Intercross: The Podcast

In this episode, we're going to learn about how the ICRC works with what are known in Mexico as, colectivos, or groups of families and friends who unite to search for their missing loved ones and defend their rights. We speak with Beatriz Adriana Martinez about her husband, Juan Alvarez Gil's disappearance in 2013, to understand what a family goes through when a loved one goes missing and how thes...

This mini episode kick starts the 2022 season of Intercross: The Podcast. In this episode, we rewind the tape and listen to an interview with Florence Anselmo, Head of the Central Tracing Agency, a division of the ICRC that's been a crucial resource for families affected by conflict, disaster, and other situations of violence to restore contact with their loved ones. Florence helps break down what...

More than 10 years of brutal conflict in Syria has left most of the population in need of assistance and without access to basic services in places all over the country. In part one of our special series on Syria, Intercross heard the stories of two Syrians living in Aleppo, Mouna Shawakh and Rami Asfar, in their own words. In part two, we zoom into Northeast Syria, in a camp called Al Hol. Today...

After 10 years of conflict in Syria, thousands of people are missing, hundreds of thousands are dead, and millions of people are displaced. In the past 12 months, millions more Syrians have been pushed into deeper hunger and poverty. In Northeast Syria, we're seeing the world's most complex child protection crisis unfolding in front of us. In two special episodes, Intercross shares stories of thos...

After 10 years of conflict in Syria, thousands of people are missing, hundreds of thousands are dead, and millions of people are displaced. The past 12 months has seen millions more Syrians pushed into deeper hunger and poverty. For young people especially, this has been a decade of savage loss, marked by missed milestones, stolen futures, immense economic hardship and a profound psychological tol...

Long after returning home to the US, a staggering number of veterans suffer from untreated depression, PTSD, trauma and other mental health conditions, which in some cases, run deep. A connection is unclear, but some of these veterans also become incarcerated and must learn to cope with these issues behind bars. The American Red Cross is seeking to help them through a resiliency program that sends...

World leaders have converged on the Scottish city of Glasgow for COP26—the United Nations climate change conference. The stakes could not be higher. Sea levels are rising. Heatwaves, droughts, floods, and wildfires are more frequent, more intense, and threatening the survival of humanity. In a brand-new episode of Intercross, we hear from our communications colleague in London, Sam Smith, who's be...

Digital technologies – both their presence and absence during crises – are impacting humanitarian action and civilians' lives. They are also impacting the means and method of warfare - leading to a "digitalization of armed conflicts". In this podcast, Intercross host Elizabeth Rushing speaks with Saman Rejali, ICRC Law and Policy Advisor based in Geneva, and Yannick Heiniger, Deputy CEO of swissne...

The average time that the ICRC has been present in its ten largest operations is 42 years. With these seemingly endless wars come layers of humanitarian consequences, including the cumulative effects of hostilities on infrastructure and healthcare systems, prolonged displacement, increased barriers to accessing essential services, and interruptions to education. The duration of humanitarian operat...

Contemporary crises and armed conflicts are increasingly complex, with humanitarian needs made even more acute by the protracted and urban nature of conflicts, the challenges of influencing the behavior of warring parties, and the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. With 20,000 staff present in 104 countries, the ICRC is mandated by the international community, through the Geneva Conventio...

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned nearly every aspect of society on its head. Law enforcement agencies and services play a crucial role in their countries and communities supporting national authorities in various ways, including to control the disease alongside their normal daily duties of serving and protecting their communities. In this podcast, Intercross host Elizabeth Rushing speaks with Calu...

What are the humanitarian consequences of urban warfare, and how can international humanitarian law (IHL) reduce them? The conversation continues with ICRC advisors Caroline Baudot, Stephen Kilpatrick and Abby Zeith. Hosted by Elizabeth Rushing.

What are the humanitarian consequences of urban warfare, and how can IHL reduce them? A conversation with Cordula Droege, ICRC's Chief Legal Officer. Hosted by Elizabeth Rushing.

COVID has turned our world upside down and amplified challenges on a global scale. Issues like the spread of disinformation and the role of behavioral change to create real impact in humanitarian situations were significant before the pandemic but in today's reality, they have become nothing short of critical. In this episode of the podcast, we have several guests to discuss the role and influence...

This week, Intercross the Podcast has a special Audio Diary from Yemen. It features Tobias Ehret, ICRC's Field Team Leader, and Samar Al-Aghbari, ICRC's Protection Field Officer as they travel from Aden to the Ad Durayhimi district, a remote area very close to the frontlines for a distribution. The trip took some ten days, and their diaries give insight into the intense work and collaboration need...

With over 24 million in need of aid and only half of its health facilities functioning, Yemen is the world's single largest humanitarian crisis. In this episode of the podcast, we sit down with Franz Rauchenstein, the outgoing head of ICRC in Sana'a. He has served in South Sudan, Afghanistan and the DRC over the course of his 25 years with the organization but recently called Yemen 'the worst cris...

What is acceptable and what is prohibited in armed conflict? The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 form the foundation of international humanitarian law and provide a framework setting out the answers to that question. In the 1950s, the ICRC published a set of commentaries on these Conventions, giving practical guidance on their implementation. But to reflect the developments in law and practice sin...

During armed conflicts, other situations of violence, natural disasters, or migration, countless people go missing, causing great anguish for their families and loved ones, who often make desperate attempts to find them. Waiting to learn about a missing person's fate and whereabouts means living in limbo, between hope and despair, facing the pain of ongoing uncertainty and unable to grieve. Such u...

To mark World Humanitarian Day, in this episode podcast we have Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Richard Albright. Within the US State Department, he's responsible for humanitarian policy, advocacy and assistance programs, and directing nearly $2 billion US dollars for humanitarian response. The ICRC works with a lot of donors as a neutral a...

More than 700,000 people have died from COVID worldwide—and that number goes up every day. Accompanying these deaths is grief, but the normal methods of mourning are often not available to family and loved ones. Memorials are held virtually, often those dying do so with only health care workers by their side. People are experiencing grief in different ways, many of which are unique to this moment...

This year marks the 60th birthday of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For the last 25+ years, the country has been embroiled in conflict due to the massive refugee crisis and spillover from the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The armed conflict and violence in the DRC has affected thousands of families and created a deteriorating humanitarian situation. Brutal clashes between groups has had very ser...

In conflict and post-conflict contexts, access to assistance and protection is constantly contested, particularly for vulnerable populations such as the internally displaced. With the additional challenge of COVID19, this access is even more complicated, challenging the ability of humanitarian actors and creating second effects for those fleeing. In this episode of the podcast, a follow-up convers...

Mali sits in the middle of West Africa, with most of the country situated within in the Sahel desert. It is a key operation for the ICRC, where we've worked since 1982 and held a delegation since 2013—falling typically within the top 15 largest global operations budget-wise, and top 5 in Africa. Since 2012, the country has experienced escalated conflict and a resulting dire humanitarian situation....

To say that COVID19 has had global reaching impacts is an understatement. But for those living in Syria, the pandemic reaches the country at a time when ten years of destructive conflict has led to mass population displacement, and a once strong health system is in a precarious state. Half of all health facilities are now out of service or partially functioning. The country has experienced an econ...

Each year, armed conflict disrupts millions of lives. It also disrupts the infrastructure that makes daily life possible, such as damage to water supplies. The protracted conflict in Libya, now going on 9+ years, has made clean water a luxury for many. Close to 70 % of the Libyan population depends on the Man Made River, a gigantic water supply pipeline that draws water from the aquifers in the so...