Supercharging Human Rights Defenders :: The Levant

SUPERCHARGING HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS THE LEVANT

credits

Lead ResearcherShaza Al Salmoni

Editor // ResearcherJames Marchant

Research SupportKyle Bowen

DesignIsabel Beard

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IntroductionObjectivesThe Syrian Civil War — The Ongoing CalamityWhere Are We Now? — The Situation Facing HRDs in the LevantPractical Help — What can be done to assist regional HROs?Methodology

Our Findings

1. Evaluating Existing Support Mechanisms1.1 Existing Support for Communications Strategy Development1.2 Existing Support for Social Media Strategies

2. Strategic Communication Needs2.1 Desire for Support2.2 Communications and Content Management2.3 Targeted Communications and Data Visualisation2.4 Supporting Advocacy Efforts2.5 Supporting Media Outreach and Professional Networking2.6 Considering External Challenges

3. Digital Security & Technology Needs3.1 Technological Support3.2 Cybersecurity Training

Conclusions

Recommendations

References

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

supercharging human rights defenders

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Since 2011, the people of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan have endured a series of traumatic political, economic and social shocks. The ongoing Syrian Civil War has created one of the world’s largest and most calamitous refugee crises. Although much attention has been granted to the mass exodus of refugees to Europe, the crisis in the Levant has been even more desperate, with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) latest statistics from June 2015 suggesting that 7.6 million Syrians are internally-displaced, with around 1.2 million refugees living in Lebanon, and a further 630,000 in Jordan (UNHCR, 2015a). Given the continuation of violence since June, the real figures are likely to be much higher.

Even before the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, human rights defenders (HRDs) faced challenges working across the Levant. The authoritarianism of the Assad government in Syria, the sectarianism and political paralysis of Leb-anon, and Jordan’s political and religious conservatism have all provided barriers to the activities of human rights advocates and organisations.

Our mission at Small Media is to support the expansion of freedom of expression and access to information in closed societies. Through this research, we hope to identify some of the ways that regional HRDs can be supported to advocate for these values in a more effective and secure way.

In this needs assessment, we have engaged with 50 human rights organisations (HROs) and civil society organisa-tions (CSOs) in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon in order to develop a better understanding of their current situation, and to identify their greatest needs in the areas of strategic communications and digital security.

As noted above, this study focuses on the Levant, with a primary focus on the crisis triggered by the ongoing Syrian Civil War. The narrow scope of this needs assessment has meant that we were unable to include Palestinian organ-isations on this occasion, as the unique complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could not be fully addressed in this report.

This study is the first stage of a series of needs assessments for countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and we hope to follow up with studies of different countries and regional contexts in the near fu-ture. But for now, let us turn to the issue at hand: supporting regional HRDs in advocating for human rights as the Syrian Civil War grinds on.

objectives

This needs assessment is the first in our ‘Supercharging Human Rights Defenders’ series, which will aim to provide a comprehensive guide to the state of strategic communications and digital security for HRDs operating through-out the Arab World.

This work has grown out of Small Media’s previous experiences supporting Iranian HRDs operating inside Iran and throughout the diaspora. The Iranian government’s boundless enthusiasm for monitoring and controlling domestic communications has posed challenges for the operational effectiveness and personal safety of border-straddling networks of human rights campaigners and activists.

Since 2011, Small Media has undertaken research to identify the operational and security needs of Iranian HRDs, and organised training workshops, designed new strategies, and developed technology solutions to improve organi-sational communications and ensure that activists can work securely in the face of pervasive government surveil-lance.

Now we are expanding our operations into the wider MENA region, with the intention of sharing our experiences and skills in support of HRDs working in the Arab World. Previous reports have assessed the state of Syrian civil

INTRODUCTION


society activism (Badael, 2014), and have identified a need for regional CSOs and HROs to improve the quality of their communications with policymakers, donors, international organisations, and with the local publics they seek to support (Beyond Reform and Development, 2015).

However, such studies have so far been lacking in in-depth explorations of the exact kinds of strategic commu-nications support required by these organisations. This study intends to fill this gap in the existing literature by surveying regional HRDs about their specific strategic communications and digital security requirements, and building a set of comprehensive recommendations detailing the forms of support required from donors and exter-nal organisations.

the syrian civil war — the ongoing calamity

The ongoing Syrian Civil War has shaken the entire region to its core. The resultant refugee crisis has internally displaced 7.6 million Syrians, forced 1.4 million into Lebanon, and a further 630,000 into Jordan (UNHCR, 2015a). As the refugee crisis rumbles on, the conflict back in Syria is intensifying day-by-day. As of January 2016, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed—estimates range from 128,700 (VDC, 2016) to over 260,000 (SOHR, 2015). These deaths have inflicted by a wide array of participants, whether as a result of large-scale ‘barrel bombing’ from the Assad government, foreign military interventions, or as part of the tide of religious and ethnic cleansing sweep-ing across the country.

The violence has deepened the structural inequalities that existed in Syria prior to the conflict, with vulnerable groups in peacetime at even higher risks of exploitation and violence in wartime. Women have been dispropor-tionately harmed by the war, and have been subjected to assault, arbitrary detention and rampant sexual violence (Human Rights Watch, 2014). Sexual minorities have also been driven into exile or underground as a result of the existential threat posed by religious extremism to LGBTQ (Outright International, 2015).

The crisis facing these groups has spilled over into neighbouring countries as a result of the refugee crisis, and con-sequently HRDs across the Levant are being forced to intensify their efforts to cope with the strain. In such circum-stances, it is more necessary than ever to invest in the skills and capabilities of such organisations to ensure that they are able to meet the needs of vulnerable people displaced and destitute as a result of the ongoing conflict.

where are we now? — the situation facing hrds in the levant

Put simply, the situation facing regional HRDs is a difficult one. The effects of the Syrian Civil War have placed a number of obstacles to their operations, whilst also creating innumerable fresh problems for them to deal with.

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

– Anonymous HRO Director, Syria

In the face of such challenges, regional organisations are being stretched far beyond their current capacities to effectively advocate for human rights. Not only are organisations chronically underfunded and understaffed, but—primarily within Syria—many highly-skilled human rights advocates are being forced to flee for security reasons, denying local groups their abilities and skillsets.

“Nearly one million people have arrived by boat in Europe this year, more than 50% Syrians. UNHCR just

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published a survey of over twelve hundred of them, and the findings confirmed something we have long sus-pected: Syria is experiencing a massive brain drain. 86% of those we interviewed have a secondary education. Almost half have gone to university. One can only imagine the disastrous consequences of such an exodus on the future post-conflict reconstruction of Syria.”

– António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, 2015b)

The sheer scale of Syrian brain drain has markedly increased the pressure on those skilled activists still operating inside Syria, and the relocation of numerous Syrian HROs and CSOs to other countries in the region has meant that activist networks are increasingly dependent on communicating and coordinating their efforts remotely. Such con-ditions will require the implementation of innovative policy responses and support mechanisms in order to allow HRDs to act effectively to achieve their objectives.

Even away from the unique pressures facing HRDs working in a war environment, the situation facing activists and advocates in the comparative safety of Lebanon and Jordan isn’t particularly rosy. As our report shall demonstrate, the regional instability has had knock-on effects on the operational capacities of HRDs throughout the whole region, compounding problems already being posed to HRDs by pervasive government censorship and surveillance, corruption, sectarianism, and social conservatism. practical help — what can be done to assist regional hros?

In light of all of the issues outlined above, the task of supporting regional HROs may appear to be an overwhelming one. Where to begin?

