The secretaries general of 21 European Red Cross Societies, along with IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy, have called for more compassionate action on behalf of migrants after yet another series of sea disasters claimed the lives of thousands of people in the Mediterranean Sea. “We need to recognize that the plight of migrants also constitutes a humanitarian emergency,” the secretaries general wrote in a public opinion piece, published in May. The secretaries general rejected the argument that easing the journey could be ‘pull factor’ that encourages even more migration: “We in the Red Cross urge our governments to rise above such rhetoric, recognize that migration is a fact of life, and meet their obligations under international law.”
It’s the stuff of science fiction: machines that make decisions about who and when to kill. Referred to as “autonomous weapons”, they’re already in use to some degree. But as more sophisticated systems are being developed we wanted to an expert in the field about whether such systems comply with international humanitarian law and what it means for humanity to give machines the power over human life and death.
In this episode, we talk with humanitarian communicator Kathy Mueller who produced our first magazine podcast series, The Wildfire Diaries, about massive wildfires in Northern Canada in 2017. We talk about that series, her many international missions, and the big changes in humanitarian communications since she began with the Canadian Red Cross almost 20 years ago.
In this episode, we talk about the power of storytelling to inform and inspire. “Storytelling is a fundamental aspect of human communication,” says our guest Prodip, a volunteer and multi-media storyteller for the Bangladesh Red Crescent. “It inspires us to be a hero of our own community.” We also speak with one such community hero, Dalal al-Taji, a longtime volunteer and advocate for inclusion of people with disabilities in emergencies response. “In disasters. persons with disabilities sometimes get forgotten.”
As of today, 50 countries have ratified a treaty that bans nuclear weapons, a significant milestone that adds momentum to the movement toward the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons.
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