Episode 2 - Who gets left behind?

In this episode of Aiding & Abetting, we explore one of the humanitarian sector’s most persistent failures: the exclusion of disabled people and older people from humanitarian response.Despite years of commitments to inclusion, many humanitarian programmes remain inaccessible, fragmented, and designed around rigid sector-based systems rather than the realities of people’s lives. From inaccessible aid distributions to the failure to adapt services in meaningful ways, this episode examines why disabled people and older people continue to be left behind during crises.Host and Karama founder Tom Colley is joined by inclusion specialist Diana Tilly, who brings more than 40 years of experience working on disability and inclusion across humanitarian and development contexts.Together, they discuss the limitations of mainstream humanitarian approaches, the overlap between people’s needs, and what genuinely inclusive humanitarian action could look like in practice.Learn more about Karama and its work supporting locally led humanitarian responses at: www.karama.org.ukAiding & Abetting is a podcast about the politics, power, and contradictions of humanitarian aid.Hosted by humanitarian worker and researcher Tom Colley, the series explores how aid really works, who benefits from it, and why efforts to help can sometimes reinforce the inequalities they seek to address.Through conversations with aid workers, activists, researchers, and community leaders, the podcast examines the colonial legacies, political interests, and institutional incentives that shape humanitarian response today.Produced by Karama, a network supporting locally led mutual aid initiatives across conflict-affected regions, Aiding & Abetting offers an honest, critical look at humanitarianism and explores what a more accountable, community-led future could look like. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.