NGO leaders teach communications prof about communications

Today was the third and final day of the Sustained Humanitarian Presence Initiative workshop, sponsored by Irish AID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. This workshop in Limerick, Ireland for NGO leaders was the first part of a larger project to develop a course to help NGO's operate more effectively in a crisis area. The second part is testing and deploying this project in South Sudan.

My instructional segment today centered around how NGO’s might most effectively utilize media in a crisis area. I began with a discussion of how professional media assessment and engagement skills cut across the many things an NGO does, like gaining acceptance in the community, negotiating with locals, and assessing the situation in the region where the NGO operates. As anticipated (see yesterday’s blog), the participants largely scrapped a primitive list of media skills that I had developed before the workshop, and created their own improved step by step approach to media relations. It was interesting and educational to see how they applied the theory I presented.

As the project progresses, it will be interesting to see how this list of media relations skills is incorporated into the training module that the sponsors plan to test-drive in South Sudan in 2014.

Real experts reflect on giving crisis aid

My thin veneer of alleged international expertise has been exposed this week in Limerick, Ireland. Not that I’m a complete fraud, mind you, although spending time with 25 authentic international experts has been a humbling experience.

These experts come from diverse NGO’s from Europe and the U.S., and have literally been deployed for long periods in the world’s most troubled countries. Want to learn more about splintered opposition groups in Syria? Several NGO personnel here just returned from Syria. Interested in hearing the story of the cholera outbreak in Haiti? One NGO expert can give first hand testimony.

We’re all gathered in Limerick for the Sustained Humanitarian Presence Initiative, sponsored by Irish AID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. This workshop for NGO leaders centers on operating effectively in a conflict zone. The first two days, we’ve discussed the importance of situational awareness and gaining acceptance from communities hosting NGO’s. As I’ve listened, I’ve noted that many of the issues and challenges facing humanitarian organizations are the same ones confronted by international journalists.

Tomorrow, I am leading a segment of the workshop that will center on communications, specifically crisis communications, NGO-media relations, peace journalism, and collaboration between NGO's and media on humanitarian and developmental issues. Given the participants’ expertise and experience, the smart thing for me to do will be to lay out some concepts, and listen as the NGO leaders prioritize their communication needs.

Arrival in enchanting Ireland; NGO seminar tomorrow

I just landed in Ireland today. I’m here to speak at and participate in a conference in Limerick that begins tomorrow.

The trip from Dublin, where we landed, to Limerick was by “luxury motorcoach” (an oxymoron?). Since the express bus came later in the day, my colleague and I took the 10:00am local bus, which stopped 74,876 times between the Dublin and Limerick, usually on the main drag of a small town, but occasionally at a bus stop along the road in the middle of nowhere. What the trip lacked in efficiency (4 hours, vs. 2 hours for a direct bus), it made up for in scenery. This truly is a lovely country.

As for the seminar, "the Sustained Humanitarian Presence Initiative", I’ll have more details about this beginning tomorrow.

Tonight, rumor has it that a welcome beverage of some kind will be offered up by the locals.

Peace Journalist magazine: Still hot off the presses, still free

The October 2013 edition features an article by peace journalist and Professor Jake Lynch about Syria, and pieces about PJ projects in Nepal, Lebanon, The Bronx, and Indonesia. Click here to view or download the magazine.

Media, NGO collaboration on the agenda in Ireland

This weekend, I head to Limerick, Ireland to speak at and participate in a workshop sponsored by Irish AID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The workshop for NGO leaders centers on operating effectively in a conflict zone. My segment of the workshop will center on communications, specifically crisis communications, NGO-media relations, peace journalism, and collaboration between NGO's and media on humanitarian and developmental issues. Much of what I will be doing is leading a discussion about these issues, and listening carefully as the NGO leaders prioritize their communication needs. Stay tuned to this blog for details.

The new Peace Journalist magazine has arrived

The Peace Journalist magazine is dedicated to disseminating news and information for and about teachers, students, and practitioners of peace and conflict sensitive journalism.The new October 2013 edition features an article by peace journalist and Professor Jake Lynch about Syria, and pieces about PJ projects in Nepal, Lebanon, The Bronx, and Indonesia. Click here to view or download the magazine.

The Peace Journalist is a semi-annual publication of the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University in Parkville, Missouri.