Stories of Purpose - The Hague & Partners

Interview with the ICJ Judicial Fellowship

In this episode, Tom speaks to Nickolas Eburne and Karin Arana Chacón - two of the current cohort of Judicial Fellows at the International Court of Justice. 2026 is a double anniversary year for the ICJ. It is 80 years since the first hearing held by the Court - but it is also 25 years since the founding of the Judicial Fellowship programme. In that time, more than 250 top legal students have been given the opportunity to work closely with the 15 judges of the ICJ - working on hugely consequential international cases. Each Fellow spends a year at the court - and former students are an eclectic mix of academics, authors and international arbitration experts - including the international Human Rights lawyer Amal Clooney. Now, the Fellowship has launched an Alumni Association so that former Fellows can come together in The Hague and reminisce about their experiences. Stories of Purpose is produced by The City of the Hague, and the Hague and Partners. Visit the website at www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com [https://www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/] for more news about some of the amazing organizations working in the international city of Peace and Justice. Theme music: Dreams by the Sea by Black Rhomb.

Interview with Lilian Knippenberg - CISO of The Hague

Lilian Knippenberg has been Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Municipality of The Hague since July 2025, and it is her job to ensure its citizens are kept safe from digital threats. CISO is a role that didn't really exist a decade ago, but as the threat levels increase, it has become a critical part of the City's IT framework. In this episode, Tom talks to Lilian about the challenges the city faces - and how events like Hack The Hague can help encourage young people to get involved in ethical hacking. Stories of Purpose is produced by The City of the Hague, and the Hague and Partners. Visit the website at www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com [https://www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/] for more news about some of the amazing organizations working in the international city of Peace and Justice. Theme music: Dreams by the Sea by Black Rhomb.

Interview with Maarten Roelfs from Office EU

On Stories of Purpose, we share the latest news from the international City of Peace and Justice. In this episode, Tom is joined by Maarten Roelfs, a Dutch tech entrepreneur who is co-Founder of Office EU [https://office.eu/]. Many European organizations are currently over-reliant on workspaces and software office suites provided by massive US firms like Microsoft and Google. This means they cannot protect their data sovereignity from tough US legislation such as the CLOUD Act - which compels tech companies to share data from overseas companies in criminal investigations. Maarten and his colleagues developed Office EU to be an alternative productivity platform that is 100% European owned and runs entirely on European infrastructure. It provides all the same tools such as documents, spreadsheets, and presentations - but uses open source technology to ensure complete transparency for users. Visit for Office EU [https://office.eu/] for more information Stories of Purpose is produced by The City of the Hague, and the Hague and Partners. Visit the website at www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com [https://www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/] for more news about some of the amazing organizations working in the international city of Peace and Justice. Theme music: Dreams by the Sea by Black Rhomb.

Interview with Jonas Brøg from Firestarters

On Stories of Purpose, we share the latest news from the international City of Peace and Justice. In this episode, Tom chats to Jonas Brøg - co-Founder of Firestarters Foundation, a new programme to support disadvantaged young people in The Hague. There are currently more than 14,000 kids in city who don't regularly attend school, and Jonas and his team run sessions at Hart Beach in Scheveningen to try and help some of them to 'find their fire'. Jonas is a former session musician who has toured with some of the biggest bands on the planet, but if it wasn't for his own 'firestarter' moment when he was a teenager - it might have all been so different… Find out about Firestarters at https://firestarters-schev.nl/ [https://firestarters-schev.nl/] Stories of Purpose is produced by The City of the Hague, and the Hague and Partners. Visit the website at www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com [https://www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/] for more news about some of the amazing organizations working in the international city of Peace and Justice. Theme music: Dreams by the Sea by Black Rhomb.

Interview with Naomi Hija from EviSafe

On Stories of Purpose, we share the latest news from the international city of peace and justice. In this episode, Tom visits the Humanity Hub in the city to speak to Naomi Hija. Naomi is the co-Founder of a unique app called EviSafe, which is designed to help victims of domestic violence. Only one in ten victims of domestic or sexual violence reports an incident, largely due to stigma and a fear of not being believed. EviSafe [https://evisafe.nl/#home]is helping overcome these persistent barriers by documenting abuse in real time, encouraging more victims to come forward in the knowledge they have the evidence to back up their cases. You can download the EviSafe app for free right now from Google Playstore, or by visiting the EviSafe website at Evisafe.com [http://evisafe.com] Stories of Purpose is produced by The City of the Hague, and the Hague and Partners. Visit the website at www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com [https://www.storiesofpurpose.thehague.com/] for more news about some of the amazing organizations working in the international city of Peace and Justice. Theme music: Dreams by the Sea by Black Rhomb.