Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

According to the World Health Organization 800,000 people die due to suicide every year. My guest today, Bob Filbin is helping to pioneer a way to sharply reduce that number.  Bob Filbin is the Chief Data Scientist of Crisis Text line. This is a text based mental health crisis intervention platform, operational in the US, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Individuals in crisis are able to text trained mental health workers anonymously, who can then help them through their emergency.    Hundreds of millions of texts have been exchanged since the launch of crisis text line, which is providing researchers with key insights into how to prevent self harm.   This is a really interesting conversation about a crucial health issue that is, indeed, a global heath issue. It is also scalable--and Bob Filbin does discuss crisis text line's global plans.   This episode is part of a content partnership with the Skoll Foundation to showcase the work of the 2019 recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The Skoll Awards distinguish transformative leaders whose organizations disrupt the status quo, drive sustainable large-scale change, and are poised to create even greater impact on the world. Recipients receive $1.5 million in core support investments to scale up their work.

Battles are raging in Tripoli between forces aligned with the UN-backed government and a renegade general named Khalifa Haftar. Haftar and his militias had controlled eastern parts of the country, including the city of Benghazi, but in recent weeks he has marched his troops westward, toward the capitol Tripoli, in an effort to oust the Libya's internationally recognized government.     Several hundred people have been killed in this fighting. Thousands have been displaced, and the situation is now very much on the precipice of descending into a full blown civil war.    On the line with me to discuss what is happening in Libya and why we need to be paying attention to this escalating crisis is Mary Fitzgerald, a former journalist and researcher who has been studying on Libya since 2011. In this conversation she breaks down the complex dynamics of this conflict in ways that I found very understandable. This episode is an excellent explainer on this currently unfolding crisis in Libya.    We kick off discussing a rather unusual turn of events. On April 19th, I and every other reporter who subscribes to the White House email list, received a note in our inbox that was a White House summary of a phone call between Donald Trump and Khalifa Haftar. In the call, the President offered his support behind the renegade general. This statement seemed to reverse US policy on Libya, which is to support the UN-backed government.    Support the show! Become a premium subscriber! 

In mid march, Cyclone Idai struck southern Africa, ravaging parts of Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Of these countries, Mozambique was hardest hit. The storm struck the port city Beira and surrounding areas, creating a massive inland flood plane. At the time, the World Meteorological Organization called it one of the worst weather related disasters to ever strike the southern hemisphere.   One month on, I wanted to get a sense of the how the recovery efforts were progressing, so I called up Dorothy Sang of Oxfam, who is on the line with me today from the city of Beira in Mozambique. Dorothy Sang is Oxfam's humanitarian advocacy manager and in this conversation she describes the scale of the damage wrought by Cyclone Idai and how international relief agencies like Oxfam are responding to this crisis. One thing that struck me about this conversation is how over one month since this crisis, relief agencies are still finding communities that have been totally cut off from access.    Before we start: I do want to ask again for you to email me stories, anecdotes about how listening to this podcast impacted you in some way. Did you take some action based on this podcast? Did it affect your work one way or another? Did it inspire you to send an email? Make a call? Buy a book? Donate to a cause?   Please email me 

