In episode #1 of Hear, HERE!, Ed and Marzia sit down to take stock of the state of protection in humanitarian action.Protection is a core pillar of humanitarian response. Without a proper focus on the rights of crisis-affected people, and the immediate threats that they may still face, humanitarian work risks becoming merely an act of service delivery or charity. Nonetheless, in our work as HERE-Geneva, we have often found protection to be poorly understood among humanitarians, hampering its implementation. As such, it is an ideal first topic for discussion in a podcast aiming to shed light on the gap between policy and humanitarian practice What does the term ‘protection’ in a humanitarian context precisely entail? Who has a protection mandate, and how does this matter? Why should protection be prioritised in every humanitarian response – and why is it often not the case? What can humanitarian actors do when repressive States fall short in respecting their obligations to protect people under their control? Listen to Ed and Marzia exchanging thoughts on the current state of protection, raising questions, addressing dilemmas, and carefully formulating suggestions on how to improve its status and impact in humanitarian practice.