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    • Angola
    • Ethiopia
    • Malawi
    • Mozambique
    • Somalia and Somaliland
    • Zimbabwe
    • Nigeria
    • Ghana
    • Cote D’Ivoire
    • Mauritania
    • Togo
    • Kenya
    • Guinea Bissau

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    • Nagorno Karabakh
    • Ukraine
    • Moldova

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    • Laos
    • Myanmar
    • Solomon Islands
    • Sri Lanka

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A circular image of JJ Chalmers, a former Royal Marine commando against a blue backdrop with a silhouette of a man standing in a doorway
Beyond Bombs is HALO’s brand new podcast series. Each episode will feature eyewitness accounts and expert analysis from the men and women who work in 30 countries across the globe to clear the bullets, grenades and landmines left behind by war so that families can rebuild their lives.

Hosted by JJ Chalmers: 

JJ Chalmers used to be a Royal Marine commando but was severely injured by an improvised explosive device whilst serving in Afghanistan in 2011. Today he is an Invictus Games Gold medalist, has appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and presented the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

NEW EPISODE: UKRAINE: KHARKIV ON THE GROUND PART 2

The continuation of a special two-part series finds JJ Chalmers on the ground in Ukraine, joined by HALO’s Head of Region, Mike Newton, Mohammad “Qaissy” Abufarda, and Sophia Badalian. This episode brings JJ and the team to the resilient village of Hrakove, where they meet de-facto village administrator Anatolii organising aid for the community. As the team journeys back to the HALO Ukraine HQ in Brovary, JJ speaks to interpreter Ivan Yermilov, who recounts his personal experience living through the siege of Mariupol. JJ concludes the series with reflections on the insights and stories shared by everyone along the way, and what lays ahead for Ukraine.

Listen on your favourite podcast app here.

JJ Chalmers standing in front of a bombed house in Hrakove Village, Ukraine

JJ Chalmers in Hrakove village

UKRAINE: KHARKIV ON THE GROUND PART 1

Listen in to JJ Chalmers in a special two-part series as he joins HALO on the ground in Ukraine. In this episode, Senior Supervisor Bohdan Hreshko leads the team to the town of Chkalovkse in the Kharkiv region, where a football pitch has become a minefield, and an agricultural field in Mykolaivka that is sown with anti-tank mines instead of crops. JJ speaks to farmers Natalia and Vyacheslav, whose fields are contaminated with mines and tripwires, and whose home was destroyed by an ammunition explosion.

Listen on your favourite podcast app here.

JJ Chalmers and Vyacheslav stand in the ruins of his former home

JJ and Vyacheslav in the remnants of his home

LAOS 50 YEARS ON

Exactly 50 years since the bombing stopped in Laos HALO is still clearing up unexploded bombs in Laos. JJ Chalmers talks to Sera Koulabdara, CEO of the charity Legacies of War and to William Hunter, who runs HALO's Laos programme.

Listen on your favourite podcast app here.

An F4 Phantom dropping a cluster munition canister from the sky

EPISODE FIVE: ROBOTS, MINES, IEDS AND 750LBS BOMBS

The success of the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty has led to a sharp decline in the manufacture and deployment of factory-made landmines, but an unfortunate side effect has been the increase in homemade devices, otherwise known as Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). HALO's Pete Smith explains why these are still legally defined as a landmine as they are activated by the victims, while Andy Duncan explains how a new landmine specifically designed to penetrate body armour and sense human presence has been used by Russia in Ukraine. Meanwhile Fiona Kilpatrick talks about the challenges in destroying very large explosive items - in the case, a 750 lb aircraft bomb that had laid buried in a remote Loas village for over 50 years.

Listen on your favourite platform here

A 750lb bomb exploding in Laos

750lb bomb in Laos

EPISODE 4: HOW SOCIAL MEDIA CAN MAP WAR

Ukraine has been called the TikTok War. In this episode JJ Chalmers explores how we use social media, mapping and drones to find bombs and minefields in Ukraine, Libya and Angola.

Listen on your favourite platform here

A bomb sticking out of the ground next to a snow covered street in Ukraine

EPISODE 3: WOMEN IN DEMINING

HALO has always employed women from war-torn countries to clear their own communities. But how do bombs and conflict affect women differently? And how does a job as a deminer empower women in some of the traditional societies where HALO works?  JJ talks to campaigner Camilla Thurlow about her experience working  alongside HALO female deminers in Cambodia and Zimbabwe, as well as her time with another organisation in Afghanistan, while Noku Masiyanise from HALO Zimbabwe talks about the challenges faced by rural women in her country and how HALO is providing unique opportunities for them—and how baby boxes and childcare have a role in helping women contribute to making their country safe. 

Listen on your favourite platform here

HALO deminer, Precious, holds her baby Tatenda on her lap whilst wearing HALO uniform

Precious, HALO deminer and mother of baby Tatenda

Learn more: 

12 June | NPR

Angola thought women couldn't clear landmines. These women proved them wrong

Women leading the way in Zimbabwe: Lucy's Story

Women leading the way in Zimbabwe: Margaret's Story

EPISODE TWO: UKRAINE - THE NEW GEOPOLITICS

What will be the human cost of clearing Ukraine of landmines and unexploded bombs? What are the wider geopolitical implications of Putin’s war? JJ Chalmers talks with military historian Sir Hew Strachan, Emma Sky, Director of Yale University's International Leadership Centre and HALO’s CEO Major General James Cowan.

Listen on your favourite platform: Acast | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

A collapsed building surrounded by sunflowers and plants in Borodyanka, Kyiv Region, Ukraine

Borodyanka, Kyiv region, Ukraine

Learn more:

10 August | CBS News

Risky work of demining reclaimed ground in Ukraine is underway, but there's a long, dangerous path ahead

Dangers in the forest in Ukraine: Mushrooms and Mines

4 July | Sky News

Sky News: Ukrainian civilians learning the hard way that mines will take years to clear

EPISODE ONE: FROM KABUL TO JAFFNA: CITIES AFTER WAR

The shelling of Ukrainian cities has shown the world the horror of conflict in densely populated urban centres. For those of us tasked with clearing unexploded ordnance, the collapsed or ‘pancaked’ concrete buildings that have been reduced to rubble by air or rocket propelled munitions presents an enormous challenge. In this episode, JJ speaks to Dr. Farid Houmayon, Programme Manager of HALO Afghanistan about the urban clearance of Kabul in the 1990s, Simon Conway on lessons learnt from Jaffna to Fallujah and how their experiences will inform HALO Ukraine Manager Mairi Cunningham and her team in Kharkiv and the suburbs of Kyiv. Plus find out how Angelina Jolie lent some vital support...

Listen on your favourite platform: Acast | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

A group of HALO Staff stand in front of a mechanical asset in Sri Lanka in 2003

Angelina with HALO's team in Sri Lanka in 2003

Learn more:

The rebirth of West Kabul - one of the biggest urban clearance operations since World War II

Danger in every step: the ‘chaotic and complex’ work of Ukraine’s de-miners | The Guardian 

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