Showing posts with label PIN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PIN. Show all posts

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

PIN activities August – November 2017

Bulletin – Somalia 
In September, People in Need published the third issue of the bulletin Rozvojovka. Just recently, Czech journalist Lenka Klicperová visited Somalia and she wrote a main story for Rozvojovka about the current situation in Somalia - a country, which is still largely paralysed by al-Shabaab’s militias and by great poverty. We also interviewed Arthur F. Sniegoň, who moved from Czech city Třinec to Africa so that he could help to save elephants in Chad. Readers could also read about Czech-Ethiopian relations. Already in the 1980s, Czechoslovakia helped to build the electric power station, breweries or water wells. Ethiopian students went to Czechoslovakia to study university of life sciences or archaeology.   
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 "Czech Republic helps" in Deník
On the 26th of September, People in Need published a media supplement "Czech Republic helps" in Deník, the biggest regional and the second most read newspaper in Czech republic. The supplement was published, when People in Need celebrated its 25th anniversary. It was twenty-five years ago, when a group of war journalists and volunteers came together and decided to provide help in crisis situations. This group of enthusiasts grew into an organization that has 1,800 employees working in 32 countries with a budget of 1.7 billion Czech crowns (64 million Euros). In the course of its existence, the organisation has operated in 54 countries and helped more than 18 million people.In development aid provided in 20 countries, the focus today is primarily on transferring know-how and supporting the most vulnerable people, who are learning to face up to adverse natural and social conditions and developing their ability to help themselves. The supplement was dedicated to the  development activities of People in Need from Afghanistan, Angola to Philippines.
Journalists from Aktuálně.cz in Ukraine and Cambodia
In September, journalist Ondřej Soukup from Aktuálně.cz went to Ukraine, where he visited People in Need's development projects. He wrote about the current situation in eastern Ukraine and how people are struggling to live at the front line.

In October, journalist Simona Fendrychová from Aktuálně.cz travelled to Cambodia. In Cambodia, she visited health and livelihoods development projects of People in Need. How we fight dangerous superstitions, which harms mothers and children? Or how are local communities being trained to be better prepared for floods? The readers could find the answers in Simona's articles.

Czech TV in Moldova and Angola
In November, Linda Bartošová from Czech Tv spend a week in Moldova with People in Need. Moldova is known as the poorest country in Europe. The journalist interviewed young people about their prospects and where they see their country in the future

Dana Zlatohlávková, reporter from Czech Tv, went to the last journalist trip organised by People in Need. She visited Angola - country, which went through a historical political change this year. President Dos Santos stepped down after 38 years in power. How is the political transition going on? How is Angola responding to the influx of refugees from neighbouring DR Congo? The Czech viewers could find the answers in her stories. 


Czech Radio in Mongolia, Myanmar and Ethiopia
'Three in the world' is the name of Czech Radio audio-documentary series. Jiří Slavičínský in Mongolia, Brit Jensen in Myanmar and Ivan Studený in Ethiopia spend a week with local families. Each one shot an audio documentary on different topic. In Mongolia, Jiří focused on the preparation for dzud, Brit covered the issue of child abuse in Myanmar and Ivan experienced how is it like to live with a scarce water in Ethiopia. An hour long documentaries will be broadcast in December and in the beginning of 2018 on all Czech Radio's stations.  


Media analysis: Media coverage of developing countries and Czech development cooperation in 2015 and 2016
In November, PIN published a media analysis written by Sandra Štefaniková from Charles University in Prague. The analysis focused on media coverage of developing countries and development cooperation in Czech media between 2015 and 2016 and the comparison with the media analysis of 2013 and 2014 (link here). The results show that Czech media cover the topic mostly in the daily news - so called hard news. The news accounted for 76% of the analysed data. The analysed topic was mostly to be found in the online media, less in the print media and minimally in radio or television. In comparison to the previous years, the increase of online media coverage is significant. 
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Tuesday, 28 November 2017

Campaign by People in Need – “Czechs, thank you!” People from all over the world express thanks on Czech billboards. Campaign goes viral.

