Global Dispatches -- World News That Matters

Several countries have laws on the books that enables governments to freeze the assets of corrupt foreign officials. Canada is one of those countries, and now one Canadian Senator is trying to take that law one step further by redistributing the frozen assets to those harmed by the actions of the corrupt official. Ratna Omidvar is an independent Senator from Ontario to the Senate of Canada. She is the author of legislation that is starting to make its way through the Canadian Parliament called the Frozen Assets Repurposing Act. The bill would seize the assets of corrupt and abusive foreign officials and redeploy those assets to the very people harmed by those foreign officials. This includes people displaced by the actions of corrupt and violent regimes. We kick off discussing Senator Omidvar's personal history of displacement before having a longer conversation about the contours of this legislation. This includes an extended discussion about how legislation in Canada can influence other parliaments of liberal democracies around the world. Support the show and become a premium subscriber

Over the last several weeks an estimated 140,000 people have been displaced by escalating fighting in Idlib, Syria. Syrian regime forces, backed by Russia, have scaled up their attacks in what is the last part of Syria controlled by rebel forces. Idlib is the only remaining rebel held territory. As regime forces re-captured parts of Syria under rebel control, rebels and their families fled to Idlib, which the key players in the conflict agreed would be a "de-escalation zone." There are now 3 million people in Idlib. Most are displaced and the vast majority are civilian non-combatants. But there are also al Qaeda affiliated militants and other jihadis. My guest today, Dareen Khalifa is the senior Syria analyst with the International Crisis Group. She explains this escalating crisis and what the situation in Idlib says about the broader trajectory and trends of the Syria conflict. This includes some key geo-political forces that are now very much driving events on the ground. The escalating fighting in Idlib, which had experienced a period of relative calm since an agreement between Russia and Turkey, is a powerful reminder that the conflict in Syria continues to drag on even as international attention is fading. -- Become a Premium Subscriber --

The spread of child sexual abuse material on the internet has grown at an exponential pace in the last fifteen years, since the advent of social media. This is truly a global problem, affecting every country on earth. The tools of technology can be harnessed to combat the spread of images and videos depicting child abuse and one non-profit is leading the way. Thorn is a technology driver non-profit founded by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore that develops tools to combat online child abuse and child sex trafficking. On the line with me to discuss some of these tools and strategies is Julie Cordua, the CEO of Thorn. In this conversation, Julie Cordua describes the scope of the problem, which she refers She also describes how emerging technologies developed by Thorn are being used to detect when this material is being uploaded and is aiding law enforcement around the world. We kick off discussing a recent announcement that Thorn was one of the winners of the Audacious Project, housed at TED, and will share in $280 million prize to eliminate Child Sexual Abuse Material from the Internet. We discuss how Thorn will work toward that goal and we have a broader conversation about how global efforts to combat the spread of child sexual abuse online have evolved since the early days of the internet and social media. 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.

There is an escalating humanitarian crisis in Cameroon where more than half a million people have been displaced by conflict. This conflict erupted in earnest in late 2017 and early 2018 in a series of attacks and reprisals between Anglophone separatists and the French dominated government. In international affairs circles, this is known as the "Anglophone Crisis" in Cameroon. As my guest today, Jan Egeland says, when hundreds of thousands of civilians are displaced, it usually sets off international alarm bells. But this is not the case with Cameroon. There is virtually no international mediation, very little media attention, and the humanitarian response has been woefully inadequate. Jan Egeland is the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, a large humanitarian relief organization. He has spent his career in humanitarian affairs, including serving as an under secretary general of the United Nations and as a humanitarian relief advisor for the UN in Syria. He is one of the world's most high profile humanitarian relief experts and he is sounding the alarm on this crisis. He recently returned from a fact finding trip to the crisis affected regions of Cameroon and a few days after we recorded this conversation, he's briefing the Security Council on this humanitarian crisis. You can consider this conversation a preview and extended version of the message he'll be sending to the Security Council. This episode does a good job explaining what is driving this crisis. However, if you want a deeper explanation of the origins of the Anglophone crisis, I will point you to a podcast episode from January 2018, recorded just as this crisis was erupting, that goes more in depth into the historical roots of the anglophone crisis. Also, if you want to learn more about Jan Egeland himself, I'll point you to episode number 52 of Global Dispatches, from back in 2015 in which Jan Egeland discusses his life and career in more detail. Support the show. Become a Premium Subscriber. Unlock Rewards

My guest today Supriya Vani interviewed every living female Nobel Peace Prize winner for her 2018 book Battling Injustice: 16 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. In this conversation we discuss some common traits that she found across these women and she tells some stories from her interviews and reporting across the globe. Supriya Vani is a journalist and activist in India, and I caught up with her from New Delhi Quick note before we begin: thank you to all of you who are supporting the show through patreon. When you make a contribution to the show, I'll add you to the subscriber roles to my daily news clips service, DAWNS Digest. You will also unlock a host of bonus episodes and other rewards. Support the Show!

Today's episode is a cross over promotion with the new podcast: How to Fix Democracy. How to Fix Democracy is an interview series in which prominent thinkers, writers, politicians, technologists, and business leaders discuss some fundamental questions about the fate and trajectory of democracy today. This episode features an interview with Michael Ignatieff by the host of the show, Andrew Keen. Michael Ignatieff is a former Canadian politician and author of several books about world affairs. He is now serving as the president and rector of the Central European University. This is a Hungary-based graduate school founded by George Soros that the illiberal government of Hungary, lead by Victor Orban, has sought to shut down. In this episode, Ignatieff discusses the challenge to democracy posed by illiberal "democrats" like Viktor Orban. After listening to this episode, be sure to subscribe to the entire series, which features some really interesting guests and discussion. The series is presented by the Bertelsmann Foundation, in partnership with Humanity in Action. I am a Humanity in Action senior fellow and am glad to present this crossover episode to you.

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!