Think Change

Around the world, countries are feeling the effects of the ‘triple shock’ caused by the Ukraine war – the perfect storm of economic, energy and food risks. A looming food crisis could have devastating consequences globally, exacerbating inequality and further slowing the recovery from the pandemic. In this episode, we take a step back to understand what’s really going on here. How is the war impac...

French President Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen in the second round of the country’s presidential election, with both candidates doing better than expected in the first round. We delve into the policy positions of each of the candidates and explore potential implications for the economy, Europe-Africa relations, migration, peace and security, and more. How might their campaigns evolve to...

This horrific war is displacing millions of people, challenging the region’s stability and threatening peace and security in our time. But what role has disinformation played to get us to this point? We hear a lot about Russia’s methods to disrupt narratives, paint false pictures and spread conspiracies. But how do they do it? What’s the significance of it? And how should we really be responding t...

In the fifth and final episode of this series, we explore how young refugees cope when multiple problems or sets of needs collide – or intersectionality. We hear from Christophe, a 13 year-old Congolese refugee who lives in a two-roomed house in Rwanda with his grandparents, six sisters and three brothers. Christophe has a physical disability and can’t walk. He longs to play with the other childre...

Adolescent mental health has become a major casualty of conflict, persecution, and climate crisis. Adolescents who have had to leave everything they know behind to flee to safety are often forced to take on the pressures and responsibilities of adulthood, before their time. In episode 4 of GAGE’s podcast series, Adolescents in Crisis: Unheard Voices, we hear from 18-year-old Syrian refugee Kareem...

According to the UN, up to 650 million women and girls were married under the age of 18. Most are in countries deemed fragile states marked by conflict, climate crisis, and weak institutions. In episode three, we learn about the issues adolescent girls face with violence and child marriage. We hear from Sabreen*, an adolescent refugee from Syria who was married at the age of 16 and now lives in a...

The UN blueprint, the Global Compact for Refugees, has education as one of its top priorities. But despite this, many adolescents are excluded from schools and denied a proper education when they are forced to flee. In episode two, we focus on this crisis of education, and compare the plight of young refugees who have settled in Bangladesh and Jordan. We speak to Yasin*, a 14 year old refugee who...

The first episode sets the global scene for adolescents in crisis. We talk to Khalid*, a 13 year old Syrian refugee living in a tent in Jordan with his family, and Fatuma*, a mother of two small children who was brutally forced from her home at the age of 18. She lives in a government-supported centre for internally displaced people south of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Like the many thousands of youn...

Humanitarian Practice Network: A conversation on 'Accelerating localisation through partnerships' by Overseas Development Institute

In this special episode, we're live from New York City at the UN Climate Action Summit, discussing the intersection of conflict, climate change and disaster risk reduction. Interviewees:• Eliot Levine, Director, Environment, Energy and Climate, Mercy Corps• Anne Hammill, Director, Resilience, International Institute for Sustainable Development• Alec Crawford, Senior Policy Advisor and Lead, E...

In this episode, we share six logical and also some radical ideas for how we can improve the support provided to communities who are living with the risk of disasters while also contending with conflict. Interviewees:•Chitra Nagarajan, Senior Advisor, Centre for Civilians in Conflict•Oenone Chadburn, Head of Humanitarian Support, Tearfund•Kassem Chalaan, Disaster Risk Reduction Programme Manager,...

In this episode, we focus on the politics of disaster risk reduction policies and strategies and how disaster risk manifests on the ground. We draw on observations from research in Chad, Colombia and Lebanon to reveal the realities of disaster risk reduction in conflict-affected contexts. Interviewees:•Dr Ilan Kelman, Reader, UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction•Ms Mami Mitzouri, Special...

‘When disasters and conflict collide’ is a podcast series that explores how conflict increases people’s vulnerabilities to disasters around the world. In this episode, we explain why disasters are not natural, how conflict has been the elephant in the diplomatic meeting room for decades and what’s being done to rewrite a better future for affected people. Interviewees:•Banak Joshua Dei Wei, Direct...

Constructive deconstruction is a three-part podcast series where change makers pitch radical new visions to shake up the future of humanitarian aid. This episode redefines ‘crisis’ and the humanitarian role, and pitches a vision of a whole-of-problem crisis response based on humanitarian principles. Interviewees:-Christina Bennett, Head of Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), ODI-Marc Dubois, author,...

Constructive Deconstruction is a three-part podcast series where change makers pitch radical new visions to shake up the future of humanitarian aid. This episode examines how technology is disrupting power structures in the humanitarian sector, drawing on real life examples from across the world including the Mediterranean refugee crisis. Interviewees:-Christina Bennett, Head of Humanitarian Polic...

Constructive Deconstruction is a three-part podcast series where change makers pitch radical new visions to shake up the future of humanitarian aid. This episode explores the pitch for a humanitarian social economy based on opportunities for displaced people, and unpacks the potential of cooperatives and community investment funds with insights from Syria. Interviewees:-Christina Bennett, Head of...

This episode introduces the concept of gender norms and explores how they are changing. It looks at gender norms through a historic lens to demonstrate that while change is slow, it is happening. Part 1: What are gender norms? Part 2: Change happens In this podcast, we speak to:- Dr Caroline Harper, Head of Programme/Principal Research Fellow, ODI- Dr Nicola Jones, Principal Research Fellow, ODI a...

This episode unpacks some of the many challenges associated with changing gender norms. Part 1: The paradoxical nature of change creates challengesPart 2: What are the wider conditions needed to facilitate change? Part 3: Even if change is happening, there are powerful forces pushing backInterviewees (May also appear in the previous and following episode)Carol Watson, independent researcher Dr Flo...

We explore three distinct areas of opportunity to change gender norms: policy and the law, communications, and education. We conclude the series with a reflection on the nature of gendered norms and provide opportunity for listeners to individually act on the lessons learned. Part 1: Policies and laws to empower adolescent girlsPart 2: Communications, girls’ clubs and normsPart 3: Girls’ education...