In 2017, a battle raged in Mosul, as Iraqi armed forces and their international supporters fought to dislodge Islamic State fighters from the city. Almost 2 million people—half of Mosul’s population--fled from the fighting. During the battle, over 9000 civilians were killed and more than 130,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. In the latest episode, we hear from the staff at one of the hospitals decimated by the fighting. Then we turn to our team in Mosul and ask: How do largely populated cities like Mosul, after so much destruction and human tragedy, carry on after the conflict ends? See bon ..read more

While media images showed the initial destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam leaving thousands of homes underwater and civilians without electricity or clean drinking water, it wasn’t able to show the unexploded ordnances lurking under the surface, affecting untold numbers of people. Today go to the Kherson Region, which has been heavily impacted unexploded ordnances, and hear from civilians and a Ukrainian Red Cross worker on the ground about how the contamination of landmines has frozen every day life. Then we turn to an interview with the Head of Weapons Contamination in Kyiv, Andy Duncan, to ..read more

Today, we have an archived episode for you from last year called “Inside the Central Tracing Agency.” It’s a 150-year-old division of the ICRC that today is a crucial resource for families searching for loved ones gone missing due to conflict, violence, natural disasters, or along the migration route.  We hope to be back in the New Year with all new episodes for you. So stayed tuned and enjoy! See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  Follow us on X.com @ICRC_dc         ..read more

The level of armed violence in Haiti—akin to what we see in areas of conflict around the world—has had a direct and devastating impact on the population living in and around the capital of Port-au-Prince. For about the last two years, these neighborhoods have been living under protracted armed violence and suffer from the absence of basic services like safe drinking water, and emergency healthcare. In this episode, we hear from a Haitian Red Cross volunteer about their work on an ambulance service despite the violence and lack of medical infrastructure. And then we turn to an interview with Mi ..read more

TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains sounds of an explosion and may be disturbing to some listeners.  Digital dilemmas surrounding internet connectivity, artificial intelligence, and data surveillance are becoming more ubiquitous in our everyday lives as technology advances. It’s difficult to keep pace with those changes. But now picture yourself with one of these digital dilemmas in the midst of an armed conflict or other situation of violence anywhere in the world. This week on the podcast, how do technologies affect our choices and options in a crisis? And, what is the International ..read more

Welcome to the 2022 season of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s Intercross: The Podcast. If you’re new to the podcast, our goal is to delve into the rules of war and takes you to the frontlines of some of the most inaccessible conflicts in the world, where the ICRC and the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement work to neutrally and independently respond to emergencies. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss an episode.  See bonus materials and additional information on our website. Follow us on Twitter @ICRC_dc ..read more

In this episode, we learn about the Ubumwe Community Center in Gisenyi, Rwanda, their motto, “disability is not inability,” and the importance of inclusion, especially in communities affected by violence. We first hear from one of the center’s student musicians about how the center’s music program has given him opportunities to perform for others. We then turn to Subhash Sinha, the ICRC’s Physical Rehabilitation Program Manager for east Africa to hear about our work providing prosthetics and orthotics and supporting inclusionary sports programs. See bonus materials and additional information o ..read more

Intense hostilities in Yemen have raged for more than seven years and follow a decade of localized fighting. The needs are severe and deepen by the minute with more than two-thirds of Yemen’s people in need of humanitarian assistance.  All, while essential services are on the brink of collapse and people are losing hope as the conflict appears to drag endlessly. In these past decades, the ICRC has been providing a wide array of humanitarian assistance including support to hospitals, improving access to clean water, and food parcels and relief items to people who have been displaced. Howev ..read more

Following the change of government in August 2021, most of the health workers in Afghanistan were no longer getting paid. Medicines were no longer available, and many health professionals deserted the country’s hospitals in search of incomes. As a result, patients were sometimes refused access to treatment and the overall healthcare system in the country was on the verge of coming to a full stop. In this episode, we ask, what does the future of sustainable healthcare look like for millions of Afghans in need of lifesaving medical care? We speak with Dr. Mariam Moksudi, a gynecologist at Rabia ..read more

Almost 40 years after the Falkland Islands/Malvinas conflict, we look back on the ICRC’s efforts to identify unknown soldiers. Figuring who these unknown soldiers were took decades to resolve. But in 2012, the ICRC received a request from the Argentine government to help identify their remains. Then in 2016 with the ICRC as a neutral intermediary, Argentina and the UK negotiated and signed an agreement known as the Humanitarian Project Plan. The crucial work of exhuming the graves and identifying remains fell to Luis Bernardo Fondebrider, co-founder of the Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Tea ..read more