What it means for humanitarians to be political Rethinking Humanitarianism

Saving lives is a choice, and that makes it hard for humanitarianism to be completely apolitical despite long-running debates about neutrality and impartiality. But what does being political look like? On this episode: Flotillas and White Helmets, the difference between speaking out as individual humanitarian actors or as a unified collective, moving beyond simply being in "solidarity with communities", and finding a diversity of voices to build a future version of humanitarianism. Guests: Shatha Elnakib , faculty and deputy director of the Center for Humanitarian Health at Johns Hopkins University, and lead author of The Lancet's article, The humanitarian system: politics can not be avoided. Jonathan Whittall , executive director and founder of the KEYS Initiative Got a question or feedback? Email podcast@thenewhumanitarian.org or post on social media using the hashtag .

You can listen to What it means for humanitarians to be political Rethinking Humanitarianism online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

What it means for humanitarians to be political Rethinking Humanitarianism is an episode from Level 3: Stories from the Heart of Humanitarian Crises by The New Humanitarian.

This episode is 28:01 long.

This episode was published on May 7, 2026.

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