Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

The Boni Forest is a lush coastal ecosystem on the border between Kenya and Somalia. Its location and geography have made it an ideal hideout for al Shebaab -- the Somali terrorist group that has launched some devastating attacks in Kenya over the last decade.  In 2015, Kenyan security forces mounted an operation to rid the region of al Shabaab. But their heavy-handed tactics alienated the local population, disrupting lives and livelihoods of the people who ostensibly the security forces were meant to protect. The military intervention was failing and people were less secure in their livelihoods.   That was until my guest today, Judy Kimamo, helped launch a grassroots peace conference for the region, known as the Boni Enclave Stakeholders Conference.  Over 130 groups attended the conference, including local leaders, government and security officials and various members of civil society. That was in 2017.  Now, nearly three years later, the positive impact of that peacebuilding effort is still being felt.  Judy Kimamo is the Kenya director for Search for Common Ground, an international non-profit specializing in peacebuilding and conflict resolution. We kick off with an extended conversation about the security problems in the Boni Forest region and the government's initial response, before having a wider conversation about what made her peacebuilding efforts so successful -- and what lessons others may draw in how to design a locally lead peace initiative. When it comes to peacebuilding, what she helped to pull off with the Boni Enclave Stakeholders Conference is quite cutting edge and I'm very glad to bring this story to you.  https://www.undispatch.com/ My conversation with Judy Kimamo is one episode in a series of supported in part from a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to feature African perspectives on peace and security issues in Africa. Please visit GlobalDispatchesPodcast.com to view and download other episodes of this series. Also, when I spoke with Judy Kimamo she was near the Boni Forest region and our audio connection was not strong and the audio quality is not what is typical of this podcast. Still she has an incredible story to tell so I have also posted a transcript to our conversation on GlobalDispatchesPodcast.

A 2011 agreement known as the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, is the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the United States and Russia. The treaty imposes limits on the size and composition of the nuclear arsenals of the world's two largest nuclear powers. And it allows Russia and the United States to inspect each others nuclear arsenals to ensure compliance.  New START is now the only nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia because last year, the Trump administration withdrew from a Ronald Reagan era agreement called the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, or INF, that eliminated a certain class of nuclear weapons.  But New START may not last much longer. The treaty officially expires in February 2021. And so far, it is unclear whether or not the Trump administration will seek its extension. Russia has already signaled that it would extend the agreement another five years, but the Trump administration has so far demurred. On the line with me to discuss the significance of New START is Thomas Countryman. He was a longtime career diplomat who served as the US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation from 2011 to 2017. He is now the chair of the board of the Arms Control Association.  https://www.undispatch.com/

The President of Cameroon is named Paul Biya. He's been the president of Cameroon since 1982. Before that, from 1975, he was prime minister. Depending on how you count it, Paul Biya of Cameroon is one of -- if not the --  longest-serving world leader. My guest today, Maurice Kamto, challenged Paul Biya for the presidency in national elections in 2018. Kamto lost in what he plausibly claimed were rigged elections. He subsequently led a peaceful protest movement against the government of Paul Biya --  until January last year when he was arrested and thrown in prison for ten months. Maurice Kamto is a lawyer and professor of law with the University of Yaounde, in Cameroon. He is the leader of the Cameroon Renaissance Movement, which is known by its French acronym the MRC.   https://www.undispatch.com/

At the start of the year, the World Food Program issued a forecast of where it expects to find the worst hunger crises this year. The report, called the Global Hotspots 2020, identifies 15 major food emergencies that are deteriorating at an alarming rate and demand greater worldwide attention.   My guest today, Arif Husain, is the Chief Economist and Director of the Food Security Analysis and Trends Service at the United Nations World Food Programme. We kick things off by discussing what is meant by food insecurity, and also how he collects data around hunger before having a longer conversation about the relationship between climate change, conflict, migration, and food security.    4:30 The Effect Conflict Has on Hunger 6:44 Climate Change 9:02 Economic Marginalization 12:00 Migration and Displacement   https://twitter.com/undispatch https://www.undispatch.com https://www.facebook.com/UNDispatch/ https://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/

Dr. Roseanne Njiru is a sociologist at the University of Nairobi who has conducted cutting edge field research that finds a link between healthcare and peacebuilding. Specifically, she examines the role that community health workers play in preventing conflict in marginalized communities, like urban slums, around Nairobi, Kenya.   Community health workers (or what in other contexts are sometimes called health extension workers) link poor, rural or otherwise marginalized communities to a country's broader health care system. The health workers themselves are from these communities and they are given some basic level of training. Essentially, they are the eyes and ears and first point of contact between the health system and the community.  Deploying cadres of these community health workers has become increasingly popular as a public health strategy in the developing world. In my years of reporting, I've seen the key role that community health workers play in places like rural Bangladesh and Ethiopia. This strategy has been demonstrated to improve health outcomes in some of the most vulnerable communities in a society. But what I did not appreciate until I encountered Dr. Njiru's research was some of the ancillary benefits, beyond health, that community health workers can confer to their community. Namely, Dr. Njiru found through her research that community health workers are also agents of peace and conflict prevention--including helping to prevent political violence.  Her research is absolutely fascinating and I am glad to bring it to you as part of a series of episodes supported in part from a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to feature African perspectives on peace and security issues in Africa. https://www.undispatch.com/ https://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/ https://www.facebook.com/UNDispatch/  

For a brief period this fall, it appeared that the crisis in Yemen was de-escalating. Fighting had reached some of its lowest levels since 2015, when Saudi Arabia led an international coalition to intervene in Yemen's civil war. But any hopes that a lull in fighting could be sustained were dashed in early 2020 with a series of high profile attacks.  Today, as I record, in February 2020 fighting in Yemen is intense -- indeed as bad as it has ever been since the civil war began -- if not worse. According to the United Nations, Yemen is the single worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.   On the line with me to explain this newest iteration of the conflict in Yemen is Scott Paul. He is a humanitarian policy lead with Oxfam and we spend a lot of time discussing why the crisis in Yemen is getting worse right now. For those who are not familiar with the crisis in Yemen, Scott Paul does a very good job at the start of the conversation explaining how we got to this point.     