Small Media has a proven track record of providing support to Iranian HROs under the most difficult of circum-stances. Since 2012 we have worked to train Iranian journalists and human rights activists to help them commu-nicate and advocate for rights effectively and securely. We have done so by hosting a series of workshops, and empowering participants to act as evangelists and trainers for cybersecurity within Iran.

Our work in the Iranian context has demonstrated that even under a situation of intense surveillance and informa-tion controls, outside actors can provide valuable and meaningful support to human rights defenders and effect change on the ground.

This study is aimed at identifying the primary needs of these organisations and activists so that external donors and supporting organisations can provide effective and targeted support to help them protect themselves from snooping government officials and malign hackers, and to communicate effectively with the public and key stake-holders when pursuing their objectives. strategic communicationsThe HROs working in the region undertake work targeted at a wide range of key stakeholders, ranging from the public, to local and national governments, media organisations, and other HRDs. The work undertaken by regional HRDs involves communication at its core, whether in organisational operations—for instance, devising and deliv-ering a long-term advocacy campaign targeted at international human rights mechanisms and the wider public—through to maintaining and expanding professional networks, and liaising with donors.

‘Strategic communications’ is a concept uniting these various different forms of communication, which considers the role of the organisation as an agent of change working within an environment full of other collaborative actors. A useful definition of the term comes from Emily Tynes, Kathy Bonk, Henry Griggs and Ken Sparks, who write that successful communications are “built on a foundation of strong working relationships with key journalists and pursued through a well thought out plan of action [including] carefully crafting messages, targeting reporters on


a story-by-story basis... framing messages, telling stories that will resonate with target audiences, training spokes-people, developing and marketing appropriate written materials, identifying opportunities to make news, and creating a system for evaluating progress” (Bonk, Tynes, Griggs and Sparks, 2008: 2). Kirk Hallahan offers a more concise appraisal of strategic communications, stating that “its focus is how an organisation communicates across organisational endeavors. The emphasis is on the strategic application of communication and how an organisation functions as a social actor to advance its mission” (Hallahan et. al., 2007).

Similarly, in a report for Internews Europe, journalist Rut Gomez Sobrino described strategic communications as “the lifeblood of organisations, as it provides tools to improve coordination and outreach while helping to capital-ise efforts and to strengthen external support” (Sobrino, 2011: 5). In summary, strategic communications offers a ho-listic approach to communications that is cognizant of the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange between actors and stakeholders in an organisation’s field of operations.

In order to develop an effective strategic communications plan, HRDs must first be armed with the requisite train-ings, strategies and tools, and offered guidance about the kinds of messages and stories they could tell in order to best advance their organisational objectives. External organisations can partner with regional HRDs to fill the gaps in their existing strategic communications plans, provide trainings, and design and develop new platforms to enhance their online communications capacities.

The provision of such support has the potential to immeasurably improve the operational capacities of regional HRDs, allowing them to deliver impactful and effective work, and empowering them to bring about positive human rights developments across the region. digital securityIn addition to facing difficulties in ensuring that their communications activities are effective and impactful, regional HRDs are operating under very dangerous conditions in which digital communications security is para-mount.

As might be expected, digital security is an issue of incredibly high importance in Syria. Over the past several years, government surveillance, and hacking attempts by a variety of militant groups and state actors, have imperilled the physical security of activists, journalists and HROs operating within Syria, and throughout the Syrian diaspora. Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2015 report highlights a raft of instances in which opposition websites have been filtered, bloggers have been arrested, imprisoned and tortured, and video documentarians have been abduct-ed and killed by militants for uploading materials to Facebook and YouTube (Freedom House, 2015a). Training in digital security is incredibly important in order to minimise the risks to HRDs on the ground, and to enable them to carry out their important work securely.

The situation in Lebanon and Jordan is undeniably different, although activists are still up against powerful and censorial surveillance states. In Lebanon, state security services have stepped up their efforts to monitor the digital communications of Lebanese citizens. In March 2014, Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Boutros Harb handed over the entirety of the country’s telecommunications data to the intelligence services, who themselves continue to operate wiretaps and monitoring operations without accountability or government oversight (Al Akhbar, 2014). Numerous other such violations of the right to privacy are detailed in Privacy International’s report ‘The Right To Privacy in Lebanon’ (Privacy International, 2015).

In Jordan, meanwhile, journalists have been arrested for publishing sensitive news of a prisoner exchange on the Saraya News website, and several Muslim Brotherhood activists were detained on the basis of Facebook posts. Notably, Jordanian MP Tarek Khoury narrowly avoided being indicted for “undermining the regime” and “using the internet for acts not sanctioned by the state that can harm the Kingdom’s ties with a foreign country” after criticis-

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ing Jordan’s friendly relationship with the state of Israel (Freedom House, 2015b).

The prevalence of filtering and surveillance initiatives throughout each of the countries surveyed demonstrates the need for greater investment in digital security training in order to ensure that HRDs are aware of the most secure communications tools, and are cognizant of the digital security threats from an array of state and non-state actors.

methodology

Small Media surveyed 40 human rights organisations working in the region, and conducted in-depth interviews with 15 of them.

In order to build a full picture of the situation facing regional HROs, we wanted to bring a wide range of organisa-tions into our study. At the outset, we identified and contacted 100 HROs and CSOs from the target region based on our pre-existing networks and recommendations from trusted partners working on human rights issues in the region.

These organisations work across fields ranging from women’s rights, to freedom of expression, LGBTQ rights, chil-dren’s rights, and the documentation of human rights violations, and are of varying organisational sizes and ages.

After making contact with these organisations, we distributed an online survey enquiring about their current organisational practices and needs in the areas of strategic communications, digital media, and cybersecurity (see Annex I).

These survey results were collected and analysed, and follow-up interviews with 15 organisations were arranged. These interviews took a semi-structured format, and explored a number of areas covered in our survey in greater depth. The format of these interviews gave participants space to speak at length about the areas they found to be most important, and to clearly communicate their priorities for future development.

OUR FINDINGSThis chapter will be broken up into three major segments, reflecting the objectives we set out earlier in the report, to assess the effectiveness of existing training and support mechanisms available to regional HRDs, and to identify the specific needs for further development in the areas of strategic communications and digital security.

1. evaluating existing support mechanisms 2. strategic communications needs 3. digital security & Technology needs


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The organisations participating in this study reported very limited access to effective, high-quality and well-tar-geted training opportunities. Although a number of organisations stated that they had previously received some form of strategic communications training, the majority said that such initiatives were not sufficient to meet their needs, and that better-targeted and specific training workshops are necessary to provide HROs with the communi-cation skills they require.

The following segments will evaluate regional HROs and CSOs’ levels of satisfaction with existing training initia-tives, and ascertain the extent to which they feel greater support is required from donors and partners in order to develop their strategic communications strategies.

1.1 — existing support for communications strategy development

Do you have a clear and up-to-date communications strategy?

Just 37.5% of regional organisations stated that they have a clear and up-to-date communications strategy. 30% conceded that they don’t have a comms strategy at all, with a further 32.5% of organisations noting that their existing strategies are outdated and in need of renewal.

Have you received sufficient training and support to plan your communications strategy?

Yes

15No

15

13

Yes, but it hasn’t been updated recently

Yes

6No

20

14

Yes, but it was insufficient

1. EVALUATING EXISTING SUPPORT MECHANISMS


Only 15% of surveyed organisations said that they had received sufficient support to enable them to effectively plan their organisation’s communication strategy. A massive 85% either had been given no substantive communications strategy training at all or they had received insufficient training.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Women’s OrganisationWe’re currently establishing a media policy for our organisation, which will include: deciding whether our Facebook pages should be merged or not, reviewing our publishing ethics and methods, as well as the use of our branding.

