On the walk to her apartment, Loureiro joked with the journalists, \u201cCan you imagine? Now I\u2019m an IDP!\u201d The journalists all laughed, because they understood that \u201cIDP\u201d stands for \u201cinternally displaced person.\u201d This collegial relationship \u2014 and, in some cases, the understanding of the acronym IDP itself \u2014 was the result of trainings the UNHCR operation in Angola initiated to educate the media about refugee-related issues.<\/span><\/p>\n On this particular day, the Angolan government was distressed about the inaccurate reporting and wasted no time letting UNHCR know the claim was absolutely untrue. Loureiro and her colleagues interceded quickly, issuing a press release to set the record straight within an hour. From the lobby of her apartment building, Loureiro and a representative of the Angolan government appeared on TV together to explain the situation: Refugees had not disappeared, but were simply being moved to a different settlement in Angola. The joint interview was an opportunity to correct the journalist\u2019s misunderstanding of the facts and educate the public about refugee life in Angola. <\/span><\/p>\n This level of cooperation didn\u2019t exist just a few months earlier. Journalists in Angola have always taken pride in quality reporting, but many of them did not have a thorough understanding about the work of UNHCR, the situation of refugees in Angola or even the basic terminology used to talk about refugees. At one point, a journalist referred to refugee settlements as \u201cconcentration camps.\u201d Calling refugees \u201cillegal\u201d was another inaccurate term journalists sometimes used. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not that UNHCR and the Angolan media were adversarial, but like any relationship, it had its complications.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like being in a personal relationship where things aren\u2019t quite working out,\u201d says Loureiro, who is now a Senior Inter-Agency Coordination Officer with UNHCR for the Venezuela situation. \u201cWhen UNHCR and the media started working together, we learned that both of us were trying to do our best, but we spoke different languages. We had to learn how to talk to each other about things so we would feel comfortable with each other, and then things are easy to solve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There was no established path to creating a stronger relationship between UNHCR and the media in Angola. But Loureiro and the team quickly recognized the need to change the way things had been done in the past, and their colleagues were supportive. They weren\u2019t sure where they were going, but they took it one step at a time, trusting there was a better way forward. <\/span><\/p>\n When she arrived in Dundo, Loureiro\u2019s Portuguese language skills made her instantly popular with her colleagues at UNHCR, even though she started her assignment there as a Protection Officer. She was reluctant to do any media at first, but both her colleagues and members of the media began asking her to share information about the influx of refugees into Dundo, Angola, triggered by the outbreak of generalized violence in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in March 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n Loureiro realized the media was using the wrong terminology to describe the settlement and reception centers UNHCR had set up for refugees. But even more surprising was how open the media was to being corrected, she says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI would explain little by little with the right wording and the feedback was quite amazing,\u201d Loureiro explains. \u201cInstead of being offended because I was correcting them, they started asking questions.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n She began talking about UNHCR and the other agencies on the ground, such as UNICEF and WFP, and how they were working with refugees. She also made efforts to reshape the media\u2019s perception of Congolese refugees, which was sometimes quite negative, despite many members of the Angolan media having been refugees once themselves, by repeatedly describing the realities of the refugees\u2019 lives. It wasn\u2019t long before Loureiro was working with the media on a daily basis, giving interviews and answering a wide range of questions. <\/span><\/p>\n It was all those questions \u2014 and the media\u2019s eagerness to learn \u2014 that prompted Loureiro to propose that UNHCR and the media collaborate to provide a two-way training. The goal was to ensure that journalists understood the terminology and sensitivities related to refugees and that UNHCR proactively acknowledged the importance of media in protecting persons of concern. Improving the accuracy of their reporting would reflect well on the media, both locally and in the worldwide press, and UNHCR was keen to make sure UNHCR and refugees were being reported on correctly. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI told them. \u2018You are the expert in communications and I am the expert in refugees and the terminology, so let\u2019s work together on this,\u2019\u201d Loureiro explains. <\/span><\/p>\n To avoid making it seem like UNHCR was telling the media what to report, Loureiro intentionally called the trainings \u201cworking sessions.