Some truly remarkable events are unfolding in Sudan, where protesters have secured the ouster of longtime ruler Omar al Bashir. After nearly thirty years as an authoritarian president and dictator, he was deposed in coup on April 11. But the protesters have not dispersed and are rallying against the cadre of military officials who have assumed control.   On the line with me to discuss these events is Payton Knopf. He is a former US diplomat and UN official who has worked on Sudan issues for many years. He is currently an advisor to the US Institute for Peace    We kick off discussing the events that lead to the ouster of al Bashir. But we don't dwell too much on that because I actually did a whole other episode about the protest movement and about al Bashir; I published that episode in January, just a few weeks after these protests began.   Rather, we spend the bulk of the conversation discussing this unfolding and fluid situation. Payton Knopf explains who these military rulers of Sudan are--and why it is significant that some of them have trained and deployed militias to Yemen and Libya. We also discuss the implications of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for al Bashir and the unfolding geo-political dynamic that may influence how this political crisis is resolved.    Before we start, I have a question for you all.   One dynamic I have noticed having done this show for so long is how I, as a, journalist often bring you stories from parts of the world less covered by mainstream outlets or on topics that are globally important but really don't get much coverage--but then you, as a listener have taken some concrete action based on what you have heard. This action could be something as direct as buying the book of the author I interviewed or using your professional connections to follow up on an idea or issue raised in the show. I hear stories of this real world impact from time to time, but I would really love to collect them. So, could you please email me and let me know if an episode inspired you to take some real world action--whatever that may be? These stories of impact are very valuable to me so thank you in advance, You can send me an email using the contact button on Global Dispatches Podcast.com. I'll also post a link to my email in the description field of the podcast if you are listening on your phone.    Email me!

Among the many barriers to quality healthcare in the developing world is the high cost of medicine. This is due, in part, to frequent disruptions in the supply chain. Customers who visit a pharmacy to purchase medicine can't be guaranteed that the medicine will be something they can afford-- or even if the medicine will be there at all. My podcast guest today, Gregory Rockson, is a social entrepreneur who is pioneering a way to make medicine in several African countries more affordable and access to that medicine more reliable. He is the c0-founder of  a social enterprise called mPharma, which uses data analytics and supply chain management to help small and independent pharmacies control their costs.  This is crucial because unlike here in the United States where big pharmacy chains are ubiquitous, in the places mPharma operates small and independent pharmacies are serve the vast majority of people. mPharma essentially manages the drug supply of participating pharmacies, and assumes the financial risk if drugs are over or under stocked -- sharply driving down the costs. This is an absolutely fascinating business model and it's already revolutionizing access to medicine in five African countries and is poised for further expansion. If you have twenty minutes and want to learn why drug prices in many countries are so high and what can be done to drive down those costs, have a listen.    

South Africa is experiencing what demographers call a "youth bulge." This occurs when young people make up a very large percentage of the entire population. There are youth bulges similar in many countries in the developing world, including in Africa and Asia. One key challenge facing societies experiencing a youth bulge large is what happens when these young people become of working age, and there are too few jobs.  In South Africa and in many countries with similar demographics, unemployment rates among young people is orders of magnitudes greater than the over all unemployment rate. As my guest today Nicola Galombik explains, when large numbers of young people are unemployed, the knock-on effects for society in general can be extremely negative. So, Nicola Galombik has embarked on a strategy to reduce youth unemployment in her native South Africa. She is the co-founder of the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a social enterprise that is not only helping to find young people jobs at scale, but is changing mindsets around employing young people. Youth unemployment is a key driver of instability in many countries around the world, and as you will see from this conversation the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator has found a formula to take on what is essentially a demographic challenge. This episode is part of a content partnership with the Skoll Foundation to showcase the work of the 2019 recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The Skoll Awards distinguish transformative leaders whose organizations disrupt the status quo, drive sustainable large-scale change, and are poised to create even greater impact on the world. Recipients receive $1.5 million in core support investments to scale up their work.

The world has never been safer, wealthier or healthier. So why is it that our foreign policy is dominated by fear and inflated perceptions of threats that can harm us?  My guest today, Michael Cohen, and co-author Micah Zenko seek to answer that question in their new book Clear and Present Safety: The World Has Never Been Better and Why That Matters to Americans.  The book makes the convincing argument that fear mongering has distorted US foreign policy and distracted us from recognizing impressive gains in human development.    This is a very refreshing conversation. One trend that Cohen and Zenko identify an define is something they call the Threat-Industrial-Complex and we spend a good deal of time discussing how that serves to shape US foreign policy priorities.    If you have 20 minutes and want a good corrective on US foreign policy, have a listen.   Support the show and become a premium subscriber! 