We won’t be developing a communication strategy for communication with national, local, or international organisations—not because we don't want to, mainly because of the lack of expertise available to us.

We don't currently have a communication strategy, and what has prevented us from implementing one so far is a lack of time, staff expertise, and funding for this aspect of our work.

Stephanie Kiridjian, Youth And Artists Networker, MARCHWe’ve never had a communication strategy, and we’ve not assessed this issue.

Esraa Alshyab, Senior Program Assistant, Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society DevelopmentAlthough we do have [media] networks and media-related data, we need to develop an organised, written communication strategy.

Ibraheem Al Hayek, Training Manager And Deputy Director, Rasha Abdullatif, Pr And Communications Officer, Part-ners – Jordan

I have attended two communication strategy courses. However after I started working, I started to gain more experience, and I gained the most relevant knowledge from these experiences—not from a course I attended.

insights

HROs and CSOs operating in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon do not always possess the capacity and resources to plan, implement and practice successful and effective communication strategies. This is reflected clearly in our survey findings, which show that 85% of surveyed organisations reported receiving insufficient training to enable them to effectively plan and implement communication strategies. We explored these findings in our in-depth interviews, and noted a few recurring issues. Organisations identified:

• A lack of available local human resources with expertise in strategic communications.• Limited financial resources devoted to developing strategic communication capacities.• Insufficient attention given by donors to the role of strategic communication in HRDs’ and CSOs’ work.

Our findings suggest that the existing support mechanisms for HRDs and CSOs operating in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan are currently insufficient for the development of their strategic communications capacities. We recommend that greater support be offered to this aspect of organisations’ work, in order to maximise the effectiveness and impactfulness of their activities.

Moreover, according to a recent capacity assessment conducted by the Syrian organisation Baytna Syria, one of the main gaps Syrian CSOs reported was in the “lack of basic organisational elements [with] regards [to] having in place structured and documented work procedures that ultimately serve the vision and values of the organisations”. The same capacity assessment identifies “setting a strategic plan” as one of the main priorities for participating organi-sations, demonstrating the necessity of greater investment and support in this area (Baytna Syria, 2015: 4).

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1.2 — existing support for social media strategies

Do you feel that you have received sufficient support and training to effectively communicate with audiences via social media?

We asked the sample study whether they have received sufficient support and training to effectively communicate to audiences via social media. Only 12.5% of surveyed organisations said they have received sufficient training and support, with a massive 57.5% of respondents receiving no social media support, and a further 30% receiving insuf-ficient or substandard training.

Christin Luettich, General Manager, BidayyatFor us, social media is really essential, first of all because we are using Youtube and Facebook as main tools to communicate with the people that could benefit from our activities, but also to promote it and to do some outreach.

That means that a lot of the short films we’re producing are put directly onto Youtube with subtitles. It's a crucial way to promote what we do, so in addition to festivals and TV screenings our films are directly shown on Youtube. It’s very crucial for our distribution strategy.

Project Officer, Anonymous Regional Cultural OrganisationOn Facebook we’ve started to pay for our posts to get promoted. Sometimes we ask ourselves whether we have to do something else to promote our posts. Maybe we need to do something that makes our page more popular? We feel like our audience has reached its maximum level; the number of our visitors on Facebook has stopped increasing, and our audience has been the same for a long time.

We may need training in this, because we use communication tools to tell our audience about our activities on the ground, and as I said before, we use everyday language to be understood by all sections of society. Maybe there are better techniques, so we may need training in this field.

We never tried to create a Twitter account, so we can say that we need someone to keep us updated with technological stuff in general. There might be better ways to promote our organisation, so we could need technology support.

Abdulla Alhakwati, Co-Founder And Project Manager, WarshehMost of our work is done on a voluntary basis, and [online] communication is usually a secondary task with-out allocated funding.

Yes

5No

23

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insights

The level of social media usage in the Arab world is on the increase (TNS, 2015), and numerous scholars have sug-gested that social media platforms played a significant role in the 2011 Arab Spring, as a tool to: access restricted information (Khamis, 2011), amplify political grievances into ‘contagions’ of political action (Davison, 2015: 26), or instill a sense of collective fear and investment in the ongoing political crises (Dahab, 2012). Although some com-mentators have been skeptical about social media’s power to bring about lasting political change (Anderson, 2011), scholars have noted that such platforms are powerful drivers of social change and significant information provid-ers (Hatfield and Rapson, 2015).

As a result of the growing profile of social media platforms within the MENA region’s media ecology, it is crucial that HRDs are equipped with the knowledge and tools that will allow them to plan their social media communica-tions strategies in an effective and impactful way.

Our survey results and interviews with participating HROs suggested that online communications and social media coordination are areas in which greater levels of support are required. Only around a third of respondents have been the recipients of any social media trainings whatsoever, and of these, the majority are unhappy with the quality of support provided.

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The previous chapter demonstrated that the current levels of support offered to the development of regional HRDs’ strategic communications capacities are generally considered to be insufficient by the HRDs themselves. In this chapter, we dig deeper into the specific types of strategic communications support required by organisations in the Levant, to identify the kinds of targeted assistance that could be provided by donors and external organisations in the future.

2.1 — desire for support

Would you consider participating in targeted capacity building programmes or training workshops to improve your communications strategies?

Yes

37

3

No

92.5% of surveyed organisations responded that they were willing to participate in targeted capacity building programmes or training workshops to improve their communications strategies, demonstrating that there is a very large appetite for further investment and support in this field.

Christine Luettich, General Manager, BidayyatIf organisations want to provide training or support, it's really important—having experienced a lot of train-ings that are very similar and very standardised—to have organisation-focused, tailor-made support and training so that specific needs are addressed.

I often find that the trainings given are just the typical solutions that you can read about on the internet or in training manuals, so I just hope any organisations that want to provide training and support consider the very specific circumstances of participating organisations.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Women’s OrganisationTo be honest, training for Syrian organisations has given me a very difficult time before, and I think it's often not very useful because there isn't any sustainability planning. So I’ve started to lose hope in training workshops. I prefer to send a team member to get one-to-one training with a specific organisation, with the possibility of asking questions later on.

We often receive training opportunities but we never receive follow-ups, so instead of having 20 training workshops attended by 200 organisations where at the end only 3 or 4 organisations really benefit, there should be more concentrated and focused trainings for a smaller number of organisations. For example, it’d be good if trainers worked with 5 organisations for 3 months to make sure they receive all the training they need before moving on to other organisations.

2. STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION NEEDS


insights

The results of our survey and interviews show a clear appetite for strategic communications training and support amongst HRDs, although in follow-up interviews potential participants were adamant that training organisations should be better at considering the specific challenges and individual requirements of participants.

When interviewing HRDs operating in the region, their first concern was that most of the training they received was textbook-based and infrequently applicable to their specific circumstances and working conditions. Interview-ees stated that they would benefit much more from targeted trainings that identify and meet their core needs, and are tailored to the context of their working environment. This analysis is supported by a recent report titled ‘Mapping Civil Society Organisations in Lebanon’, which reported that ‘training topics are often redundant and are not based on [organisational] needs’ (Beyond Reform and Development, 2015: 86).

2.2 — communications and content management

How frequently do you engage with the public on the following platforms?

Website

Never

Less thanOnce per

Month Monthly

Severaltimes per

month Weekly

Several times per

week Daily

Facebook

Twitter

Youtube

Google+

Newsletters0

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resp

on

ses

45% of surveyed organisations said they use Facebook on a daily basis as a method of communication, whereas half as many organisations reporting using Twitter on a daily basis. Youtube also remains quite underutilised, with 25% of organisations in our sample never using the platform.

