The UN’s 20th-century diplomacy for 21st-century problems | Rethinking Humanitarianism

As world leaders gather for the 80th UN General Assembly, we’re digging into the past to illuminate the present. What UN reforms are needed? Historian Thant Myint-U talks about how the UN became sidetracked from genuine multilateralism, where it should focus, and why the selection of the next secretary-general in 2026 is crucial. Guest: Thant Myint-U, historian and author of “Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World.” ____ Got a question or feedback? Email [email protected] or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism. ____ SHOW NOTES Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror UN 80 UN General Assembly High-level Week 2025

As the genocide in Gaza continues, humanitarian organisations face mounting pressure and unprecedented constraints. Famine has been declared, access remains heavily restricted, and international mechanisms have failed to prevent mass civilian suffering. Frustration is growing across the sector – with some questioning whether traditional humanitarian approaches are fit for purpose in the face of atrocity crimes. This event brought together humanitarian leaders, legal experts, and Palestinian voices to reflect on the urgent question: What should humanitarian actors do to stop the genocide in Gaza? The discussion examined the limits and responsibilities of humanitarian action, what humanitarian efficacy means in this context, the risks and consequences of different forms of engagement, and the potential for alternative strategies when established mechanisms appear paralysed. Ahead of the UN General Assembly, this event provided a critical space for reflection and debate.  The event was moderated by TNH CEO Tammam Aloudat, who was joined by: Freddie Carver, Director of the Humanitarian Policy Group, ODI Global Dr Shahd Hammouri, Palestinian-Jordanian lecturer in International Law and Legal Theory, University of Kent Dr Philip Proudfoot, Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, and Co-founder of The Accountability Archive

When is the UN a force for good, and when is it a fig leaf? CEO Tammam Aloudat speaks with Mark Leon Goldberg and Anjali Dayal – hosts of the podcast To Save Us From Hell – about the global rise in illiberalism. They discuss the crisis of how liberalism is practiced, what it means for the future of humanitarianism, and what a better way forward might look like. Guests:  Mark Leon Goldberg, editor-in-chief of UN Dispatch, host of Global Dispatches and co-host of To Save Us From Hell Anjali Dayal, author, assistant professor of international politics at Fordham University, and co-host of To Save Us From Hell ____ Got a question or feedback? Email [email protected] or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism. ____ SHOW NOTES UNDispatch Global Dispatches To Save Us From Hell UN chief on Ukraine: Military offensive by Russia is wrong | United Nations  

“It's not just our finances that are under attack, but it's also our morale and our legitimacy.” In a fresh season of the podcast, TNH CEO Tammam Aloudat, our new host, sits down with people who have something important to say about the future of aid. In this episode, he’s joined by the UN’s emergency aid chief, Tom Fletcher, to discuss the humanitarian reset, the need for more mental health support given “enormous amounts of trauma”, and whether he should be the last white British man in the role.  Guests: Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, United Nations ____ Got a question or feedback? Email [email protected] or post on social media using the hashtag #RethinkingHumanitarianism.  ____ SHOW NOTES If not a humanitarian “reset”, then what? Reset, reform, or repeat? Humanitarianism’s reboot searches for the right script Inklings | Why a reset is not reform My husband was nearly killed trying to get aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation What’s Unsaid | Aid worker trauma is preventable  So…Yalla, Bye

On 7 October 2023, Rita Baroud was a 20-year-old in Gaza thinking about doing a master’s degree. Today, evacuated to France after surviving nearly 20 months of genocide, she’s a journalist who recently met with Macron and told him, “You have to stop this bloodshed”.  In a special What’s Unsaid episode, she speaks to Eric Reidy, our editor managing coverage of Gaza. They have been working together for the past year on a series of first-person articles about how lives in Gaza have been torn apart. These have now been collected into a series titled “Don’t look away”. Please take a moment to read them.  What’s Unsaid is a podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around the world’s conflicts and disasters.   

