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About the Massar Podcast
Massar Podcast is a bilingual (English–Arabic) podcast dedicated to demystifying Business and Human Rights in the Arab world through practical, locally grounded conversations. Hosted by Krystel Bassil, Founder of BHRMENA, Massar explores how businesses across MENA are navigating labour rights, supply chains, sustainability, climate justice, and corporate responsibility in real-world contexts. Each episode features regional and global experts and uses concrete examples from the Arab States to explain international frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines in an accessible way. Designed for practitioners, policymakers, students, and anyone new to the field, Massar bridges global standards with local realities — one conversation at a time.
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Episode 1 | What is Business & Human Rights and why is it relevant to the MENA Region
​​Joined by Noor Hamadeh
​4.02.2026
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The first episode of the Massar Podcast explores what Business and Human Rights means in practice for companies operating across the Arab world. Through an accessible discussion with Noor Hamadeh (ICAR), host Krystel Bassil unpacks key concepts, common risks, and real case studies from the MENA region, showing how businesses can align global standards with local realities. This episode is designed for anyone new to the topic and offers a practical introduction to responsible business, human rights due diligence, and sustainable growth in the region.​
Episode 2 | What is Just Transition?" Putting people at the heart of climate action in the MENA Region
​​Joined by Rayan Kassem
11.02.2026
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This episode of the Massar Podcast explores what Just Transition means in practice for the MENA region, at a time of accelerating climate change, heat stress, and growing social and economic pressures. In a clear and accessible conversation with Rayan Kassem we unpack how climate action intersects with human rights, labour protection, food security, and resource sovereignty. Drawing on insights from the World Benchmarking Alliance Just Transition Benchmark, the episode explains how companies are being assessed on their impact on people and the planet, and why corporate accountability, social protection, and human rights due diligence must move together. This episode is designed for anyone seeking to understand how climate strategies can be aligned with justice and inclusion, and offers a practical introduction to Just Transition from a MENA perspective.​
Episode 3 | Effective grievance mechanisms: Lessons from on-the-ground assessments
​​Joined by Aya Nafi'
18.02.2026
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This episode of the Massar Podcast explores what it really means to go beyond social audits and understand human rights risks as they are lived on the ground in the MENA region. In a clear and practical conversation with Aya El Nafi’, a human rights researcher and field-based advocate in Jordan, we unpack the differences between human rights impact assessments, social audits, and grievance mechanisms, and why worker engagement and trust are essential to effective human rights due diligence. Drawing on first-hand experience from the Jordanian garment sector, the episode shows how compliance on paper can miss realities such as recruitment abuses, excessive overtime, wage violations, and poor living conditions for migrant workers. This episode is designed for anyone who wants to understand how responsible business, ESG, and supply chain risk management in MENA must move from box-ticking to meaningful, and more importantly, localised, worker-centred practice.
Episode 4 | Beyond recruitment: Why businesses in the MENA region must lead on skilling & reskilling of their workforce
​​Joined by Tanja Dedovic
6.03.2026
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Episode 4 of the Massar Podcast explores why businesses in the MENA region must move beyond recruitment and start investing in skills development and workforce reskilling to build more resilient, ethical, and competitive economies. In this conversation, Krystel Bassil, founder of BHRMENA, and Tanja Dedovic from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) discuss how labour mobility, ethical recruitment, and skills mobility partnerships are reshaping labour markets across the Arab world. The episode highlights how migrant worker risks often begin in the pre-employment phase, why the Employer Pays Principle is critical to preventing recruitment abuse, and how businesses — especially SMEs that make up the majority of MENA economies — play a key role in shaping fair labour systems. The discussion also examines how climate change, economic transformation, and the green transition are creating new skills demands, from renewable energy to climate-resilient agriculture, and why companies must collaborate with governments, industry associations, and international organisations to invest in skilling and reskilling workers across supply chains. Ultimately, the episode argues that responsible business in the Middle East and North Africa is not only about compliance, but about building skilled, inclusive, and sustainable labour markets that benefit both workers and businesses.