Integral Alliance has brought together seven of its Members to share their collective expertise in humanitarian storytelling. This ‘Dignity in Humanitarian Communications Working Group’ has produced a Storyteller’s Guide which sets out industry best practice in humanitarian storytelling in a practical, accessible and informative way.
Helen Manson, Creative and Communications lead at Tearfund New Zealand, chaired the working group. She says: “This Guide was created by a team of women gathered from around the world who work for organisations that bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual charitable revenue each year. It collates the latest thinking, insights and practical examples of how to provide dignity within communications.”
The Guide covers topics such as gaining informed consent, collecting good story information, questions to consider when crafting a story, tips for taking high-quality images and video, what to do when you get back from a comms field trip and suggested words and phrases to avoid and what to say instead. Also included in the ‘bonus content’ section is a summary of the Integral Marketing Group discussion about how localisation is relevant to the areas of marketing and communications.
Sue O’Connor, Head of Branding and Communications at Medair and Chair of the Integral Marketing Group, says: “This guide exemplifies the values we share as Integral Members. We are all committed to respecting the dignity of the people we serve, and to reflecting the whole story in our communications. This is not a ‘final product’; we will continue to evolve as we receive input from around the world.”
This Guide is available to all Integral Member’s and their Partners, as well as the NGO community at large. Helen says, “Our hope is that people spread the word, share it far and wide and it serves our sector well.”
For more information contact Sarah Larkin, Integral’s Head of Communications and Marketing:
Integral has 21 Members with headquarters in 13 countries. Integral Members work over 85 countries, across 34 sectors, and have a network of over 580 local Partners. Integral’s goal is for all its Members to become more effective and efficient in their work and to see greater impact and reach as a result of working collaboratively.
