The Civilian Protection Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

This episode records a conversation between Rolien and Udo, the Executive Directors of PAX and CIVIC respectively. With Annie, they discuss the landscape and main challenges of civilian protection (work) today, the worrying trends they see, as well as what keeps them going. This is the last episode in the Civilian Protection series.

Guests: Udo Jude Ilo, Interim Executive Director at CIVIC, and Rolien Sasse, Executive Director at PAX

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. 

You can find a full transcript of this episode here.

This episode includes clips from previous Civilian Protection Podcast episodes, specifically episodes 1 and 6 (season 1), 7 (season 2), and 13, 14 and 15 (season 3).

To learn more about the work of CIVIC or PAX, see: 

• CIVIC website
• PAX website
• PAX Protection of Civilians website

On October 7, Hamas attacks in Israel killed an estimated 1,200 people and took over 200 people hostage. The Israeli response, including intense bombardments and a ground offensive in Gaza, has been extremely destructive, reportedly killing over 13,000 Palestinians including 5,500 children as of the time of this episode’s recording. In this episode, Emily Tripp, Director of the casualty counting organization Airwars, joins us to make sense of these numbers and explain the process and importance of casualty recording. 

Guest: Emily Tripp, Director of Airwars

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. 

You can find a full transcript of this episode here.

This episode includes clips from FOX 26 Houston, France 24, ABC News, US Defense Department, NPR, and Al Arabiya English.

To learn more about civilian harm in Gaza, see:

• Airwars, Israel and Gaza 2023
• CIVIC, Civilians in Gaza Running out of Self-Protection Options
• PAX: Dutch Government, Don’t Give Israel Carte Blanche
• Just Security, Law and Policy Guide to US Arms Transfers to Israel
• Every Casualty Counts, Casualty Recorders Network

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Since that day, thousands of civilians have been killed or injured and over ten million people have been internally displaced or fled Ukraine as refugees. In this episode, our CIVIC colleagues in Ukraine share their experiences living through the war, the dangers facing civilians, and what must be done to protect them.

Thank you for tuning in to Season 1 of the Civilian Protection Podcast. Please help us by filling out a quick listener survey so we can learn more about our audience and what you want to hear from us as we work on Season 2: https://forms.gle/LyrrM8UNR5s9kRK99.

Guests and co-hosts: 

• Beatrice Godefroy (Europe Program Director, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC))
• Oksana and Liza (members of the CIVIC Ukraine team)
• Annie Shiel (US Policy & Advocacy Senior Advisor, CIVIC)
• Marc Garlasco (Military Advisor Protection of Civilians, PAX)

This episode included audio clips from The Independent and MSNBC.

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Annie Shiel, Beatrice Godefroy, and CIVIC’s Ukraine Team, with assistance from Marc Garlasco, Monica Zuraw, Ari Tolany, and Selma van Oostwaard. 

In June 2015, Dutch F-16s carried out an airstrike on an ISIS ammunition factory in the Iraqi town of Hawija, causing considerable harm beyond what was anticipated. In this episode, Mohammed Abdulkareem Khthar, Head of Programs at Iraqi NGO Al-Ghad, and Dutch journalist Judit Neurink explain the impact of the airstrike on the people in Hawija, both in the immediate aftermath of the strike and in the years that followed, and why they think it's time for acknowledgement from the Dutch government.

Guests:

• Mohammed Abdulkareem Khthar (Head of Programs, Al-Ghad) 
• Dutch journalist Judit Neurink 

Co-hosts: 

• Saba Azeem (Project Lead Human Security Survey Iraq, PAX)
• Marc Garlasco (Military Advisor Protection of Civilians, PAX)
• Annie Shiel (US Policy & Advocacy Senior Advisor, Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC))

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Marc Garlasco, Erin Bijl, and Saba Azeem, with assistance from Annie Shiel, Monica Zuraw, Ari Tolany, and Selma van Oostwaard.

In August 2021, U.S. and international forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. In this episode, we sit down with Shaharzad Akbar, Chairperson for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, to explore the legacy of civilian harm left behind and what it means for Afghan civilians moving forward.

Guest: Shaharzad Akbar, Chairperson for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission

This episode included clips from Al Jazeera, BBC, CBS, CNBC, Today and Pentagon via ABC News.

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Marc Garlasco and Annie Shiel with assistance from Monica Zuraw, Ari Tolany, Erin Bell, andSelma van Oostwaard.

A people-centered approach to UN Peacekeeping makes sense as a concept-- listen and learn from the communities you are mandated to protect -- but how is it actually implemented in practice? Speaking with experts from the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and United Nations Headquarters, this episode explores the need for applying a people-centered approach in peacekeeping contexts and the complexities of effectively implementing this approach.

Guests: 

• Kessy Ekomo-Soignet (Founder and Executive Director of youth-led NGO URU and General Director at Peace Development Watch)
• Marco Donati (Civil Affairs Team Leader, UN Department of Peace Operations)
• Geoffrey L. Duke (Director, South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms (SSANSA)) 

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX.  This episode was written by Marc Garlasco, Annie Shiel, Selma van Oostwaard, Hans Row, Monica Zuraw, and Ari Tolany.

In Somalia, a family sits down to eat. Before dinner is over, their lives have been irreversibly changed. A U.S. airstrike had hit their home. Unfortunately, this is not an unfamiliar scene for civilians living in conflict-affected areas. Speaking with experts from Somalia and Yemen, this episode explores what happens after harm, and the challenges civilians face trying to get answers, recognition, and amends.

Guests: 

• Bonyan Gamal (Accountability and Redress Officer, Mwatana for Human Rights) 
• Abdullahi Hassan (Researcher, Amnesty International)

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Marc Garlasco and Annie Shiel with assistance from Monica Zuraw, Dan Mahanty, Erin Bell, Selma van Oostwaard, and Clark Orr.

In 2014, ISIS, also known as Daesh, seized the city of Mosul, Iraq, and a battle involving ISIS, American-led coalition forces, and national Iraqi forces ensued. It was then that Iraqi historian Omar Mohammed began to document cases of civilian harm on his anonymous blog, Mosul Eye, risking his life to ensure history would remember their names.

Guest: Omar Mohammed (Mosul Eye)

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Marc Garlasco and Annie Shiel with assistance from Monica Zuraw, Dan Mahanty, Erin Bell, and Selma van Oostwaard. You can access the full interview with Omar Mohammed (Mosul Eye) under bonus materials on www.protectionsofcivilians.org and www.civiliansinconflict.org.

This episode included clips from Al Jazeera, BBC. 

Hosts Annie Shiel, Senior Advisor for US Policy and Advocacy at CIVIC, and Marc Garlasco, Military Advisor at PAX, introduce the Civilian Protection Podcast. This podcast, brought to you by CIVIC and PAX, shares the voices of people affected by war, the dangers they face, the choices they make, and what can be done to better protect them — because we believe it’s time to put them at the center of the discussion.

On September 19, in a 24-hour lightning military operation, Azerbaijan seized Nagorno-Karabakh, the disputed region that has been an epicenter of conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In the days and weeks that followed, tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians – nearly the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh – have fled. In this episode, Alissa de Carbonnel, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia at the International Crisis Group, joins us to discuss the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and the humanitarian crisis that has resulted. 

Guest: Alissa de Carbonnel, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia, International Crisis Group

This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. 

You can find a full transcript of this episode here.

To learn more about the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, see:

• International Crisis Group: Responding to the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Nagorno-Karabakh