting platform and then send it to us. Our emai

Welcome to the 2022 season of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Intercross: The Podcast. If you’re new to the podcast, our goal is to delve into the rules of war and takes you to the frontlines of some of the most inaccessible conflicts in the world, where the ICRC and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement work to neutrally and independently respond to emergencies. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Follow us on Twitter @ICRC_dc

In this episode, we learn about the Ubumwe Community Center in Gisenyi, Rwanda, their motto, “disability is not inability,” and the importance of inclusion, especially in communities affected by violence. We first hear from one of the center’s student musicians about how the center’s music program has given him opportunities to perform for others. We then turn to Subhash Sinha, the ICRC’s Physical Rehabilitation Program Manager for east Africa to hear about our work providing prosthetics and orthotics and supporting inclusionary sports programs. See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode. Follow us on Twitter @ICRC_dc      

Intense hostilities in Yemen have raged for more than seven years. The needs are severe and deepen by the minute with more than two-thirds of Yemen’s people in need of humanitarian assistance.  All, while essential services are on the brink of collapse and people are losing hope as the conflict appears to drag endlessly. In these past decades, the ICRC has been providing a wide array of humanitarian assistance including support to hospitals, improving access to clean water, and food parcels and relief items to people who have been displaced. However, one of the more challenging activities the ICRC facilitates in Yemen is monitoring the treatment and living conditions of tens of thousands of people—mostly men and some as young as 13--detained due to the prolonged conflict. We also work to facilitate the release and reunification of the detainees with their families when agreed upon by parties to the conflict. In this episode, we speak with Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC’s head of the Middle East region, who tells the

Following the change of government in August 2021, most of the health workers in Afghanistan were no longer getting paid. Medicines were no longer available, and many health professionals deserted the country’s hospitals in search of incomes. As a result, patients were sometimes refused access to treatment and the overall healthcare system in the country was on the verge of coming to a full stop. In this episode, we ask, what does the future of sustainable healthcare look like for millions of Afghans in need of lifesaving healthcare? We speak with Dr. Mariam Moksudi, a gynecologist at Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul and one of the 10,500 health care staff the ICRC is supporting through the Hospital Resilience Project. Then we turn to Ana Lucia Bueno, ICRC’s health coordinator in Kabul, who explains how the ICRC has been supporting hospitals for decades and began the project after the change of government in August last year. See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our news

Prolonged drought, conflict, global inflation, and now a shortage of grain due to the Ukraine conflict. Somalia is particularly hard hit. Over 7 million people are in urgent need of food and water—that’s half the country’s population and equal to the populations of Los Angeles and Chicago, combined. The numbers are unfathomable. They represent millions of human stories and life experiences that don’t make headlines. Despite all of this, the ICRC has been addressing food insecurity for decades in Somalia, offering emergency assistance in places where armed conflict and violence is an everyday reality. But there’s an increasing need for alternative solutions, to improve people’s resilience over the longer term. In this episode we speak with Alyona Synenko, an ICRC spokesperson for east Africa, explains the current situation on our show today. And then, we’ll hear from our colleague Mohamud Abdille Abdi, to learn about one emergency assistance program—and how it works on the ground. See bonus materials and addit