\u201d Later, the journalists themselves would begin referring to them as \u201cworkshops,\u201d reflecting the value they placed on the learning opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n None of this was in Loureiro\u2019s original job description, and there was no policy or procedure in place at UNHCR to guide the development of workshops to educate journalists. Loureiro and her colleagues developed the initiative as they went along, working closely with the media along the way. They also took inspiration from initiatives at other UNHCR operations, but in many cases what was required wasn\u2019t communication expertise, but basic common sense. <\/span><\/p>\n The operation recognized that the idea would only work if it was done as a partnership between UNHCR, the media and Angolan officials. It also required a willingness to experiment and \u201cgo with the stream and see where it takes you,\u201d as Loureiro explains.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t just say, \u2018Oh, let us help you.\u2019 We said, \u2018Let\u2019s work together \u2014 help us help you,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cThe media is as good as a partner, because communication is protection for refugees and asylum seekers, so we wanted to make the media feel accountable and useful.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n To encourage journalists to attend the working sessions, UNHCR joined forces with Centro de Imprensa An\u00edbal de Melo (National Institute for Press), Angola\u2019s governmental national media coordination body, to offer accreditation to national and international journalists who completed a working session. Giving the journalists a certificate of completion was strategic, Loureiro explains.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe certificate shows they know how to report on refugees,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd if they make a mistake they could not say they didn\u2019t know.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n But the responsibility didn\u2019t fall entirely on the media. The working sessions established a true partnership with UNHCR. Journalists knew they could call Loureiro at any time of the day or night and she would answer their questions. The media also quickly developed close relationships with other UNHCR staff, including Philippa Candler, UNHCR\u2019s Representative in Angola, and Martim Empis Gray Pereira. As Assistant External Relations Officer at the time, Pereira was Loureiro\u2019s main supporter, working diligently behind the scenes to arrange TV appearances, debates and other opportunities to address topics in front of the broadest possible audience.<\/span><\/p>\n The first workshop, held in Luanda, was attended by about 50 communicators, including journalists, editors, and camera operators from the media, as well as institutional communication departments from Angola\u2019s Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Defense, both of which are actively engaged in refugee protection and coordination. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were very happy so many people attended,\u201d Loureiro says. \u201cWe had a lot of media coverage and positive news on how UNHCR was assisting Angola and what a good job officials were doing receiving refugees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n This success prompted UNHCR to host a second working session, which provincial authorities lobbied to be part of and help organize. As Loureiro says, they were pleased that UNHCR was not only addressing the media but also communication in general. <\/span><\/p>\n The second working session brought together three provinces. This time, there were 180 attendees \u2014 so many that the hosts ran out of certificates and had to deliver some after the training. <\/span><\/p>\n During the workshops, everyone was eager to learn. For example, participants asked UNHCR to clarify the difference between migrants and refugees. Loureiro acknowledges that sometimes UNHCR can be confusing in its own communications, so these dialogues were a learning opportunity for everyone \u2014 making it more of a knowledge-sharing opportunity than a top-down training from UNHCR. At one point, Angolan authorities were pointing to the printed materials UNHCR had provided and correcting other attendees on terminology.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI was sitting there with a UNHCR colleague and we looked at each other and said, \u2018Okay, it seems our idea is working.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n By the third and final working session in the series, which took place over about four months in early 2018, UNHCR had to do very little. Angolan authorities took care of all the details, journalists contacted each other and about 100 people participated, demonstrating that this kind of collaboration can be maintained over the long term.