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Do you communicate using a tone and style of writing suitable for a wide public audience?

57.5% of organisations answered yes to this question, 37.5% said that they sometimes use a different writing style targeting specific audiences, with just 5% saying that they don't use a suitable writing tone targeting a wide public audience.

Omar, Communications Manager, Etana SyriaSupport is always welcome and necessary. Even if we have qualified specialists in content management, we still need external ones to share their experiences with us. We also need to cooperate with other Syrian organisations to share our experiences and goals.

We need training and support for managing social media outlets. Some American websites make webinars online on the topic of social media. I’m a member of three forums and I attend these webinars discussing new developments in social media, but I do not have time to train the other employees who are responsible for communication.

At the same time, we have a budget problem, a time problem, and a strategy problem because our organ-isation finds there to be more important things than social media. If we could have partners that would support us with social media, it’d be great.

Bassam Alahmad, Spokesperson, Violations Documentation CentreI think we need content management training, especially if we are to expand our presence online and foster it. Today you have organisations taking things further and posting on Instagram for example, while others lag behind even on Facebook.

We need specific training on how to publish a periodic magazine, using a design or publishing program and ending up with an output. We would like to expand in the world of social media as well and increase our familiarity with other tools.

Today there are hundreds of tools for relaying your message, but people are only familiar with Twitter and Facebook; we don’t want to be restricted to these, so we need training and exposure to more tools.

Reda Hassan, Communications Officer, Annd (Arab NGO Network for Development) We need training in content development for traditional social media platforms, and support in formulating our messages in more appealing ways. As a specialised network, ANND’s content is not appealing, so press releases and day-to-day interaction should carry a more appealing message.

Yes No

23

Sometimes - it dependson the type of publication

2

15


Esraa Alshyab, Senior Program Assistant, Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society DevelopmentWe need to learn more about social media usage, because there are always new developments in this field, for example, how to get as many Twitter followers as possible.

insights

As established earlier in this report, regional HRDs have received limited training in content management for online platforms. Only 12.5% of organisations surveyed in this report reported that they had received satisfactory training that would allow them to communicate effectively using online platforms, including organisational web-sites and social media platforms.

To identify where the greatest deficit of knowledge and skills exists, we asked organisations how frequently they make use of various online platforms and websites, allowing us to identify some of the most urgent areas for future development.

The results indicated that Facebook and organisational websites are organisations’ preferred mediums of commu-nication, with Twitter lagging a little further behind. Generally speaking, Youtube and Google+ appear to be the least utilised platforms, although for some documentation-focused organisations Youtube and Vimeo are primary distribution channels.

Whereas our survey demonstrated that a number of organisations still require support to increase the volume of their content posted on social media platforms, our interviews demonstrated that there is also a need for HRDs to receive assistance relating to the quality of the content they share online—organisations like VDC and ANND spoke clearly of their desire to create more unique and appealing content, including Instagram content and periodic magazines.

2.3 — targeted communications and data visualisation

Why would you want to improve your communication strategy?

In order to build a clear picture of target HROs’ priorities, we asked our sample study what their motivations are for wanting to alter their strategic communications strategies. The results demonstrated that effective public engage-ment was viewed as the cornerstone of an effective communications strategy, with more than 87.5% of respond-ents stating that they wanted to engage more with the public.

Secure more funding

21

Achieve your set organization’s objectives

33

35

Engage more with the public

23

Engage with international organizations

1

We don't need to improve our

communications strategy

25

Engage with national organizations

17

Improving operational efficiency was close behind, with 82.5% of organisations stating that an improved commu-nications strategy would allow them to better ‘achieve their set organisational objectives’. 62.5% want to ‘engage more with national organisations’, 57.5% want to ‘engage more with international organisations’, and 52.5% want to boost communications skills to ‘secure more funding’.

Omar, Communications Manager, Etana SyriaCurrently, we are focusing on data visualisation, since are facing a challenge in displaying data. Many re-search organisations are facing the same problem. Even groups in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon have prob-lems displaying data in a way that’s accessible enough that everyone can understand it.

So, we need support in data visualisation. It is something new in Syrian circles. Some organisations consider it to be marketing. And I think any organisation needs marketing because after all it is a brand with concepts and principles. It has a vision and a task. We have to promote our organisation via the internet. The organisa-tion’s work is non-profit work, but we still have an electronic identity.

Reda Hassan, Communications Officer, AnnD (Arab NGO Network for Development) Previously, we were more focused on our content at the expense of visuals, because ANND is mostly con-cerned with research. In today’s world, this isn’t enough, so our work now focuses on both content and a visual identity. We need training in visual work, such as audio, visuals, and dealing with images and info-graphics in a visually clear way to deliver messages effectively.

We have problems in content development. We need support in simplifying our messages to make them more accessible in social media outlets.

Bassam Alahmad, Spokesperson, Violations Documentation CentreWe really needed the training [Small Media] is giving in Beirut, [Data4Change], as learning how to visualise data in a different ways is very important to us, and it's one of our of our main interests at the moment.

insights

Our surveys and interviews with HROs showed that organisations had two central (albeit overlapping) objectives in developing their strategic communications capacities: improving and expanding their outreach efforts to the general public, and optimising their ability to achieve their organisational and operational objectives. In interviews, a number of respondents expressed a desire to begin incorporating data visualisation into their communications strategies as a core method of achieving these objectives.

Many organisations recognise the importance of presenting their work in a visually appealing form. However a lack of design and data visualisation expertise is a major stumbling block to organisations hoping to incorporate data visualisation into their communications strategies, and greater levels of support and investment are required.

Although a wide range of organisations expressed enthusiasm for employing data visualisations creatively in their work, this aspect is particularly important for two types of organisations:

1. Organisations specialising in a purely technical field—for example, the Arab NGOs Network for Develop-ment (ANND)—a regional network working across 12 Arab countries with nine national networks (with an extended membership of 250 CSOs from different backgrounds) and 23 NGO members. ANND uses research as a tool for advocacy, focusing on development issues in the Arab World. They target civil society organisations, as well as interested audiences throughout the Arab World concerned with regional devel-opment issues.

In this case, organisations need to be provided with visualisation tools that enable them to simplify com-


plex development data and present it in an appealing way for their target audiences.

2. Organisations with vast amounts of data that need to be processed and presented clearly in order to help achieve the organisation’s stated goals. One prominent example is the Violations Documentation Center (VDC)—a Syrian organisation documenting evidence of ongoing human rights violations to help compen-sate victims, achieve justice, log historical memories, and support organisational advocacy work.

Because this organisation's work is linked directly to the ongoing conflict in Syria, the organisation retains a truly vast amount of data, meaning that effective data visualisation training and tools are required by VDC in order to help them to leverage the greatest impacts from their data.

2.4 — supporting advocacy efforts

Do you engage in advocacy activities?

52.5% of organisations said they engage in advocacy activities at both the national and international levels, 22.5% engage only in national level advocacy, 10% engage only in international level advocacy and only 15% don't engage in advocacy activities at all.

Ibraheem Al Hayek, Training Manager and Deputy Director, Rasha Abdullatif, PR and Communications Officer, Part-ners – Jordan

We need new tactics, new techniques, and new methodologies of using media for advocacy. We may also need to get acquainted with the best practices of advocacy that are relevant or can be accustomed in the Jordanian context. We may also learn about some practical skills or some communication networks so that we get exposure to new institutions and platforms. This can also assist our fundraising efforts.

