# What it means for humanitarians to be political | Rethinking Humanitarianism

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-new-humanitarian-1146231/what-it-means-for-humanitarians-to-be-political-rethinking-humanitarianism
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-new-humanitarian-1146231/what-it-means-for-humanitarians-to-be-political-rethinking-humanitarianism.md
Podcast: [The New Humanitarian](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-new-humanitarian-1146231)
Published: 2026-05-07T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/podcast
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/humanitarianpodcast/ReHu_Politics_WhittallElNakib_FinalMix.mp3?dest-id=762415
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-new-humanitarian-1146231/episodes/what-it-means-for-humanitarians-to-be-political-rethinking-humanitarianism
Duration seconds: 1681

## Resource

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 #RethinkingHumanitarianism.

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## Transcript

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