People in Need: second half of the year 2016

Czech TV in Ethiopia

In June, the TV crew spent two weeks in Ethiopia. Michal Kubal, the chief foreign editor of the Czech Television, visited PIN’s mission and the Light for the World project. He produced a short documentary about a girl Dami, who underwent a life changing eye operation that gave her eyesight back.  

Bulletin – Minorities in Myanmar

PIN published a third issue of bulletin in October. This issue’s main story was about Naga people in Myamar – the forgotten ethnic minority. The bulletin then covered the various topics, such as Mongolian post service – how to reach the remote nomad populations thanks to new technologies, the export of Colombian cocoa to the European market, the causes and consequences of the migration from African countries to Europe and the drones and their use for the development. We also asked Ivo Šilhavý, Czech ambassador in Kosovo, what the transformation experience of the Czech development cooperation means in practice. Bulletins are sent to relevant decision makers, i.e. members of Czech national Parliament and Czech representatives in European Parliament, Ministries' officials and key development experts, scholars and NGO representatives.

Media supplement – Czechs abroad

In the biggest national newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes, People in Need published a six pages long media supplement on October 21^st. The supplement focused on the Czech humanitarian and development aid. We interviewed Marek Hrubec, the first rector of Czech founded university in Burundi, Pavel Mikeš, Czech ambassador in Nigeria and former EEAS ambassador in Ethiopia, and we also asked Jiří Bednář, PIN’s finance officer in Myanmar, why he decided to leave a private company and work in the non-profit sector. Michal Kaplan, director of the Czech development agency, wrote an article about Czech development cooperation strategy and what are the main assets of Czech aid. Furthermore, the readers get to know the work of the Czech Tourist Club in Brazil, the Doctors without Borders in Iraq, Czech bio farmers in Moldova or Czech jewellery makers in Palestine. The impact of the supplement is quite high - the average newspaper’s readership is approximately 615 000 readers, and PIN had a very positive feedback from the readers and also policy stakeholders.  

Marek Hudema in Mongolia

In October, Marek Hudema from the newspaper Hospodářské noviny received a grant for the travel to Mongolia to visit PIN’s mission. So far, as an outcome of the trip he published two articles in the printed newspaper and also on the news webpage ihned.cz. First article focused on the upsides and downsides of mineral resources in Mongolia and the second one covered the country’s economic situation and the introduction of the system for the electronic recording of sales.  

Social media campaign

In November, PIN with collaboration with the marketing agency Prague Bistro Digital launched a development awareness campaign Světová práce (“World job”). During two weeks, the campaign was running on Facebook and on the job website www.jobs.cz. On the campaign’s microsite and Facebook page several job offers in developing countries such as “a marketing manager in Sri Lanka, an architect in Mongolia or an educational expert in Ethiopia” were advertised to those who might find the position relevant according their preferences. Each job advertisement had a catchy description and set of benefits to attract the target audience and to raise their curiosity. However, after clicking on “Apply” the point of the campaign was revealed – the jobs were never offered to expats, the positions are always occupied by local people whom PIN transfers the experience and knowledge in order to become independent.