Esraa Alshyab, Senior Program Assistant, Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society DevelopmentWe undertake a lot of advocacy campaigns, but we need to learn more about how to use social media as an advocacy tool.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Women’s Organisation[Most] advocacy work we publish on our website. Although we got our website a few months ago it hasn't been updated since it was set up, so we do have this gap in our work.

Yes, but only at the international level

4

Yes, at national and international levels

21

9

Yes, but only at the national level

6No

19

Bassam Alahmad, Spokesperson, Violations Documentation Centre

I received advocacy training at Human Rights Watch in Washington DC as well as in their offices in New York. If I were responsible for this issue, I would have three employees fluent in English, French and Arabic and train them on EU mechanisms and UN mechanisms, because it’s vital to know how these bodies function so they can communicate and work with them effectively.

The same goes for media organizations—when you know a channel has a specific policy agenda, you craft a different message for them than for other channels with different priorities.

insights

The vast majority of organisations surveyed for this study are engaged in advocacy efforts, whether at the na-tional or international levels. One of the main aims of our needs assessment is to empower HRDs to exert greater influence over policy development. To this end we questioned HROs and CSOs about the kinds of ways they hoped updated communications strategies and tools could allow them to advocate for change more effectively.

There is great scope for the expansion and improvement of HRD advocacy efforts. Our initial study showed that HROs and CSOs operating in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon rarely participate in international advocacy efforts, especial-ly at the level of UN treaty- and Charter-based human rights mechanisms. According to a 2009 study titled: “MENA NGOs’ Participation in the United Nations Economic and Social Council”, MENA region NGOs showed very limited levels of participation with such mechanisms. In 2009, there were 3194 NGOs with consultative status in ECOSOC, of which just 162 were from the MENA region (Housseini, 2009). Unfortunately, no studies are available conducting a comparable analysis with post-2009 data.

Therefore, in order to present an updated evaluation of the current level of HRO and CSO engagement in inter-national advocacy, we explored the level of involvement of regional HROs within the United Nations’ treaty- and Charter-based mechanisms. The results suggest very limited levels of participation amongst such organisations; in Lebanon only 5 out of 525 Lebanese HROs and CSOs participated in UN treaty-based mechanisms as part of inter-national advocacy efforts. (Daleel-Madani, 2015) In Syria, only 2 reports have been submitted by local organisations since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in 2011, suggesting that the political and security environment has had a major impact on international advocacy work in the country. It should also be noted that participation was limited to two UN Human Rights treaty-level bodies: the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Committee Against Torture (CAT).

There are higher levels of participation in Charter-based mechanisms. For instance, while only 5 HROs and CSOs submitted reports to various UN treaty bodies, 11 NGOs submitted reports during Lebanon’s Universal Periodic Re-view (UPR) in November 2010 (UPR Info, 2015a) n 2015 submissions jumped to 6 individual submissions and 15 joint submissions, suggesting that some progress is being made (UPR Info, 2015b).

Syria received its UPR in October 2011 (UPR Info, 2015c), when 7 reports from local HROs and CSOs were submitted, as opposed to the 2 reports submitted to treaty-based committees (CAT, CEDAW).

Jordan has been reviewed twice so far. For its first review in February 2009, only one national report was submitted, by the Jordanian Coalition of Non-Governmental Organisations (UPR Info, 2015d). In the following UPR in October 2013, 4 Jordanian NGOs submitted reports (UPR Info, 2015e).

Given this limited record of participation in international advocacy, we decided to explore this issue in greater detail in our in-depth interviews, to learn what kinds of strategic communication, media and technological support initiatives are needed by these organisations in order for them to engage more effectively in national and interna-tional advocacy efforts.


The following are the aspects in which HROs and CSOs are most keen to receive training and support:

• International advocacy training—when we discussed the areas of support required by the Violations Doc-umentation Center (VDC), they stressed the importance of trainings and increased exposure to interna-tional advocacy and human rights mechanisms.

• National advocacy training—more than half of the organisations surveyed said they engage in national level advocacy, although they also reported lacking the proper tools or strategies to do so. Support should be provided to develop HROs and CSOs operating in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan to develop clear plans for communicating with and advocating for legislative and policy changes at the national level.

• Social media advocacy training—although social media and other online platforms are powerful tools for advocacy (both for engaging publics with issues and communicating with policy-makers), organisations are currently poorly-trained in online advocacy methods, and greater investment in skills is required.

2.5 — supporting media outreach and professional networking

How often does your organisation engage with different stakeholders?

On a daily basis, 15% of surveyed organisation engage with international organisations, 22.5% engage with national organisations and 12.5% engage with regional organisations.

On a weekly basis, 30% of surveyed organisations engage with international organisations either once or sever-al times a week, 37.5% engage with national organisations once or several times a week and 27.5% engage with regional organisations once or several times a week.

We aimed as well to explore HRDs’ practices with regard to media outreach. We found that 12.5% engage with me-dia organisations on a daily basis, 27.5% of surveyed organisations engage with the media only on an ad-hoc basis,

International Organisations

Never

Less thanOnce per

MonthMonthly

Severaltimes per

monthWeekly

Several times per

weekDaily

National Organisations

Regional Organisations

Media Organisations

0

28

resp

on

ses

21

when major issues occur. 17.5% engage with the media several times per month, and 12.5% engage with the media on a weekly basis.

Esraa Alshyab, Senior Program Assistant, Al-Hayat Center for Civil Society DevelopmentWe need media training for all our staff. For example, project managers need the skills to write a press release, publish it, and archive it. It shouldn’t only be the job of the media coordinator, or the social media coordinator.

Project managers need to learn the skills of building media plans for their project, so they’re less dependent on the media plan of the organisation as a whole.

As an organisation, we need to expand our abilities when it comes to media networking so that it’s not con-centrated only with our media coordinator, for instance.

Abdulla Alhakwati, Co-Founder and Project Manager, WarshehAs for communicating with international human rights organisations, the most important things we need are methods to reach out to them and make them aware of our work, and the cases we are defending.

Bassam Alahmad, Spokesperson, Violations Documentation CentreWhen I was in Washington, I saw nearly every single organisation organises launch events for their new reports. Media outlets, journalists, other NGOs and experts attend these events, giving the research more exposure and media attention, and creating more debate.

We want to hear new ideas like this, and we want to be trained about such things. Here in Turkey since I came back, we started to use these ideas, but we didn’t know how to carry them out professionally.

When talking about our relations with media organisations, we were asked several times to appear in TV interviews, but were unprepared. We would need media training, and also sometimes help overcoming lan-guage barriers.

Hania Aswad, Manager, NaseejThe media outreach component of our work is not supported at all, so we do it as extra work according to our availability and additional capacities. We need people to support this part of our activities so we can develop our capacities.

Reda Hassan, Communications Officer, ANND (Arab NGO Network for Development) The biggest problem we’ve had that we’re trying to work on is dealing with the traditional media (TV and radio). Because we deliver specialist content, and because mass media caters to broader trends more than specialist items, we don’t get very much coverage in the traditional media.

For example, we held a press conference in which we announced the Lebanese UPR - Shadow Report, which was produced by 67 prominent Lebanese organisations working across a range of significant issues. So for someone who’s interested in the topic this report was gold, and a very valuable piece of content that took almost a year to produce. However, the media wasn't interested in this report because it isn’t ‘breaking’ news.

Christin Luettich, General Manager, BidayyatWhen talking about networking and partnerships, most networking between Syrian organisations is very much limited to directors and founders, so I often feel that in communication between organisations there is a tendency to try and channel everything through individuals rather than sticking to an organisational way of communication.


