The Civilian Protection Podcast: Recent Episodes
CIVIC & PAX
Every day, 100 civilians are killed in conflict and countless more are harmed, often without recognition, recourse, or justice. Yet their perspectives are repeatedly missing from the stories we tell about war and the way we think about war’s costs.
The Civilian Protection 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.
Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) envisions a world in which no civilian is harmed in conflict. We support communities affected by conflict in their quest for protection and strengthen the resolve and capacity of armed actors to prevent and respond to civilian harm.
PAX works to protect civilians living in conflict. Our purpose is to reduce civilian harm, end armed violence and build sustainable peace around the world. To achieve this, we work closely with civil society and authorities at local and international levels to put civilian perspectives first.
In Season 3 of the Civilian Protection Podcast, we’re exploring civilian protection issues in the news – as well as what the headlines might be missing. This episode brings us to the conflict in Sudan, which, since April 2023, has continued to exact a horrifying toll on civilians. Kholood Khair, Founder and Director of the Sudanese think-and-do tank Confluence Advisory, discusses what is happening in Sudan and why, the resulting attacks on civilians and civic space, and what communities are doing about it.
Guest: Kholood Khair, Founder and Director, Confluence Advisory
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 Sudan and its impact on civilians, see:
- Bonus Clips: Hear from an Emergency Committee Coordinator
- Al Jazeera: Sudan ‘Resistance’ Activists Mobilise as Crisis Escalates
- Amnesty International: “Death Came to Our Home": War Crimes and Civilian Suffering in Sudan
- Human Rights Watch: New Attacks in Darfur
- Joint US-UK Civil Society Letter on Sudan
Civilians are not simply victims of armed conflict, but people with agency and expertise about the conflicts they are living in. In this episode, guest host Bulus Mungopark of CIVIC brings us to northeast Nigeria, where we explore successful community-led efforts to advocate for their own protection needs amid ongoing violence.
Guests:
- Bulus Mungopark, Nigeria Community Engagement Manager, CIVIC
- Queen, Community Protection Committee Member
- Habib, Community Protection Committee Member
- Alhaji Abba, District Head
This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Annie Shiel and Bulus Mungopark with assistance from Erin Bijl, Marc Garlasco, and Hajer Naili.
You can find a full transcript of this episode here.
To learn more about community-based protection and civilian harm in Nigeria, see:
- CIVIC, “Barriers and Bridges to Protection: Civil-Military Engagement in Northeast Nigeria,” October 2020.
- CIVIC, “Civilian Protection Snapshot: Gwoza, Nigeria,” December 2021.
- CIVIC, “Civilian Protection Snapshot: Monguno, Nigeria,” March 2022.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the human toll of the war has been devastating. But obscured by news about fatalities, injuries and material damages is the longer-term impact of this conflict. In this episode, we’ll explore the environmental degradation caused by military operations in Ukraine and its consequences for civilians, and discuss why protecting the environment is an essential part of protecting civilians.
Guests:
- Yevheniia Zasiadko (Head of Climate Department, Ecoaction)
- Iryna Nikolaieva (Environment Expert and Researcher, PAX)
- Erin Bijl (Senior Project Officer ‘Protection of Civilians’, PAX)
This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Erin Bijl with assistance from Annie Shiel, Marc Garlasco, Tate Musinahama, Selma van Oostwaard and Brittany Roser.
This episode included a clip from BBC News. We further referred to data by OHCHR, an article on Earth.org and we quoted from the UN website for 6 November.
To learn more about the impact of military operations on the environment and subsequent civilian harm, see:
- Interactive Map of the potential environmental impacts caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine, Ecoaction website
- Conflict & Environment, PAX website
- PAX Briefing Note to the United Nations Security Council on harm to the environment from military operations in Ukraine
Full interviews with Yevheniia Zasiadko (Ecoaction) and with Iryna Nikolaieva will soon be posted on the CIVIC and PAX website.
On April 22, 2018, planes belonging to the Saudi- and Emirati-led Coalition dropped a bomb on a wedding celebration in Al-Raqa village, in Yemen. The attack killed 21 civilians, including eleven children, and injured 97 people. And it did so using a bomb that was made and sold in the United States. In this episode, we explore the US arms trade system and policies that made this, and so many incidents like it, possible.
Guests:
- Ali Jameel (Accountability and Redress Director, Mwatana for Human Rights)
- Tony Wilson (Founder & Director, Security Force Monitor at Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute)
- Joyce Sohyun Lee (Visual Forensics Video Reporter, The Washington Post)
This podcast is brought to you by CIVIC and PAX. This episode was written by Annie Shiel with assistance from Marc Garlasco, Tate Musinahama, Ari Tolany, John Ramming Chappell, Selma van Oostwaard, Erin Bijl, and Frank Slijper.
This episode included a clip from Al Jazeera.
To learn more about arms sales and civilian harm, see:
- Day of Judgment, a report from Mwatana for Human Rights, PAX, and University Network for Human Rights on the role of the US and Europe in civilian death, destruction, and trauma in Yemen.
- A Washington Post piece outlining the findings of their joint investigation with Security Force Monitor into US support for the Saudi- and Emirati-led Coalition in Yemen; the Security Force Monitor methodology; and additional analysis from the Monitor.
- With Great Power, a report by CIVIC and the Stimson Center on civilian harm risks in US arms transfers.
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.