Christian Aid Podcasts

A Growing Voice

If it's been a long and difficult road for Sierra Leone to emerge from the shadows of its decade-long civil war, it's been an even longer journey for Sierra Leonean women to make their voices heard. But now things are changing...

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When communications officer Antoinette Powell visited some of the communities where they are working, she found that women are not simply speaking out but are beginning to take the lead in building a stronger future for their communities.

Sierra Leone’s 2007 elections were the first since UN troops withdrew after its civil war. For many women they were also the first in which they felt able to vote for a different candidate from their husbands or fathers.

Christian Aid partners - the Methodist Church of Sierra Leone and National Movement for Justice and Development - have been helping to bring about this change by addressing attitudes that see women as less valuable than men. Their work through Partners in Conflict Transformation or PICOT, addressing some of the causes of the country’s civil war, is helping groups like women who had no voice in decision-making to speak out and be heard.

Programme Links:

• National Movement for Justice and Development http://www.nmjd.org/
• The Sierra Leone Fifty-Fifty campaign for more women in politics and public life (http://www.fiftyfifty-sl.org/

To find out more visit the Christian Aid website at http://www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/conflict/stories/a_growing_voice.aspx

A Woman of Courage

It has been a long journey for Suraya Pakzan. Ten years ago she began secretly educating young girls from her own home in Taliban controlled Afghanistan. This month she is receives the 'Woman of Courage Award 2008' from the US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. In this podcast Suraya speaks to Rachel Stevens about the remarkable lengths she went to, to protect the young girls she secretly educated.

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Girls’ education was illegal under the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan.  In 1998, concerned at the prospect of a generation of women growing up without an education, Suraya formed the Voice of Women Organisation and began teaching girls to read and write in the secrecy of her home in Kabul. In the beginning she had just ten students.  Two years later, Suraya and her friends were educating more than 300 girls in small, secret groups in their houses – risking death for breaking the law if discovered.

In 2001, when the Taliban government was deposed, the ‘Voice of Women Organisation’ became the first woman-run non-governmental organisation to register under the new government. Today the organisation, which is now a Christian Aid partner, promotes women’s rights across Afghanistan through awareness raising programmes and continues to help poor women earn a living.

This month, Suraya is one of eight women from all over the world to receive the Woman of Courage Award in recognition of their bravery in speaking out against injustice in their countries. 

To read more about Suraya’s story visit the Christian Aid website www.christianaid.org.uk/stoppoverty/lifeonthemargins/stories/woman_courage.aspx

The Triple Climate Crisis

Throughout the Trade Justice campaign, Christian Aid worked very closely with Third World Network and its director Martin Khor. Not only is Martin continuing his campaigning work to achieve trade justice for developing countries, but he is also advising the G77 governments on international climate change negotiations in the UNFCCC. Martin Khor describes how developing countries are facing a Triple Crisis: poverty, climate change and some of the potential solutions to climate change.

Download the_triple_climate_crisis.mp3

Programme Links:

• Third World Network
• Christian Aid website Climate Change campaign actions
• Christian Aid Climate Change briefings
• Christian Aid Trade campaign

Martin Khor was interviewed by Amanda Farrant of Christian Aid. The views expressed in this programme are those of the contributors and may not reflect official Christian Aid policy.  For our public position, please visit http://www.christianaid.org.uk

In this podcast, Martin Khor explains why the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol in their current forms are generally favourable for developing countries, and also why rich countries’ attempts to force developing countries to increase their commitments to reduce carbon emissions is simply not affair or feasible option.

Robert Beckford

Broadcaster and theologian Robert Beckford's latest film, An African Scandal, is a damning indictment on the West's economic policies towards Africa. Ahead of a national tour of the film, we recorded a quick and dirty interview down the line with him from Turkey. Poor audio quality aside, he has some interesting things to say about when is the time for radical action...

Download an_african_scandal.mp3

Programme notes:

• The Great African Scandal
• Film tour dates
• Robert Beckford

Robert was speaking via Skype with Steven Buckley and Dionne Gravesande in a noisy Christian Aid office.

South Africa Land Reform

Over one million poor black South Africans have been illegally forced to leave their homes and lives since the end of apartheid in 1994.  Having lost the only home and job they have ever known, they face a future with little protection and little hope.