This can affect which organisations interact and collaborate, because there can sometimes be personal prob-lems [between directors], and I find that a bit difficult sometimes.

insights

Our initial survey showed that HROs and CSOs practise limited engagement and cooperation with relevant stake-holders in the region, whether with the general public, local and national governments, international and national organisations, media groups, or the private sector.

We asked our survey participants about the frequency with which they engage with various stakeholders, and discussed the reasons behind the limitations of professional and media networking among regional HROs and CSOs. From this, we discussed the forms of communications support required to facilitate greater cooperation and professional networking among regional organisations.

Newly established organisations reported a need for training in outreach methods to build relationships with well-established HROs, as well as tools that would enable them to make substantive connections with national and international media organisations.

However, these challenges do not just face newly established organisations, and our interviews demonstrated that common barriers affect the outreach work of HRDs across the region, ranging from a lack of media skills amongst HRO and CSO staff members, through to the closed nature of traditional media sources and a lack of inter-organi-sational trust. Below is an outline of the major barriers to efficient outreach and networking efforts, as identified by regional HRDs:

• A lack of expertise in media outreach and communication. Many organisations reported a lack of training in key media skills, including: writing press releases, holding press conferences or participating in TV or radio interviews.

• Insufficient financial support for organisational media outreach efforts, resulting in HRDs neglecting to undertake measures that would develop their media outreach and networking capacities.

• Interviewees identified a lack of trust between organisations operating in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, lim-iting the extent of engagement and cooperation between organisations with well-aligned objectives.

• Interviewees noted that organisations’ networking capacities were frequently dependent the personal connections of HROs’ founders and directors, at the expense of developing employees’ own professional networks. Such approaches limit inter-organisational engagement and cooperation, and can stunt the development of good media relationships.

Demonstrably, HRDs require support in developing and promoting inter-organisational collaboration and media outreach capacities. The following needs have been identified:

• Trainings should target the development of organisations’ communication skillsets and tools relating to media outreach, including: writing press releases, holding press conferences, producing press briefings, and on-air media training.

• Support should develop staff’s media outreach resources, including: updated media mailing lists specify-ing journalists’ particular interests in each organisation's’ work.

• Trainings should be tailored to the needs of participant organisations, considering the field in which each organisation works, as well as the social and political contexts they operate within.

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2.6 — considering external challenges

To what extent do the following factors negatively affect the success of your communication strategy?

We also asked about the extent to which these factors negatively affect the success of their communication strategy. 87.5% of surveyed organisations stated that they were negatively affected by the ‘legal and/or political working environment’, 92.5% of surveyed organisations are negatively affected by the ‘Security Environment’, 90% of surveyed organisations are negatively affected by the ‘Economic Environment’, 90% of surveyed organisations are negatively affected by the ‘Social Environment’ and 87.5% are negatively affected by the ‘Ongoing Unrest’.

Dushko Ristovski, Communications and Fundraising Officer, CLDH (Lebanese Center for Human Rights) We have issues with social, legal, and political challenges in Lebanon, along with a great deal of instability, and all these issues affect our work. Despite all our work so far, —such as preparing draft laws, for example—currently nothing is effective because our government and parliament exists on paper only—they are not functional, so we have all our work ready but we can't present it in the parliament for debate. So, the way we attempt to overcome this is by finding other ways to approach the members of parliament to undertake advocacy work.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Capacity Development OrganisationWe don't use the media to achieve our goals… and the reasons behind this is that we consider the areas in which we undertake our work to be very dangerous, with the exception of Al Hasakah [in northern Syria]. Any kind of description or details about their activities would put our team in danger. We think the fact that we didn't use the media is a factor that has enabled our team to continue working.

Abdulla Alhakwati, Co-Founder and Project Manager, WarshehWe certainly face social challenges, due to the fact that a large percentage of the victims [of the conflict] are women, many of whom we can’t reach a lot of the time. The problem is that most of our camera crews inside Syria are young men, because the war environment in which they operate imposes traditional limita-tions on the jobs women are expected to assume.

There are many women who used to be in our film crew who have left Syria, so for example in Aleppo

Legal and/or political working

environment

All the timeFrequentlySomewhatNot at all

Security environment

Economic environment

Social environment

Ongoing unrest

0

17

resp

on

ses


currently we have only two young women working in filming. We could consider recording a few interviews from outside Syria, but it is always better to have the interviewer on the spot with the victims recording directly.

The most serious and important challenge that we face is the absence of law inside Syria at the moment, meaning that any member of our team could be subjected to a human rights violation and we would not be able to help them.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Women’s OrganisationThe situation in Syria and ongoing instability is the biggest challenge we face.

We prefer not to communicate with the local media because of these safety concerns. For instance, there was a women's center that kept publishing their activities and challenging the brigades until that caused them lots of trouble and the brigades came and burned their center down.

We don't want to do the same, or pose a challenge to any existing armed brigades because we want to keep working.

We also face legal challenges, In Lebanon for example, the situation isn't easy—we’re not yet registered there, and now we’ve started with the registration process. However, I think we are still in a better legal posi-tion than many other organisations.

Reda Hassan, Communications Officer, ANND (Arab NGO Network for Development) When you work on human rights, you will always face social challenges, so we have to be very careful in choosing our topics and messages before delivering them to audiences. An example of this is the political situation in Yemen. We are facing political limitations imposed on us, and this is limiting the scope of our activities.

Haitham Al-Kukhun, Project Manager, Leaders of TomorrowTackling social taboos is very challenging work, but we can do it eventually—it just takes a lot of time, which makes it very stressful. But ultimately, this is what it’s like operating in a conservative society, and we’re very happy to do this—we’re not complaining that we are working in Jordan, because we are working for Jordan, and for the MENA region.

Our focus and our goal is to serve this region and help it to have a better tomorrow, a better future, better education, and better freedom of expression for the future generation.

insights

When evaluating the performance of HROs and CSOs operating in the Arab MENA region, one can't and shouldn't ignore the environment in which these organisations operate in and the countless challenges these organisations face on a daily basis. When planning tailored support for regional organisations, these challenges and obstacles should be taken into consideration.

In order to build a picture of the greatest obstacles to the work of HRDs in the region today, we asked our survey participants about the external factors that affect the success of their communication strategies.

Even through the three countries we examined in this needs assessment are all affected by the Syrian crisis to a certain extent, the challenges facing organisations operating in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan differ in important ways. Some of the major operational barriers that emerged in our interviews are listed below.

25

SyriaThe situation of instability in Syria and the increase of violence and extremism is the biggest challenge cited by organisations operating in Syria. They note that this environment affects not only the efficiency of organisations but their ability to operate at all—some organisations reported that they prefer not use social media platforms to promote their work because of the grave security risks they might be faced with. Myriad legal and administrative challenges also exist for Syrian HRDs. Organisations based outside Syria in Turkey, Lebanon or even Europe face problems in obtaining official operating licenses, and negotiating national bureaucra-cies. For instance, many organisations lack a legal personality, which creates innumerable difficulties when applying for funding from international organisations. Moreover, as the many Syrian organisations are based in Turkey, HRDs are faced with the barrier of the Turkish language, and having to employ translators to help HRDs navigate the Turkish regulatory system. Social challenges face some organisations that work in particular fields, for instance, being active in women’s rights put limitations on some organisations’ work. For example, Warsheh — a newly established Syrian organisation that uses films for advocacy, and to document human rights violations in the Syrian Civil War. As part of their work they interview women who have been subject to various human rights violations, however a lack of female documen-tarians inside Syria has hampered their progress. LebanonThe unstable political context in Lebanon affects the work of Lebanese HROs and CSOs; this has a major on ad-vocacy in particular, as reported by organisations attempting to lobby for changes in policy and legislation in the Lebanese parliament.

