Supercharging Human Rights Advocates in the Levant

Introducing a new project to support the media and strategic communications needs of human rights organisations working in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.

We’re excited to announce the start of a brand new research project from the Small Media team — our first in the Arab world. This new work takes us to the Levant — Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan — where we’re working to assess the media and strategic communications needs of regional human rights organisations (HROs) and civil society organisations (CSOs).

As a result of the ongoing crisis in Syria, and its knock-on effects across the region, local HROs and CSOs are more in need of support, training and development than ever before, in order to effectively advocate for human rights and influence the direction of political and social change.

“With the turbulence in the region, we are faced with extraordinary challenges that are beyond the capacity of organisations in the region to face. One example is the huge influx of refugees from Syria, and another is the growing chaos in Lebanon and Syria”

–Director of a Syrian NGO

Up until now, there has been very little research conducted on the strategic communications and digital media needs of HROs and CSOs in the Levant, and few resources available for such organisations to develop their media strategies.

Our research intends to fill this gap by identifying local organisations’ specific needs, and providing a list of key recommendations that would help them to promote inter-organisational collaboration, facilitate greater influence over policy development, increase public engagement, and communicate with donors more effectively.

Asking the right questions

In the first phase of our research, we identified a sample study of 100 active HROs and CSOs in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, taking in well-established organisations alongside promising up-and-comers.

We then designed and distributed a survey asking about their communications and media outreach practices (for example, their levels of engagement on social media, the frequency of updates, their methods of monitoring feedback, the languages they use, etc). We also enquired about the types of support they most urgently require — whether media and comms support, or cyber security training and technical assistance.

While we await responses to this survey, we’ve been keeping busy by conducting a detailed literature review of the existing resources on this topic. Here’s what we’ve found so far.

Our initial findings

• An existing needs assessment focusing on the capacity building needs of Lebanon-focused NGOs revealed that the majority of NGOs do not have staff training and development plans.
• A few NGOs with clear strategic media plans have been able to create real partnerships with the media, but the majority of organisations approach the media primarily to advertise their work, and not as partners in social change.
• According to the findings of a regional workshop conducted to assess the effectiveness of NGO communication with Syrian refugees, there is a need for a better coordination of communication and messaging among agencies involved in the Syria response. This includes the need for more comprehensive discussions about communications early in their programme or policy development cycles.
• Research identified a variety of region-specific political challenges including: the rigidity of legal and political system, the lack of comprehensive vision and strategies defining NGOs’ activities, financial constraints, the security environment, and ongoing unrest in the MENA region.
• There is a very low level of participation in international level advocacy, and UN advocacy activities in particular — only five Lebanese national organisations participated in UN treaty-based mechanisms as part of their international advocacy programmes. According to the latest records of the Ministry of Social Affairs, 8,311 civil society organisations are currently registered in Lebanon.
• According to a study that explored MENA NGO participation in UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) activities, a lack of information about effective communication practices was identified as one of the most significant challenges precluding higher levels of participation.

Our project aims to advance the overall impact of HROs and CSOs in the Arab MENA region

The first phase of our study has already demonstrated a vital need for targeted capacity building programmes aimed at advancing the media and communication practices of HROs and CSOs in the Arab MENA region.

Initial responses to our survey have so far confirmed this assessment, with numerous organisations confirming their need for targeted communications training, and technical assistance for the the development of their communication and media strategies:

“Our organisation lacks technological support, cybersecurity skills, and communication mechanisms.”

— Organisation A

In the next edition of this blog, we’ll show off some of the findings from our survey, and talk you through the next steps of our research project, including focus groups, and in-depth interviews with organizations on the frontline of service provision and human rights support in the Levant. We hope this has been an interesting read, and we look forward to sharing more exciting news with you in the weeks and months ahead!