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We sit down with Jacob Kirchner, senior strategic advisor for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Washington, DC, to unpack what neutral humanitarian work really looks like in modern wars. We connect the ICRC’s principles and legal mandate to overlooked crises like Sudan and to the human need for dignity, closure, and peace.
• Jacob’s path from Rotary World Peace Fellow to the ICRC
• What the ICRC does that most people never see, including forensics and support for dignified burials
• How the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is structured across national societies, the federation, and the ICRC
• Why neutrality, impartiality, and independence shape every decision
• How the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law guide the work
• Sudan’s conflict, mass displacement, and the real meaning of the cost of inaction
• Other urgent crises that rarely stay in the headlines
• How the ICRC works around sensitive perceptions while staying transparent
• Visiting prisoners of war and helping resolve missing-person cases over decades
• How helpers keep going, finding purpose and solidarity in difficult work
If you have somebody that you think would be an absolute amazing guest, please let me know. Rotarianpod at gmail.com. Of course, tell all your friends and neighbors to get the podcast wherever you get your podcast.

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