It should also be noted that even though the war in Syria has severely affected political stability in Lebanon, organi-sations reported having had to face the same sorts of obstacles long before the beginning of the Syrian crisis. Social challenges and a lack of public awareness about the work of HRDs was reported as a barrier by some organi-sations working to tackle sensitive issues including LGBTQ rights and women's rights. JordanJordan enjoys relative political stability when compared to Syria and Lebanon, although the ongoing regional tur-moil has affected the operations of regional organisations based within Jordan itself. Activists in Jordan focusing on sensitive issues such as the political and leadership roles of women in society have come up against conservative social attitudes, limiting the scale and pace at which they can work. Additionally, oth-er organisations have expressed concern that the ongoing war in Yemen has led to some limits on political speech and on regional advocacy efforts.


27

The previous chapter uncovered a variety of areas in which regional HRDs expressed a desire to receive training and support to improve and overhaul their existing communications strategies. At the same time, a lot of their answers were tied into requests for technical training and support that would allow them to advocate more effectively for change using online platforms and methods.

In this section, we share the findings of our study dealing explicitly with questions of technological and digital security support. If HRDs want to communicate more effectively online, they must be equipped with the technical knowledge and tools to allow them to do so confidently and securely. Our research findings demonstrate that exist-ing technical and digital security support has been insufficient in terms of both access and quality, and show that HRDs have an appetite for more targeted, sustainable support mechanisms.

3.1 — technological support

Has your organisation received sufficient technological support?

77.5% of the surveyed organisations states that they have previously received either no technological support, or support insufficient for their needs. 22.5% of organisations feel that they have received sufficient technological support

Reda Hassan, Communications Officer, ANND (Arab NGO Network for Development) As a network, the most challenging problem we are facing is internal communication. We need technical support through training and practical (not theoretical) workshops to solve this problem. We are not the only network suffering from this problem.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Capacity Development OrganisationWe need to develop a documentation mobile app to use for our organisational activities. In the first year and a half I made field visits inside Syria accompanied with a cameraman. We documented our activities, which were saved in the organisation's archive.

However, when the security situation deteriorated, we started depending on documentation undertaken by teams using their lower-resolution phones or cameras, so the quality of the documentation deteriorated.

3. DIGITAL SECURITY & TECHNOLOGY NEEDS

Yes

9

No

20

11



Omar, Communications Manager, Etana SyriaCurrently, the Arabic version of our website is out of service. We have started making improvements to our website, but I can say that we need a specialist in modern programing and advanced technology to join our staff. The problem we face is that most Syrian young people who are good with technology try to travel on to Europe because it’s so difficult to get a residence permit in Turkey or Jordan. They find better opportunities in Europe, and so they can get better salaries there.

Abdulla Alhakwati, Co-Founder and Project Manager, Warsheh – Syria We need to develop our website, and would like to make it an interactive platform similar to a web docu-mentary. Technical support will help us a lot in this, because we have difficulty finding tools and programmes to do these things.

Ibraheem Al Hayek, Training Manager and Deputy Director & Rasha Abdullatif, PR and Communications Officer, Partners-Jordan

We don’t have funding to renew our website, so unfortunately it’s out-of-date.

We try our best to keep the website updated by adding new information where we can; however, other things cannot be modified. This is one of the challenges we are facing. Websites need follow-up and good design; they should be user-friendly. We could achieve all that by hiring freelancers or volunteers to redesign the website, but you can’t always guarantee quality when working with volunteers and freelancers.

Bassam Alahmad, Spokesperson, Violations Documentation CentreTo be honest the absolute priority for us today is to build a new website. We need to develop an interface for our website, adding flashy slides that can attract an audience, and help users to easily access information and navigate the website.

insights

Our interviews and survey results demonstrate that there is a need for greater investment in technological support in order to improve the quality of HROs’ internal and external communications. The following issues were identi-fied as being of high priority. A number of organisations expressed a need for the development or redevelopment of their websites. Despite the importance of having a website that reflects each organisation’s vision and goals, the majority of the organisations surveyed in this study either have outdated websites or websites that fail to reflect their organisation’s work and objectives. Consequently, HROs and CSOs have been enthusiastic about the idea of receiving additional support in this area, and have expressed frustration at the lack of funding available for technological development. Certain types of organisations within our sample were in need of specific technological solutions to existing com-munications problems:

1. Organisations with teams in different countries face obstacles in coordinating their work effectively. Syri-an organisations reported a need for programmes and mobile applications that enable them to communi-cate safely with their staff inside Syria, as well as with staff located around the world.

2. Organisations consisting of networks of HROs and CSOs face obstacles in their endeavor to facilitate efficient communications within these networks, and have requested technical solutions to resolve such issues.

3. Documentation organisations operating in Syria reported a need for discreet documentation applications to replace professional film crews, which face operational challenges in the face of ongoing violence.

Additional financial support is required to ensure that technical assistance is high-quality and sustainable. Since

29

organisations do not have the financial capacities to hire full-time members of technical staff, they often end up relying on freelancers and volunteers, who can prove comparatively unreliable.

3.2 — cybersecurity training

Has your organisation received sufficient cyber security training?

77.5% of organisations stated that they have received no cybersecurity training, or insufficient cybersecurity train-ing to keep their communications secure. Only 22.5% think they have received sufficient cybersecurity training to keep their online operations safe.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Women’s OrganisationWe don't do anything to ensure the safety of our communication. I use two-step verification on Gmail (which is linked to the organisation's email), but this is a personal effort. As an organisation there aren't any security measures we take.

The concept of cybersecurity is a foreign concept for us, so we need first to learn more about it before being able to actually determine our needs. However, I think a one-off training session would not be as useful as having a consultant available for 2 hours every month! This would make sure the staff is committed to prac-tising necessary cybersecurity measures, because even if the staff received cybersecurity training I’m sure they wouldn’t commit to it unless someone inside the organisation made sure they did.

Christin Luettich, General Manager, BidayyatIn theory I would say of course cybersecurity training is important. However, looking at the practical side of trainings, and the people I am working with—despite their openness to engage with such trainings—I know we already did trainings twice in the past and at the end of the day it wasn't really applied.

I think what we would rather need is somebody really to look at our specific work and our daily work, and to say—based on their analysis—”I see these particular pitfalls”, or “these particular practices that should be improved”, so we can get a tailored solution to our organisation’s needs. Generalised trainings I don't think are useful.

Director, Anonymous Syrian Capacity Development OrganisationCybersecurity development was one of our plans but we couldn't implement it due to a lack of funding, as

Yes

9

No

23

8



well as difficulties in ensuring the physical safety and security for our staff. We have two team members who’ve received external cybersecurity training, but as a team there is a huge deficit in in this area.

Bassam Alahmad, Spokesperson, Violations Documentation CentreWhen it comes to our correspondents in areas under the regime’s control, we take very good care of their safety and we equip them with special apps, of which Psiphon is our most frequently used.

We use Skype more often than Viber, and we sometimes talk to witnesses via Viber and Whatsapp. We don't know how secure these are, but we don’t have much choice. We also use Telegram.

I believe all organisations will always need these trainings, because even if you get a security update, after four or five months you discover new security gaps you didn't know about before.

insights

A priority in this needs assessment is to assess the state of organisational cybersecurity measures amongst region-al HRDs, given the widespread nature of government surveillance and malicious hacking from third-party groups. Our survey exposed a worrying lack of organisational confidence in existing cybersecurity trainings, and so in our interviews we worked to identify some of the high priority security needs of regional HRDs. The responses we re-ceived were very useful in sketching out a framework for future cybersecurity training and support initiatives.

