When a building is bombed, a group of volunteers known as the White Helmets rush to the scene to dig through rubble to find survivors. In a conflict known for its never-ending descent into depravity, this one group stands apart as true servants of humanity.

On the line to discuss their work is Orlando von Einsiedel, who directed the new Netflix documentary “The White Helmets.” The film follows members of the Aleppo contingent of the Syrian Civil Defense Corps as they go on rescue and training missions.

The White Helmets are unarmed and apolitical. But as Russia and Syrian forces have intensified the battle for eastern Aleppo, the White Helmets have increasingly been a target themselves. In the last week alone, four of their bases in Aleppo have been targeted and they are often the victims of a bombing strategy known as “double tap” in which a second bomb is unleashed on a civilian target just as rescue workers are arriving on the scene.

In this conversation, director Orlando von Einsiedel — whose credits include the documentaries Virunga and Skateistan — describes the work of the White Helmets and his decision to make them the subject of his newest film.

The UN General Assembly kicks into high gear this week as world leaders flock to New York for the annual UN summit. There are many story lines for international affairs nerds to follow, and on the line with me to break them all down is Richard Gowen, a fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Richard and I offer a preview of the big stories, high drama, and possible moments of intrigue that are sure to be present at one of the most important weeks ever year for global affairs.

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Before we kick off, I have a special announcement–actually an invitation. I will be holding a live taping of Global Dispatches with Under Secretary of State Sarah Sewall and you are cordially invited to attend. She is the highest ranking State Department official dealing with human rights, terrorism, refugees, and other issues related to civilian security, rights, and democracy, and it should be a fantastic conversation that will include some audience participation

The event is organized in conjunction with the group Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, is being held in New York on Wednesday, September 21st at 7pm at the SLC Conference center 15 W 39the st (near Bryant Park.) So, for those of you in the New York area, please come by. If you are planning to attend, you can RSVP here. http://www.ypfp.org/globaldispatches

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Locals carry two young girls to the shores of Lesbos, after they reached the island with their families in an inflatable boat full of refugees and migrants, having crossed the Aegean sea from Turkey.

As world leaders gather at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, you can expect some high diplomatic drama. It will be President Obama and Ban Ki Moon’s last UN Summit. And speeches from various world leaders–from Justin Trudeau to Theresa May — are hotly anticipated. But behind all the politics and drama are issues of substance — and arguably the most important substantive issues on the table relate to the global refugee crisis.

There will be two high profile summits at the UN related to refugees. The first is organized by the United Nations itself, the “Summit for Refugees and Migrants.” The second is being organized by President Obama, and billed as the “Leaders Summit on Refugees.”

Taken together, these two high level meetings at the UN have the potential to provide an important inflection point in the international community’s attempt to address the largest global displacement crisis since World War Two.

On the line to help me to help put these two summits in a broader context of how countries are confronting a growing refugee crisis is Shannon Scribner, a humanitarian policy adviser for Oxfam. Shannon describes what these two distinct summits hope to accomplish, some of their benefits and weak points, and explains the exceedingly complex challenge of crafting a global strategy to confront this global problem.

This is one of the most pressing issues of our time. And if you have 20 minutes and want a deeper understanding of what the UN and broader international community is trying to do about, have a listen.

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Yemen is the region’s poorest country. And since the Arab Spring it’s also been one of the most unstable countries in the Gulf.

Now, the civil war in Yemen is getting worse by the day. Hospitals are being routinely bombed, some 10,000 people have been killed;, and extremist groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and ISIS have gained a foothold in parts of the country.  There is no end in sight.

How did we get here?

Over the course of the last six weeks or so, I’ve received a series of increasingly urgent sounding press releases from various humanitarian organizations operating in the far northeastern region of Nigeria, called Borno state.

On 12 August 2016 internally displaced children waiting for ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) distribution in Banki IDP camp, Borno state, northeast Nigeria. Photo: UNICEF/Andrew Esiebo

In July, I received this from MSF saying (in all caps) “NIGERIA: CATASTROPHIC MALNUTRITION IN BORNO STATE…A major humanitarian operation is needed to save lives in northeastern Nigeria’s Borno state, where more than 500,000 people are living in catastrophic conditions”

Also in July, I received an email from UNICEF saying, “An estimated quarter of a million children in Borno state, North-East Nigeria, face severe malnourishment and risk death”

And from Mercy Corps, in August: “An estimated 7 million people are in need of lifesaving aid in the worst affected areas in the northeast; of those, an estimated 2.5 million people are malnourished and lack access to food and safe drinking water.”

This leads me to conclude that the situation in Northeaster Nigeria and the broader Lake Chad basin is arguably the worst crisis in the world that receives the least amount of attention.

This crisis has been festering for several years as the Boko Haram insurgency gripped the region. But over the past year, Boko Haram has been on the retreat and much of Borno state and the surrounding region has been liberated from Boko Haram.

So why now is this crisis seemingly coming to light?

On the line with me with answer that very question, offer a grounds-eye perspective on this humanitarian crisis, and describe what can be done to mitigate it is Adrian Ouvry, a humanitarian advisor with Mercy Corps. He recently returned from Borno state and discusses why the levels of malnutrition currently experienced in this region may just be the tip of the iceberg.

If you have 20 minutes and want a deeper understanding of the situation in Northeast Nigeria, have a listen.

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