Download Landreform.mp3

1st October 2007 is World Habitat Day - in this programme Sarah Filbey talks with Rob Cunningham, Christian Aid’s country manager for South Africa – he explains why the huge disparity in land ownership still remains.  Despite South Africa’s progressive new constitution and land reform programme, 80% of the farmland is currently owned by the white 10% South African minority.

Rob also addresses what must be done to see an end to associated human rights abuses and evictions, and shares news of the significant victories being made by Christian Aid’s partners working in solidarity with, and bringing hope to, South Africa’s landless poor.

Programme Notes

• Nkuzi Development Association
• Summary of Key Findings from the National Evictions Survey (PDF)
• Christian Aid
• World Habitat Day

Hurricanes - episode 1

Hurricane diary. What's it really like when a hurricane strikes? Christian Aid's Rhian Holder was at home in Kingston, Jamaica when Hurricane Dean struck.  This is the first of three episodes looking at the recent hurricanes. Please manually download the second and third episodes from your podcatcher software (iTunes etc).

Download HurricaneDean_1f.mp3

Programme Notes:

• Christian Aid podcast on Disaster Risk Reduction
• Christian Aid website on current emergencies
• Donate to the emergencies fund

This programme was edited by Steven Buckley. Rhian Holder from Christian Aid Jamaica was interviewed by Sian Curry.

Hurricanes - episode 2

Facing the storm. Properly protecting your home, crops and property can make all the difference when a hurricane strikes, as people in Jamaica know all too well. This is the second episode of three podcasts looking at the recent hurricanes in Latin America. Please manually download the third episode from your podcatcher software (iTunes etc).

Download HurricaneDean_2_f.mp3

Programme Notes:

• Christian Aid podcast on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
• Christian Aid website on current emergencies
• Donate to the emergencies fund

This programme was edited by Steven Buckley. Rhian Holder from Christian Aid Jamaica was interviewed by Sian Curry.

Hurricanes - episode 3

Picking up the pieces. When Hurricane Dean battered Jamaica on 19 August, it caused widespread destruction of homes, crops and livestock. Christian Aid partners are helping people to recover.  This is the third of three episodes looking at the recent hurricanes.

Download HurricaneDean_3f.mp3

Programme Notes:

• Christian Aid podcast on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
• Christian Aid website on current emergencies
• Donate to the emergencies fund

This programme was edited by Steven Buckley. Rhian Holder from Christian Aid Jamaica was interviewed by Sian Curry.

Moving from sex work to leadership

Each year, around two million children are exploited in commercial sex work. Half a million of these children are from South Asia. They face years of virtual slavery, which can result in psychological and physical harm. Those who do manage to escape are often confronted with stigma and systems ill-equipped to help them. 

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In this programme we talk to Mark Capaldi and Vimala Crispin who work with ECPAT, a Christian Aid partner working to ensure that children around the world can enjoy their fundamental human rights free from commercial sexual exploitation. They explain how ECPAT’s innovative Youth Partnership Project is enabling children and young people to set the agenda in the campaign to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children and in supporting survivors

Programme Links

• ECPAT’s Youth Partnership Project – http://www.ecpat.net
• Global Gang childrens website – Find out about Youth Partnership Project member Sanlaap
• Stop the Traffik - Sign a declaration against trafficking to send to the UN

Mark Capaldi and Vimala Crispin were interviewed by Antoinette Powell of Christian Aid. The views expressed in this programme are those of the contributors and may not reflect official Christian Aid policy.  For our public position, please visit http://www.christianaid.org.uk

Disaster Risk Reduction

Statistics from the World Bank indicate that for every dollar spent now on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR); four dollars are saved in humanitarian relief. In the past decade the number of people affected by disasters has more than doubled and with climate change accelerating, this is set to worsen – so disaster adaptation and mitigation is a massively important area of work.

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In this programme we talk with Sarah Moss and Bina Desai from the Christian Aid Disaster Risk Reduction Unit. They give their views on the importance of DRR for development agencies and report back from a recent conference in Geneva. The group also talk about climate change and the vulnerability of the world’s poor to changes that are taking place right now.

This programme was originally produced for Christian Aid staff and provides a useful insider view to the discussions that are taking place in the organisation. However, the views expressed are those of the contributors and do not reflect official Christian Aid policy. For our public position, please visit www.christianaid.org.uk