Hand written messages in Arabic, Ukrainian, Dari and Burmese appeared in the streets of Prague, Brno, and Ostrava early this month. The message was “Czechs, thank you.” Among the authors were Amal, a young girl from Syria; Mohamad, a teacher from Afghanistan; Mr. Rudolf, from Eastern Ukraine; and volunteer, Thet Maw, from Myanmar. Through this campaign, organised by Czech NGO People in Need, they had a chance to thank the Czech Republic and its people for their humanitarian and development aid. Their full stories, in addition to three more from Georgia, Ethiopia and Cambodia, are published on the website www.cesidekujem.cz.

News of the billboards, written in these foreign scripts, immediately went viral. People swapped messages and photos asking who had written them and to whom they were addressed. “The billboards are not only in Prague 4 - I saw them also in Černy most, Prosek...Prague is full of them. It must have happened yesterday...Nobody saw who put them up? I am afraid - even when it means Czechs thank you - it can be a sign...where, when and how…,” posted someone on Facebook. People and media focussed primarily on the Arabic message, even though if it was in other languages too.

A week later, NGO People in Need revealed that the messages were written by ordinary people from countries where PIN provides humanitarian and development support. “The organization, People in Need, wants to highlight the situation of people who face poverty, war, and natural disasters. For 25 years we have been improving access to education, clean water, healthcare, livelihoods, and providing basic humanitarian aid such as food. We help real people,” said Simon Panek, director of People in Need.

Since its creation the NGO has helped around 18 million people in more than 50 countries. “Through this campaign we are showing the stories of people we have helped. We decided to connect people who would probably never meet - the donors and beneficiaries,” said Jan Mrkvička, director of PIN Relief and Development Department.
On the website - www.cesidekujem.cz - you can find stories from Syria, Afghanistan, Barma, Ukraine, Georgia, Cambodia and Ethiopia. People in Need provides aid in 22 countries.

Turunge Misebo from Ethiopia also expressed thanks saying: “Thanks to People in Need, I don’t have to carry water for long distances. It is a big relief for me.” Czechs have been working in Ethiopia for over 10 years. In this region where Misebo lives they have helped to provide access to water for more than 100.000 people. Children and teachers from war-torn Aleppo sent their ‘thank yous' as well. Here, Czechs support a kindergarten called ‘Hope’, where at least for a while children can forget the horrors of the war around them. People in Need has been working in Syria since the beginning of the conflict.


“Through these individual stories we show how our help is working. We help people in poor countries so that they can help themselves. We support their education or we remove the obstacles which hinder them to break the cycle of poverty,” explains Jan Mrkvička.
The team at Bistro Agency came up with the idea of the campaign “Czechs, thank you.” “In the first phase, we wanted to raise a public discussion and curiosity. The Arabic language caused the biggest agitation even though Arabic was only one of the languages used in the campaign besides Dari, Burmese, and Ukrainian,” said Michala Langerová, from Bistro Agency. The messages appeared on nearly fifty billboards around the cities. “In the second phase of the campaign, we present the stories, which are powerful, exactly because they are real. They illustrate that development and humanitarian aid matters.”


The billboards were provided for free and the campaign’s collaborators worked pro bono. The minimal costs were covered by the Media4Development project, whose goal is to raise awareness about development and humanitarian aid. Contributions from private and individual donors were not used - these are allocated for the aid for  people, like those, who wrote the messages, “Czechs, thanks you”.    

The campaign quickly went viral. Czech celebrities and influencers have been supporting it on social media and started to make fun of unjustifiable fear it initiated. (e.g. TMBK on Facebook)


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Thursday, 3 August 2017

PIN activities May – July 2017

Bulletin – Climate Change

In July, People in Need published the second issue of the regular bulletin Rozvojovka. Main story was the impact of climate change in Philippines and the possible mitigation strategies. We interviewed Monika Nová, co founder of health clinic in Malawi, to find out, why still so many people disbelieve “the modern medicine” and prefer to go to traditional healers. Readers could also read about, how skating in Myanmar has become one of the symbol of democracy, or about modern slavery. David Lachout from African Information Portal wrote an analysis inquiring the issue of corruption in Africa. 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.