There is a category of diseases that sickens, injures and kills the poorest people on the planet. These are called Neglected Tropical Diseases or NTDs You may be familiar with some of them, like leprosy, guinea worm disease or River Blindness; but you have probably never heard of most of them--I know I have not.  But these diseases, combined, affect nearly 1.7 billion people around the world and further add to the costs of developing economies. So, in an effort to make these diseases a little less neglected, about eight years ago governments, philanthropies, UN agencies and NGOs came together to design and implement strategies to reduce and ultimately eliminate many of these diseases. On the line with me today is someone who has been at the very forefront of that effort. Dr. Thoko Elphick-Pooley is the director of a collective called Uniting to Combat NTDS. We discuss the progress that has been made towards the elimination of NTDs and also what strategies have been most effective in combating these diseases.  As it happens, we spoke on the first-ever World NTD Day, so I kick off asking Dr. Elphick-Pooley about the significance of having a new world day around Neglected Tropical Diseases.  https://www.undispatch.com/ https://www.undispatch.com/category/podcast/ https://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/

Aid work can be a dangerous business. According to the latest verified data, 131 aid workers were killed in the line of duty in 2018. Many more were injured in serious attacks.   According to my guest today, Abby Stoddard, attacks on aid workers and humanitarian relief operations are both a symptom and a weapon of modern warfare. Indeed, it is the changing nature of conflict around the world that is driving increasing levels of violence against aid workers.  Abby Stoddard is a former aid worker and a longtime researcher. Along with her research partner Adele Harmer, Stoddard has compiled a dataset of verified attacks on aid workers around the world. Their research is compiled in the Aid Worker Security Database, which has tracked attacks on aid workers since 1997. The data they compiled tell many stories and offer important insights into trends of conflict, which we discuss on the show today. Abby Stoddard's new book in which much of this data is discussed and analyzed is called Necessary Risks: Professional Humanitarianism and Violence against Aid Workers.  Abby Stoddard is a partner with Humanitarian Outcomes, an international consultancy that does research and policy advising for governments and organizations on humanitarian action.  If you have twenty minutes and want to learn how the changing nature of conflict is making humanitarian relief work more dangerous, have a listen. 7:35 Aid workers most impacted by violence 14:05 Successful humanitarian efforts 22:17 Attack in Juba as an example of recent trends 27:51 The impact on civilians trapped in the conflict  aidworkerssecurity.org  https://www.amazon.com/Necessary-Risks-Professional-Humanitarianism-Violence/dp/3030264106

At the time of recording, the coronavirus outbreak that originated in China has infected over 4,500 people -- though that number is sure to dramatically increase in the coming days. The vast majority of the people affected by this outbreak are in China, though infections have been confirmed in at least 14 other countries. And, again, the number of countries impacted will certainly increase.  There is a lot we still don't know about the coronavirus and this outbreak -- but we do know that this coronavirus outbreak is poised to become a major global health crisis.  So, for this episode, I wanted to give you a sense of the kind of global health infrastructure that exists for exactly moments like this. On the line with me to discuss the international response to this outbreak so far, including actions taken by the World Health Organization is Ambassador John E Lange. He is a retired ambassador from the United States who currently serves as a senior fellow for Global Health Diplomacy with the United Nations Foundation. Ambassador Lange also served, from 2006 to 2009 as the US Special Representative for Avian Flu and Pandemic Flu preparedness. This gives him some unique insight into how both the US government and entities like the WHO respond to these kinds of fast-moving outbreaks.  We kick off discussing the World Health Organization's role in managing the global response to an outbreak like this, including the relevance of something called the 2005 International Health Regulations. These were adopted by the international community following the SARS outbreak in 2003. We also discuss potential scenarios for the coronavirus to turn into a pandemic that could deeply impact poorer countries with weak health systems. By the time you are listening to this, the WHO will likely have declared this situation.  But when Amb. Lange and I spoke on January 28, they had not yet made that declaration. Still, anticipating it, we do discuss what is meant by the term. https://www.undispatch.com/ https://www.facebook.com/UNDispatch/ https://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/ https://www.who.int/    

In the midst of the impeachment drama unfolding in Washington, DC a rare thing happened: Republicans and Democrats came together and in an overwhelmingly bi-partisan move, supported a bill known as the Global Fragility Act.   In brief, The Global Fragility Act is intended to address a key gap in how the US government approaches conflict prevention and post-conflict peace-building in what are known as fragile countries. The bill was broadly supported and in part conceived by advocates in the global humanitarian and relief community.  And on the line with me to discuss the new Global Fragility Act is Dr. Dafna Rand, vice president of policy and research at Mercy Corps. She is also a former deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights, and labor. The Global Fragility Act is one of those under-the-radar policy stories that has big potential to change key aspects of US policy towards parts of the world beset by instability.  0:56 The Global Fragility Act 3:52 The first exciting aspect of the Global Fragility Act 9:17 Definition of a 'fragile' state  13:41 The second exciting aspect of the Global Fragility Act  15:18 The intended results of the new law  https://www.undispatch.com/ https://www.globaldispatchespodcast.com/ https://www.patreon.com/GlobalDispatches https://www.facebook.com/UNDispatch/