Learn how to address the main challenges of communication in humanitarian settings and how to implement a communication plan in the midst of humanitarian action.
Specificities of humanitarian communication - Part 2
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来自 University of Geneva 的课程
Humanitarian communication : Addressing key challenges
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从本节课中
Week 1
Dear students, Welcome to this course on communication in humanitarian settings. During this week, we will cover the main concepts and definitions essential to understand the specific framework of communication in humanitarian settings.
与讲师见面
Prof. Doris SchopperDirector of CERAH, joint Centre of the University of Geneva and the Graduate Institute of Geneva
Faculty of Medicine
Dr. Valérie GorinCERAH lecturer
Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action
Jean-Marc BiquetCourse coordinator and lecturer at CERAH
Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action
Claire BarthélémyCourse coordinator and lecturer at CERAH
Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action
Claire DooleInvited lecturer
Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action
Claire BellmannProfessional Trainer, Coach and Facilitator
Centre for Education and Research in Humanitarian Action
[MUSIC]
Welcome back to this course on Specificities of
Humanitarian Communication in the Action.
In this second part, we will focus mainly on the communication managed during and
after the deployment of assistance.
Let's start.
From day one of the intervention up to the end of the project,
the staff of the aid organization will use communication as a mean to create and
develop its working space.
I said previously, while developing a project, the organization
establishes a communication channel with affected population.
The participation of the future recipient will ensure that the offer
of assistance meets their needs, is adapted to the evolution of the context,
and that they accept the aid actor.
This implies a process of continued dialogue between the two parties.
Communication is also crucial in terms of accountability and
potential complaint mechanism.
We will see that later.
A foreign organization must have a clear authorization of deployment.
The authorities in charge may grant it easily or
not based on the reserves of a mission negotiation.
In the initial phase,
the authorities must be able to recognize the added value of the aid actor.
To achieve this, the aid organization must be able to provide information on
who it is, its values, and operation and principles, and communicate its
intentions, its identity, and its added value in this, in a convincing manner.
The image it presents upfront will play a major role during the next phases and
is particularly important to gain acceptance.
But, as an organization's intervention is not isolated from its context,
it must implement its action within a specific framework and
coordinate it with other actors.
And usually, the framework is defined and given by the national authorities who
validate the organization's presence on their territory.
And they validate also the project that has to be implemented.
In addition, in order to avoid duplication and enhance an efficient use of resources,
organizations usually coordinate with other humanitarian actors or
actors involved in humanitarian action, whether local or international.
This is done through meetings dedicated to sharing experience and
information and creating synergies.
Potential partnerships may be developed with locally or nationally organized
groups who have the same intention of helping the affected people.
Such partnerships can only happen if all partners share the same intention and
also the same values on how the aid must be deployed.
The humanitarian principles usually are the main framework for such partnership.
It is frequently deployed in context where the crisis is partially or
completely disrupted political, social, and economic structures.
Diverge and interest between warring parties in a conflict,
frictions between ethnically, religiously, or culturally different population groups,
or simply the struggle for survive, it creates tensions and rivalries.
This may jeopardize the possibility to assist those most in need or
the most vulnerable population.
Indeed, it can divert aid delivery or even prevent it.
It's the responsibility of the aid organizations through communication
activities to maintain an adequate working space, to discuss with all parties, to
take full advantage of federal inferences and to mitigate the negative ones.
By doing so, the aid organization ensures that its presence and
actions are accepted by all parties.
In order to achieve this, aid actors must engage in three main activities,
enter into dialogue and build relationship with all actors
to constantly demonstrate their credibility and legitimacy.
This include the assisted population, the actors of influence, such as armed groups,
authorities or the formal or informal leaders and other organizations.
Second, to negotiate the access to the affected population and
work in mandatories in order to develop the project according to its own terms.
Third activity is to advocate on behalf of the population for
the delivery of appropriate and principle guided assistance and protection services.
We will come to the definition of these terms in a minute.
These three activities of communication are part of the operational communication.
The operational communication is the communication that directly impacts
on the capacity to deploy an effective response to the need of the population
affected by the crisis.
Now, we are going to look at these three activities in more details.
To develop dialogue and build relationship refers to the medium,
humanitarian organizations interact with the affected population, its staff and
the externals difficulties.
The participation, means the quality of the relationship with the affected
population that creates the necessary environment for
smooth implementation of the aid.
Notably by providing them clear mechanism for
their feedback on the type of the aid received and how it is distributed.
The humanitarian representation involves meeting with
all external stakeholders such as the community leaders, authorities, and
armed groups to create a network of information providers and the likes.
For each of these activities, the organization's identity and projects,
its way of working and its values are presented in a formal as well as informal
meetings, through presentation folders, radio and TV interventions.
The way this will be done should be defined in a communication strategy.
One of the aims is to prevent or
respond to possible opposition to the aid project or aid actor.
In case of blockages preventing the aid actor to access a population group in need
of assistance, in case of conflict or immediate threat to the security of
the staff or the assisted population, or simply to ensure acceptable working
conditions aid actors must enter into what is called humanitarian negotiations.
In negotiating, the aid actor is trying to create a mutual interest with
his interlocutor to find a solution based on humanitarian grounds.
Certain negotiations are traditionally done in a discreet way and may take time.
Editors may use humanitarian advocacy because they are confronted with latent or
manifest resistances to the provision of it, or to the operational strategies.
And then eventually, we may want to shed light on a crisis or
reveal the insufficiency of the aid action developed.
Advocacy is a process by which an aid organization
implements the service of communication activities in public or
beyond closed doors, trying to influence the power holders.
The aim is being to put pressure on them to take an action in a positive sense for
the affected populations on a specific issue at stake.
All three activities must be based on a comprehensive understanding of
the context and of the actors who can exert a positive influence.
According to the specificities of the context and the issue at stake,
communication action may consist in a series such of meetings,
reports, reportage, public opinion on position at local or global level.
And the use of locally adapted channels of information
to pass the message to inform or convince the power holders.
During projects implementation,
the organization must have a proper internal communication.
This should ensure that staffs are aware of the issues at stake,
are convinced of the organization's value
to fully embrace their role of ambassador of the organization.
It also allows keeping the motivation of the staff
that is able to understand and participate in problem solving if it's needed.
To summarize, we can see that solely good intentions and
adapting the response to the needs of the population are not sufficient to undertake
assistance and protection project.
Pressures, resistance or outright a position to aid deployment,
require aid organization to constantly communicate, adapt the message internally
as externally through locally relevant channels to the targeted audience.
If the situation gets back to normal at the end of a crisis, for
example after the epidemic outbreak or if the aid organization decides
to stop its action at a certain point, the handover of activities must be planned.
The best mechanism or actor must be identified to preserve the benefits
of the aid action and to increase its chance of sustainability.
Such handover is possible only if good communication channels are developed and
maintained in this constantly, between partners as with the affected population.
The formal evaluation of an aid project is a good moment for
the aid organization to communicate successes.
But also limits of the project.
This allows the organization to be accountable first and
foremost to the affected population but also to its donors and to its own staff.
Lessons learned from the experience must first be analyzed internally and then
should be shared with other aid actors and observer of humanitarian action.
This sharing of information is necessary to constructively fuel
debates around humanitarian aids and it's impact.
In conclusion, we can see that the better the aid organization knows the context of
its intervention, the better it will understand the dynamics among local and
international actors.
This will in turn allow it to better master
its communication which is an essential ingredient of the aid action itself.
First and foremost communication allows the aid actor to exist and
furthermore it's a necessary tool to allow humanitarian aid to meet the real needs.
And I see, I can say to you, thank you.
[MUSIC]