Journalists from Aktuálně.cz in Iraq

In April, a journalist Martin Novák and photographer Jakub Plíhal travelled to Iraq to visit People in Need’s projects. They have published several stories, videos and photo reportages about the life in liberated Mosul

Czech Tv in Philippines, Jordan, Iraq

 Barbora Šámalová, Czech Tv correspondent for China visited People in Need’s Country program in Philippines. She produced several stories for the main news about the issues of poverty or urban development. She also made a short documentary “Life in Storm” about the livelihoods’ recovery after typhoon Yolanda and about People in Need’s development projects.


In May, Jakub Szántó, Czech Tv correspondent for Middle East, went to journalist trip in Jordan, where he visited Czech government’s project MEDEVAC and other humanitarian projects that help refugees in the country.


In June, Jakub Szántó went to Mosul in Iraq, where he was shooting in the liberated part of the city. He produced stories about the level of destruction, captured Daesh’s prisoners, the renovation of historical sites or return of refugees to their city, which were broadcasted in the Czech Tv's main news program.

Study trip with politicians to Philippines

From May 28th to June 3rd, in total 5 members of parliament travelled to Philippines with People in Need. The participants were from Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The goal of the joint study trip was to introduce these parliamentarians to the mechanisms of development cooperation’s implementation, monitoring, evaluation and how it should be based on country and community needs. We hope the parliamentarians developed an appreciation for the benefits of the development cooperation for their own countries, which are currently allocating their ODA primarily to middle income countries and only Czech Republic and Slovakia are the members of OECD Development Assistance Committee, which constitutes the leading international forum for bilateral providers of development co-operation.
The participants had the opportunity to visit the development projects and to meet national and international development implementers and officials in Metro Manila and in Eastern Samar. In Manila, they met with senators and congressmen and with local NGOs' representatives, they visited vice-president's office. In Eastern Samar, the parliamentarians visited the agricultural projects' of Czech caritas and People in Need. They were also welcomed by local vice-governor. 

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Tuesday, 20 December 2016

Bulletin - Afghanistan between life and death

In December, PIN published its fourth issue of bulletin. We decided to dedicated the last issue of this year to Afghanistan. Tereza Engelová, Czech journalist, visited Afghanistan in November and she wrote for Rozvojovka an exclusive story about the current situation in Afghanistan. Also we interviewed PIN's colleague Jiří Bednář, who left a high prestige job in a consulting firm and has started to work in Myanmar. We published an analysis about Saudi Arabia's controversial development aid, a story about human trafficking in Nepal or a story about the impact of the banana business. Czech ambassador in Moldova Zdeněk Krejčí answer our question: "Why do we send the development aid to lower middle income countries?". 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.
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Friday, 9 December 2016

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 21st. 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. 


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Wednesday, 8 June 2016

Czech TV on the road in Kenya

Illustration photo: Tereza Hronová
In January and February 2016 Czech TV foreign editor Josef Pazderka visited Kenya to cover the development issues. The trip was a great success and all the stories were broadcast in the Czech TV main news with a daily average viewer rating of 750 000 and rerun in other Czech TV programs.
Illustration photo: Tereza Hronová
The first story was about the rescue mission of highly endangered white rhinos in Kenyan national park. Czech safari in Hradec Kralove set up a rescue plan for the worldwide last three northern white rhinos and is trying to return them in the wild nature in Kenya. 

