Strength & Solidarity

In 2017-18, South African social justice movement, Equal Education, went through a major –and very public -upheaval after allegations emerged of sexual harassment by members of the movement’s leadership.  General Secretary Noncedo Madubedube describes her root and branch effort to rebuild Equal Education’s culture and restore confidence in the organization. In this episode: Akwe Amosu and her colleague Chris Stone discuss a recent campaign for the release of some Egyptian rights defenders and what it tells us about their organization Interview with Noncedo Madubedube, General Secretary of Equal Education, South Africa The Coda: Turkish human rights leader Murat Cellikan shares an Ariel Dorfman poem that evokes the pain and fierce determination of the“disappeared”and their loved ones. For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast Send us your ideas and your feedback at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org.

Excerpted from Strength & Solidarity Episode 1. A reading of the Persian poet Hafez’s ‘10,000 Idiots’ by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission chair Shaharzad Akbar talks about the challenge of entrenching and enforcing rights amid continuing conflict and violence against civilians. With a state that struggles to deliver public services and great uncertainty about the future of President Ashraf Ghani’s negotiations with the Taliban, how can Afghan citizens have confidence that the human rights framework give them meaningful protection? In this episode:  Host Akwe Amosu and her colleague Chris Stone discuss the relevance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in today’s rights struggles Interview with Shaharzad Akbar, Chairperson of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission The Coda: Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, shares a poem by 14th century poet Hafez on the perils of arrogance. For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode’s content, please visit www.strengthandsolidarity.org/podcast  Send us your ideas and your feedback at pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

Strength and Solidarity is a podcast that takes you into the ‘engine room’ of human rights activism. Every two weeks, we invite human rights leaders to speak with us about the dilemmas they face, and the tactics they use to achieve their goals. By speaking with defenders at the heart of critical struggles, as well as the lawyers, journalists, researchers, artists and organizers engaged with their movements, we hope to offer an up-close view on the current and future course of human rights. Join Akwe Amosu as she interviews smart, passionate guests and check out The Coda –a regular opportunity for someone in the human rights field to tell us about the literature, music, and art that inspires them.