77.5% of surveyed organisations are in urgent need for cybersecurity support—especially Syrian organisations, who are operating in an environment of instability where robust digital security could potentially mean the difference between life and death, and certainly between organisational success and failure. Greater investment in digital se-curity would be invaluable in protecting and supporting the work of HRDs operating in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Several organisations believe that running their own server is an effective way of securing their data. Although this could be appropriate in some cases, for some organisations this is complicated by a lack of financial resources, a lack of space, and for organisations at risk of having to relocate due to security reasons, there are threats posed by regional violence, and legal obstacles imposed by the governments of countries to which they have relocated.

It should be emphasised again that any trainings and support initiatives should be tailored to the specific needs and requirements of participating organisations in order for support to be sustainable and results-focused. For instance, the needs of a large, well-established, MENA-spanning organisation like ANND are relatively unique: although they run their own server they are faced with challenges relating to maintenance. Smaller, agile organisa-tions with a focus on fieldwork (such as VDC) require assistance with a focus on secure field communications and data security.

31

In this report, we have worked to comprehensively identify the strategic communications and technology needs of HRDs working across the Levant. Thanks to the generous cooperation of our partners across the region, we have been able to build a rich picture of the state of strategic communications across the entire region, and have identi-fied a number of areas in which greater support from donors and organisational partners is required.

Below we present our key findings across the areas of interest we defined earlier in this report:

1 // Evaluating Existing Support Mechanisms 2 // Strategic Communications Needs 3 // Digital Security & Technology Needs

1. evaluating existing support mechanisms

• existing communications support initiatives have proven insufficient—85% of surveyed organisa-tions reported receiving insufficient training to enable them to effectively plan and implement communi-cation strategies.

• a number of hrds report fatigue with poorly-targeted, textbook-based training sessions. In inter-views, many organisations described previous training exercises as being overly dependent on theory and generalised advice, without considering the specific long-term needs of workshop participants. Addition-ally, respondents claimed that trainers provided little-to-no long-term support after workshops ended.

• hrds are not equipped to communicate effectively using social media platforms—only around a third of respondents have been the recipients of any social media trainings whatsoever, and of these, the majority were unhappy with the quality of support provided.

2. strategic communications needs

• hrds are eager to participate in communications capacity building initiatives—92.5% of surveyed organisations responded that they were willing to participate in targeted capacity building programmes or training workshops to improve their communications strategies.

• hrds require training to effectively plan and schedule online content—our survey demonstrated that a number of organisations share content on digital platforms at a fairly irregular rate, while our interviews revealed an appetite among HROs and CSOs to produce more engaging and appealing online content. Currently, however, they lack the skillsets and resources to create these resources by themselves.

• data visualisation techniques and skills are valued by hrds, but a lack of resources and skills prevents visualisations from being widely integrated into communications plans at present. In in-terviews, a number of organisations noted that they wanted to place data visualisation at the core of their public communications strategies, but many were frustrated by a lack of funding and expertise.

• advocacy skills are lacking in many hros and csos, limiting their engagement with treaty- and charter-based un human rights mechanisms. Although a majority of organisations surveyed stated that they were eager to participate in international advocacy efforts, official records show that HRO and CSO participation remains limited.

• professional networks are overly dependent on hro and cso directors. In interviews participants expressed concerns that collaboration and cooperation between organisations was too dependent on communications between company directors and senior management, rather than allowing for the devel-opment of employees’ professional networks.

CONCLUSIONS


3. digital security & technology needs• a large number of the organisations surveyed in this study either have outdated websites or web-

sites that fail to reflect their organisation’s work and objectives—several organisations expressed a need for the development or redevelopment of their websites, which were either outdated, inaccessible, or poorly designed and unfit for purpose.

• organisations noted a variety of technological support needs depending on their size, and the scope of their activities. Documentation organisations operating in Syria reported a need for discreet documentation applications to replace professional film crews, whereas other types of organisations requested more standard support (for example, with server maintenance).

• there is an incredibly urgent need for increased cybersecurity training and support. 77.5% of surveyed organisations have received either substandard training, or no training whatsoever in cybersecu-rity. This is a great concern for Syrian organisations in particular, who are operating in an environment of extreme instability where robust digital security could potentially mean the difference between life and death.

33

With the above observations in mind, below is a collection of recommendations suggested by Small Media for potential target areas for capacity building and development aimed at regional HRDs:

1. future support recommendations

• future initiatives to support strategic communications in syria, lebanon and jordan should be targeted, sustainable, and cognizant of the social and political specificities of hrds operating in these national contexts—our report findings showed that HRDs were unhappy with the quality of previous trainings, their overdependence on textbook learning, and their lack of long-term support. Future trainings should be tailored to the needs of participant organisations, potentially including some form of long-term mentoring programme.

2. strategic communications support recommendations

• hrds should be given comprehensive social media training, and supported to develop long-term social media plans—although most organisations in our study use social media as a tool for communi-cations and advocacy to some extent, some organisations post irregularly, and without an idea of how social media fits into their wider communications strategy. Trainings should equip organisations with the knowledge and skills to confidently develop an organisational social media plan.

• organisations should be provided with some level of data visualisation training, and matched with experienced designers from external organisations to help guide their visual strategies—the excitement expressed about data visualisation by HRDs is sadly not currently being matched by their available resources at the present time. Although data visualisations are incredibly powerful tools for outreach, the knowledge and expertise is in short supply in the region. More trainings should be provided to regional HRDs in basic data visualisation techniques, and for more ambitious projects, HRDs could be paired up with enthusiastic data visualisation experts from around the world.

• investment should be made into expanding awareness of international advocacy tools and un human rights mechanisms—given the limited extent of regional HRO and CSO engagement with treaty- and Charter-based mechanisms, and interviewees’ enthusiasm for engaging more actively in international advocacy efforts, there is cause to continue offering advocacy training and support to HRDs to allow them to contribute as fully as possible with international mechanisms.

• trainings should be targeted to develop organisational capacities, rather than solely the capac-ities of directors and senior managers—some interviewees raised an interesting point when they noted that inter-organisational connections were often conducted exclusively through directors, making organisations very personality-driven, and limiting opportunities for collaboration somewhat. Trainings should seek to make organisations as a whole better at communicating with each other, and more open to collaborations.

3. digital security & technology recommendations• greater funding and support should be allocated to redevelop the websites of hrds whose online

identity fails to reflect their organisation’s work and objectives—poorly designed websites are a major barrier to effective online communications, especially for organisations looking to engage on a frequent basis with the public. Our survey demonstrated that HRDs rank websites as second only to Face-book as important digital communications platforms, and so their functionality and ease of use (for users and content managers) should be prioritised in order to ensure that content is accessed and updated frequently.

• organisations should be matched with web designers and developers to provide targeted tech-

RECOMMENDATIONS


nical support—although large scale technological support is expensive, and an in-house team of web designers and developers is out of the budget of most HROs and CSOs operating in the region, informal partnerships and networking between regional organisations and technology experts based around the world should be encouraged as a way of exposing HRDs to trustworthy providers of technology support. HRDs have a range of needs from app development to server maintenance, and ongoing long-term part-nerships with consultants from the region and around the world would offer sustainable support plans and grant HRDs access to highly skilled human resources.

• increased cybersecurity training and support is required urgently—as noted previously, 77.5% of surveyed organisations have received either substandard training, or no training whatsoever in cybersecu-rity. This is of immense concern for HRDs operating under conditions of government surveillance, at a high risk of attack from malicious third parties. Trainings and long-term partnerships with security consultants could do much to mitigate these threats, and improve the safety of HRDs working across the region.

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Supercharging Human Rights Defenders :: The Levant

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