 The reportage covered the joint efforts of Kenyan rangers, Czech team and local communities to save this animal species. On the Valentine’s Day Czech TV broadcast a story about the reality of the rose industry in Kenya and its consequences on the environment and also about the labour condition in the factories and the rose fields.
Kenyan runners are worldwide renowned, but just few know about the harsh conditions and disappointments of runners in Kenya. Next story thus focused on the background of the top level running and the related issues such as doping, prize money or high physical load.
Burundi is currently in deep political crisis and on the edge of being in a civil war. Josef Pazderka explained the context of the conflict and talked about how the conflict can affect neighboring countries.  The last story was about the crucial role of education in development. The TV crew visited Czech educational development projects in Nairobi’s slums and showed how the aid is helping to the most vulnerable people. 


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Tuesday, 31 May 2016

We are what we eat – New bulletin on nutrition in developing countries

To produce food or to nourish people? The agriculture projects tend to produce food only, without considering the impact on improving nutrition of local people. PIN’s long-term strategy is to  promote the fundamental role of good, balanced and sustainable nutrition, which should be  present in all aspects of our work in developing countries. Undernutrition is one of the main threats to global health. Many scientific studies have proved that undernutrition has a direct impact on the quality of people’s lives – worse performance at school, lower economic growth or reduced work productivity are the results of continuous lack of essential nutrients and vitamins. To be fed properly from childhood is one of the conditions for better health in the future. Hence, we decided to focus on the role of nutrition in our first issue of Rozvojovka bulletin in 2016.
Readers can find out more about the discovered benefits of wild growing plants and their possible potential in enhancing people’s diet, new and currently trendy “superfood” quinoa and its impact on the biggest quinoa’s importer Peru, the future of food production during climate change, emerging obesity epidemic in developing countries and many others. Furthermore, we present three successful Czech development projects in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Cambodia and their contribution to food sustainability in respective regions.

Bulletins were sent to relevant decision makers, i.e. members of Czech national Parliament and Czech representatives in European Parliament, Ministries' officials, key development experts, scholars, NGO representatives and also to our subscribers. We hope they will have a good read. 
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Monday, 16 February 2015

People in Need

The People in Need (PIN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization based on the ideas of humanism, freedom, equality and solidarity. PIN consider human dignity and freedom to be the basic values. PIN believe that people anywhere in the world should have a right to make decisions about their lives and to share the rights expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The People in Need Organization was established in 1992 by a group of war and foreign correspondents who were no longer satisfied with just bringing back information to the Czech Republic. Instead, they began sending out aid. It gradually became established as a professional humanitarian organization striving to provide aid in troubled regions and support adherence to human rights around the world.

Within the twenty years of its existence People in Need has become one of the biggest non-profit organization in Central Europe. Apart from humanitarian aid and human rights, it started targeting the field of education as well as helping people living in social exclusion.
People in Need is a member of Alliance2015, a strategic network of seven European non-governmental organizations engaged in humanitarian assistance and development projects. This collaboration yields effective results both in the target countries and in campaigns aimed at influencing the attitudes of politicians and the general public in Europe.

Nowadays, the foundation’s activities are focused on four main areas:
  • Emergency relief and development cooperation
  • Human Rights Support
  • Social Integration Programmes
  • Educational and informational programs

The People in Need  is one of the implmenting partners of the M4D project. PIN's role is to cooperate with project partners and primarily implement joint and national activities to the raise general public awareness about global development issues, their connection to our lives and about the influence of our everyday choices on global challenges. 

National activities planned for 2015
  • Establishing relationships with journalists and involving them into the trainings for journalists that will build their capacities in reporting about development issues and prepare them for media trips to developing countries
  • In collaboration with major printed media a media campaign will be organized
  • Development issues will be also promoted on website www.Rozvojovka.cz and facebook. One media supplement is planned for the second half of the year
  • A national opinion poll will be conducted
  • Policy-makers and other stakeholders will be engaged and invited to the an international policy roundtable about financing for development organized by Green Liberty
  • 4 quarterly bulletins on development cooperation both in printed as well as electronic version will be developed. These bulletins target 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
  • Raising public awareness of development cooperation and the European Year of Development through public events, media outcomes, website and facebook 


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