Not long ago, the social entrepreneur Bright Simons had a lofty goal of restoring social bonds between farmers and consumers. He tried to create a platform to pair organic farmers in Ghana with consumers of organic products. That project failed --  but in failure he made an important discovery that is now revolutionizing the fight against fake and counterfeit goods in the developing world, including potentially deadly counterfeit medicines Bright Simons is the co-founder and lead of mPedigree, a social enterprise that combats the problem of counterfeit and fake goods -- everything from medicines, to seeds, to auto-parts and more. As Bright Simons explains, mPedigree takes a systems-wide approach to fighting counterfeits. It's core innovation is a unique product identification marker, called the GoldKeys Platform. Think of it as a scratch off label that reveals a code which people can use a phone to instantly validate the authenticity of a product.   Through this validation system, mPedigree has not only helped stop counterfeiting across many industries, but as Bright Simons explains it's changing the behavior of individuals consumers, industries and even government.  This conversation with Bright Simons will change how you think about counterfeit goods and the systems required to stop this problem and restore consumer confidence and trust. This episode is presented in partnership with the Skoll Foundation to showcase the work of the 2019 recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The Skoll Awards distinguish transformative leaders whose organizations disrupt the status quo, drive sustainable large-scale change, and are poised to create even greater impact on the world. Recipients receive $1.5 million in core support investments to scale up their work.

The White House confirmed that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is to meet President Trump at the White House on April 9. The invitation to the White House was offered amid a deepening crackdown on human rights and a further erosion of the rule of law in Egypt, nearly six years after al-Sisi ousted President Mohammad Morsi. The White House visit comes as Egypt is facing yet another inflection point that could further ensconce al Sisi in power. At issue are a series of constitutional amendments that would effectively make al Sisi president for life and create what analyst Amy Hawthorne calls a "personalist dictatorship." Amy Hawthorne is the deputy director for research at the Project on Middle East Democracy and co-author of a recent Foreign Policy piece on the current tumult in Egyptian politics.. After years of crackdowns on political opposition, she explains why Egyptian politics is poised to enter a potentially more dangerous phase. We kick off with an extended conversation about the circumstances that brought al Sisi to power, including the events of Egypt's Arab spring and its aftermath.  We then discuss the implications of recent moves by al Sisi to further consolidate power. We recorded this conversation a few days before it was announced that al Sisi was to visit Washington, DC on April 9th. If you are listening to this episode contemporaneously, Amy Hawthorne does a good job of setting the scene for that visit.  If you have 20 minutes and want to learn how al-Sisi has subverted democracy and undermined human rights in Egypt over the last six years, have a listen.  Support the show. Go Premium! 

Global trade is changing how women work. Supermarkets and major brands source much of their materials and manufacturing in the developing world as part of a "Global Value Chain." This is a way of obtaining raw materials and bringing goods to market that has become more and more common among major global brands in recent years. One consequence of this trend in global trade and global sourcing has been to upend traditional dynamics around gender and work. Stephanie Barrientos is a professor of global development at the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester who studies the intersection between gender dynamics and global trade. Her latest research examines how norms around work and jobs in the developing world are being changed by global sourcing from major brands. As Professor Barrientos explains, companies' Global Value Chains are having profound implications for women and gender dynamics around work and employment in the developing world. This conversation is a great introduction to key shifts in global trade over the past decade and some of the downstream effects of how large multinational companies operate.  If you have twenty minutes and want to learn how a brand like Cadbury Chocolates is affecting gender roles in places like Ghana, have a listen.   This episode is part of a content partnership between the podcast and the Global Development Institute at the University of Manchester. Experts from the Global Development Institute discuss their research and also the pressing news of the day as it relates to global inequalities and development. If you’d like to learn more about the Global Development Institute you can go to GDI.Manchester.ac.uk