What does it really cost to do good?
The Good Humanitarian, the podcast collaboration from The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre (HSC) and the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), is back for a second season. This time, co-hosts Tom Ansell (HSC Coordinator) and Sarah Njoroge (ISS Communication Officer) are exploring The Cost of Doing Good. The series is produced by Gabriela Anderson (HSC Community and Project Manager) and Saleem Salameh (Writer and producer).
Humanitarian work is often presented as selfless and heroic. But behind every response are difficult choices about money, safety, power and whose needs are met first. And the humanitarian system itself remains a patchwork of organisations, people, policies and pressures, where even the best intentions can collide with reality.
Across six episodes, Season 2 looks beyond the headlines to examine the financial, personal, political and human costs of humanitarian action: from who pays for aid and what life is like for humanitarian workers, to vulnerability and disaster prevention, reconstruction after crisis, international humanitarian law and accountability and the role of UNRWA in Palestine.
Meet the Season 2 guests
- Loreine De La Cruz - Executive Director of the Centre for Disaster Preparedness in the Philippines and coordinator of the Humanitarian Observatory in the Philippines
- Akke Boere - Operational Director of the Dutch branch of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)
- Delu Lusambya Mwenabyake - former humanitarian practitioner in the Democratic Republic of Congo and PhD researcher at
ISS - Marie Boscher - humanitarian professional with experience at the Danish Refugee Council and Plan International
- Professor Thea Hilhorst - Director of The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre
- Mohammad Khanfash - doctoral candidate at Utrecht University
- Dr Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits - Associate Professor in Conflict and Peace Studies at ISS
- Dr Thandiwe Matthews - Lecturer in Human Rights, Law and Development Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand
- Dr Gabriele Chlevickaite - International Criminal Law Researcher at the Asser Institute
- Roland Friedrich - Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank
The podcast also offers a different way of sharing knowledge, bringing researchers and practitioners together to turn their expertise into accessible and engaging conversations, while exploring what academic ‘impact’ can look like in practice.
Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts
Follow the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and join us as we explore the uncomfortable questions, hidden costs and human stories behind doing good.
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- Related content
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- Related links
- The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre
International Humanitarian Studies Association
Humanitarian governance: accountability, advocacy, alternatives
