On Thursday the Congressional Progressive Caucus hosted a briefing for staff members by Mr. Jamie McGoldrick, the United Nations Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for the Republic of Yemen. The briefing was facilitated by the YPP's director of policy and advocacy, Kate Kizer. In the briefing, Mr. McGoldrick spoke about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Yemen, and what the US and other foreign powers can do to address what has become the world's largest humanitarian disaster. Below is an audio recording of the full briefing.

About the speakers

Jamie McGoldrick, UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen

Jamie McGoldrick was appointed as United Nations Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative for the Republic of Yemen in December 2015. He assumed this position after serving as the Resident Coordinator in Nepal and the UNDP Resident Representative since August 2013. After a series of earthquakes in Nepal in April 2015, he took on the Humanitarian Coordinator role. Prior to this, he was the Resident Coordinator and Resident Representative of UNDP in Georgia (2009-13). Mr. McGoldrick has extensive experience as a senior manager with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs having served as the Chief of the Humanitarian Reform Support Unit (2006-09), Section Chief for the Middle East, North Africa and Great Lakes Unit (2005-06), Section Chief for the Middle East and Central Asia Unit (2002-05), and Chief of the Asia and Pacific Section (2002). He also served as the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan (2006).

Kate Kizer, Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Yemen Peace Project

Kate Kizer directs the Yemen Peace Project’s policy and advocacy program to ensure US foreign policy in Yemen reflects the needs and interests of Yemenis and Yemeni Americans. She has worked on human rights and democratization in the Middle East for nearly ten years, and has traveled extensively throughout the region. Kate studied Middle Eastern and North African Studies at UCLA, Arabic at the American University in Cairo, and is currently an M.A. candidate at Georgetown University’s Democracy and Governance program. Her writing and commentary have been featured in numerous news outlets, including Just Security, Defense One, and HuffPost.