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European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
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Podcasts

Listen to our #EUSolidarityTalks

Have you ever wondered what happens when disaster strikes, or a humanitarian crisis arises? EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid experts and partners are there to deliver life-saving aid.

Listen to tales from experts working behind the scenes. We’ve partnered up with podcasts across Europe – in Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Poland – to bring you the stories behind the headlines.

Hear podcast hosts and their special guests in conversation about medical evacuations from Ukraine, the EU’s response to climate change-induced disasters, such as floods and wildfires, humanitarian health assistance and disaster preparedness. 

Our experts will discuss their work on the frontline of emergency and humanitarian response, sharing their personal stories and insights into what it takes to deliver assistance, when failing is not an option.

Through their stories, take a look behind the scenes to discover the challenges they face in their life-saving work, and find out more about the EU’s response to complex crises. 

Listen to the #EUSolidarityTalks below.

Disaster preparedness at the heart of EU humanitarian aid activities

With the help of its Disaster Preparedness Guidance Note, the EU aims to mainstream multi-hazard preparedness and risk reduction measures across all its humanitarian programmes. These include actions such as: 

  • better forecast ahead of monsoon for communities in Bangladesh, 
  • a drone and satellite programme collecting data and assessing the needs of Mozambique communities in the event of a natural hazard, 

and many more.

Featured podcast: The Explainer

The Explainer is a weekly podcast from Irish newspaper The Journal. They speak to Davide Zappa, an EU humanitarian aid expert on disaster risk reduction and Sanchita Neupane, from People in Need, Nepal, 1 of the EU’s humanitarian partners, about the EU’s role in risk reduction in Nepal and the Philippines.

Listen now

45 Graus 

In this episode of the award-winning Portuguese podcast 45 Graus, host José Maria Pimentel delves into disaster preparedness and risk reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean with Álvaro De Vicente. Álvaro oversees our Regional Office in Panama. His humanitarian background includes positions in South America, East Asia, and with Action Contre la Faim in Paris. In this episode, he shares his expertise, offering a comprehensive view of the EU’s disaster preparedness efforts in the region.

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Coming soon: Revista 5W

Every week Spanish magazine Revista 5W publishes a deep-dive podcast episode. In this edition, they speak with Andrés Triviño about how the EU has helped to build resilience and preparedness with indigenous and rural communities in the Amazon. Andrés has over 15 years of experience as a humanitarian aid worker, mostly working on migration, forced displaced communities, armed conflicts, and disaster preparedness. He now works from our Regional Office in Panama, overseeing similar EU funded actions in South America and the Caribbean.

EU response to health emergencies

Featured podcast: The Explainer

The Explainer is a weekly podcast from Irish newspaper The Journal. For this episode, the Explainer spoke to Jean-Paul Jemmy Ghomsi, an EU humanitarian aid expert for health and a doctor, specialised in nutrition. 

They talk/are talking about his experience in supporting healthcare in conflict-affected areas and the impact of malnutrition on children’s health.

Revista 5W

Spanish magazine Revista 5W publishes podcast episodes to help their listeners have a better understanding of the news story of the week. In this episode, they interview Álvaro De Vicente. 

Álvaro oversees the EU humanitarian response in Latin America and the Caribbean. They talk about the impact of exponential violence and criminality on health and access to humanitarian health assistance.

Listen now

45 Graus 

José Maria Pimentel presents 45 Graus, an award-winning podcast in Portuguese. The episode features Ian Van Engelgem, a humanitarian health and nutrition expert at the EU’s Department for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations. 

They talk about the challenges of response to health crises and the EU’s humanitarian health assistance in Africa. 

Listen now

EU response to climate change-related emergencies

The Explainer

The Explainer is a weekly podcast from Irish newspaper The Journal. For this episode, the Explainer spoke to guests Esther El Haddad and Johanne La. 

Esther, an analyst at Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, works on Early Warning Systems and Environmental emergencies, ensuring that operations are running 24/7. 

Johanne is Deputy Team Leader at the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC). She recently coordinated assistance in response to fire and flood emergencies across Europe and Africa.

45 Graus 

José Maria Pimentel presents 45 Graus, an award-winning podcast in Portuguese. The episode features João Silva, Policy Officer at EU Civil Protection, who works on the rescEU assets for the Civil Protection Emergency Response Capabilities. 

He discusses the impact of climate change, as well as the EU’s response to climate change-induced disasters and approach to risk assessments and disaster risk reduction. 

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EU Medical evacuations from Ukraine

What happens to the critically ill and injured patients in Ukraine? The EU has been evacuating those in need of life-saving care to the EU Medevac Hub in Poland and then transferring them to hospitals across Europe.

The Explainer

The Explainer is a weekly podcast from Irish newspaper The Journal that takes a deeper look at the news. It’s known for offering balanced, factual information on important topics and diving deeper into key issues.

The Explainer spoke to Eric Adrien, Duty Officer at the European Emergency Coordination Centre, about his role in setting up the medical evacuation operations, which saw him deployed to Poland to work on site.

 

Betrouwbare Bronnen

In Dutch, Betrouwbare Bronnen podcast discusses the Medevac operations and Hub in Rzeszów, Poland with Sien Vanlommel, Duty Officer at the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, who helped with the Hub’s setup and operations.

Listen now!

Podcasts 2023

In 2023 our staff talked about helping Ukrainians, how we prepare for the wildfire season and about prolonged and under-reported crises.

Learn more