Power Shift is an experiment in dialogue that puts decision-makers in aid and philanthropy and those affected by their decisions in honest, one-on-one conversations about the aid sector’s inequalities. ___ In the latest episode of Power Shift, Hafsar Tameesuddin, a stateless Rohingya refugee and LGBTQ+ rights activist, and Raouf Mazou, one of the UN refugee agency’s highest-ranking officials, navigate the complex dynamics of global refugee protection, the righteous anger of refugees and stateless people, and the challenges of supporting the more than 122 million people around the world forced to leave their homes.  Although their conversations took place before USAID’s dismantlement sent the humanitarian sector into a tailspin, both Mazou’s and Tameesuddin’s proposals for a better refugee response strike right at the heart of the international aid system’s current limitations, calling for more equitable cooperation between global and grassroots organisations, more support for refugee self-reliance, and, consequently, for less reliance on a sector facing major cuts.  “I'm a believer of collective leadership,” Tameesuddin reflected. “In a lot of ways, I feel there is goodwill from UNHCR, from the communities, and all of us. We all want to do good things and want to accomplish something great. “What is missing from my observation is that human interaction and relationship, and really building relationships with the grassroot.” ___ Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube, or search “The New Humanitarian” in your favourite podcast app. You can find transcripts of all podcasts on our website. Are you or anyone you know interested in participating in future Power Shift conversations? Email us with the subject line ‘POWER SHIFT”.

After a decade of fighting jihadist groups in the Sahel – and losing – isn’t it time for governments to try dialogue? Speaking about her research project Negotiating with Islamist and jihadi armed groups: practices, discourses and mechanisms across Asia and Africa, Laura Berlingozzi tells What’s Unsaid host Obi Anyadike she’s detected a “timid openness” from the region's military juntas for dialogue. What’s Unsaid is a podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around the world’s conflicts and disasters.   

Power Shift is an experiment in dialogue that puts decision-makers in aid and philanthropy and those affected by their decisions in honest, one-on-one conversations about the aid sector’s inequalities. ___ What happens when a stateless activist sits down with one of the UN refugee agency’s highest-ranking officials? What if they had the chance to tell him what it’s like to lose everything, to have to depend on aid, and what it would take for refugees to have more agency? Can the decisions he makes in Geneva affect the lives of refugees on the other side of the world? And could their conversation change how those decisions are made? Listen in as Rohingya refugee rights activist Hafsar Tameesuddin and UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Operations Raouf Mazou candidly discuss what needs to change in refugee response, and who has the power to change it.  ___ Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube, or search “The New Humanitarian” in your favourite podcast app. You can find transcripts of all podcasts on our website. Are you or anyone you know interested in participating in future Power Shift conversations? Email us with the subject line ‘POWER SHIFT”.

Daylight abductions of permanent residents. Mass deportations with no due process. Homelessness at a record high. Outbreaks of previously eliminated childhood diseases. Sounds like a humanitarian crisis could be unfolding in the US. “When is the UN going to come in?” asks Carlos Menchaca, a legislator, activist, organiser, and former New York City council member.  What’s Unsaid is a podcast by The New Humanitarian, where we explore open secrets and uncomfortable conversations around the world’s conflicts and disasters.   

Power Shift is an experiment in dialogue that puts decision-makers in aid and philanthropy and those affected by their decisions in honest, one-on-one conversations about the aid sector’s inequalities. ___ In the second episode of Power Shift, we continue our candid conversation between Grand Bargain ambassador Michael Köhler, formerly a senior leader of the EU’s humanitarian aid arm, and Nadine Saba, founder of a Lebanese grassroots NGO. As the global humanitarian system faces unprecedented challenges – from donor cuts to accusations of colonial structures – they explore whether the system can truly be reformed, and if reform is enough. Saba speaks passionately from the front lines, sharing how communities are losing faith in a system that often delivers only "Band-Aid" solutions while failing to address – and often instigating – root causes. Köhler acknowledges the system's shortcomings while defending its foundational merits. “Would anything be better without the Grand Bargain? I think no. Would it be worse without the Grand Bargain? I believe, yes,” Köhler says of the major humanitarian reform process, “because we wouldn't have this kind of platform that reminds us [of] the need to get better, to reform, to open up, to share power.” Saba, who represents Global South NGOs, expressed doubt that there was sufficient will for the Grand Bargain to live up to its potential. "When things get difficult, people go back to old habits,” she argued Saba. “I do see that change is incremental. But I fear that it's getting so much incremental that it's not happening.” Their conversation reveals a fundamental tension between Köhler’s technical approach to humanitarian response, and Saba’s close-range exposure to the politics of crises. As this experiment in dialogue came to a close, Israel’s campaign of airstrikes in Lebanon loomed, lending greater urgency to Saba and Köhler’s attempts to come to a common understanding of what it would take to shift power in humanitarian response. ___ Subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube, or search “The New Humanitarian” in your favourite podcast app. You can find transcripts of all podcasts on our website. Are you or anyone you know interested in participating in future Power Shift conversations? Email us with the subject line ‘POWER SHIFT”.