A deeper look

Tarek Jacob
Sep 26, 2018 · 2 min read

A World Humanitarian Day story

As one of the most recent employees at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), I am always impressed by people’s reaction when I tell them about my job. The most common thing I hear is: “truly? the UN uses graphics and visualizations now?”

Many people underestimate this field and are unaware of how it relates to humanitarian work, I was one of them. I thought it only relates to creativity, advertisement, and art. Not once did I think that it could be about something bigger until I started my assignment at WFP’s Communications Unit in Syria where my views changed completely.

©Photo: World Food Programme, Syria Country Office / Hussam Al Saleh

My work here has taught me that design could have a greater purpose than publicity and profit. It has a deeper meaning and can be instrumental in helping people who are most in need. Although I do not use a lot of creative concepts, trendy colours or shiny elements — something that can be quite depressing for right-brained people — I have begun to appreciate the wider picture of what I am doing.

At WFP, I work with pictures and footage of real people whose lives have been affected by years of armed conflict and multiple displacements. I work with people’s smiles and tears, with children’s joy and parents’ grief. I work with data, charts, metric tons and number of people we serve. All simplified in a small square of pixels to make it as easy as possible for the whole world to understand the harsh reality of the people we assist.

I work with the colour blue, simple catchy phrases, plain language; but most importantly, I work with hope.

©Graphics: World Food Programme, Syria Country Office / Tarek Jacob

WFP is working to provide food assistance to three million people every month, in addition to providing a sense of normalcy, which they lacked since the onset of the crisis. Having that responsibility on my shoulders makes my contribution quite challenging, given the flood of prints and social media feeds. Flyers, posters, and reports can be easily ignored, which pushes me to think twice and work harder every day.

Being a humanitarian worker in Communications has changed my perspective about my career and the tasks I have been doing for the past five years. Underestimating the relevance of a certain job to humanitarian work should not hold us back. We can all be part of it, we can all find a higher purpose in our daily job, and we can all help.

Learn more about WFP’s work in Syria.

Tarek Jacob

Written by

Communications Officer at UNICEF, Damascus Hub. Personal Views.

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