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe session was useful and clarified some mistakes we were making on our approach,\u201d says Isidoro Muiombo Samutula, who has been a journalist for <\/span>Jornal de Angola \u2014 <\/span><\/i>a state-owned national daily newspaper <\/span>\u2014 <\/span><\/i>for eight years. \u201cAfter the session, we were better informed about refugees and how the press should report on technical issues, such as the differentiation between reception centers, refugee settlements, and refugee camps, as well as the need of everyone\u2019s contribution to protect refugees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Samutula adds that following the working session, he immediately began using more accurate terms than he had in previous articles. He says he also formed a closer relationship with UNHCR\u2019s communication team as a member of the press, which has facilitated his work.<\/span><\/p>\n Much of the information shared during the workshops was also provided in printed booklets UNHCR created for the media to use for future reference. These booklets were inspired by similar materials created by UNHCR operations in Belgium and Spain, tailored to the specifics of Angola and translated into Portuguese \u2014 a practice now being adopted by other operations across UNHCR.<\/span><\/p>\n The booklets include common terminology and subtle language usage specific to refugees and other displaced people. In addition, the booklets supported sensitivity training provided during the working sessions, reminding the media about the right way to approach refugees who might be feeling frightened or nervous about sharing their story. The booklets include a section dedicated to photographers and camera operators, with specifics on capturing sensitive situations such as images of children.<\/span><\/p>\n UNHCR elaborated on this guidance during the working sessions. This sensitivity training made staff feel more comfortable having media on site, but was particularly beneficial to refugees being interviewed. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI told the journalists they have to put themselves in this person\u2019s place \u2014 if someone asked them, \u2018Hey, how was your mother killed?\u2019 they would not like this question,\u201d Loureiro says. \u201cThey must remember these people are traumatized by war, some of them very recently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Loureiro and her colleagues also worked with the media to make sure refugees are portrayed as the resilient people they are.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThey are not victims \u2014 victims are the people who died back at home and these are the survivors,\u201d she explains. \u201cWe want journalists to portray refugees as strong and dignified, not victims of anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n What the team did in Angola proves that innovation doesn\u2019t require a policy or official guidelines to develop into a successful strategy \u2014 in fact, that lack of structure may help innovation develop in the first place. Being open to following the thread of a good idea proved very worthwhile in this case, and is a mindset that can easily be applied to initiatives across UNHCR. <\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s no question that the working sessions and other efforts to forge a closer partnership between UNHCR, the media, and government officials have been a benefit to everyone involved. <\/span><\/p>\n For one thing, the working sessions helped UNHCR significantly increase its media contact list, because attendees had to provide their email address and phone number to receive the informational booklet and certificate of completion. UNHCR\u2019s media list in Angola grew from 20 or 30 contacts to about 300. <\/span><\/p>\n According to Loureiro, between January and early June 2018, the Angola operation recorded 145 positive news items about UNHCR in the press. In addition, when reporting errors do happen \u2014 which can happen anywhere, to anyone \u2014 the close relationship has made it easier to work together to issue corrections.<\/span><\/p>\n However, educating the media on communicating accurately about UNHCR and refugees has made errors less common. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have been writing more appropriately on the subject, and I can always count on UNHCR\u2019s assistance in case of any doubt,\u201d says Nisa Mendes, a correspondent for Ag\u00eancia de Not\u00edcias de Portugal (the LUSA news agency) for more than 10 years, who has been covering UNHCR activities since mid-2017. \u201cEspecially with the situation of DRC refugees, I have learned more about the rights that this group is entitled to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Although she did not attend any of the working sessions, Mendes \u2014 whose stories are distributed worldwide \u2014 recognizes how the relationship between UNHCR and the media has been strengthened, making information on refugees in Angola more available. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe openness of UNHCR is very important for journalism, as the openness of sources prevents mistakes from being committed,\u201d she says. \u201cI wish that the partnership between UNHCR and the media is maintained, and continues to be strengthened for mutual benefits.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Samutula would also like to see ongoing collaboration, including more training sessions for local journalists, because he values the closer partnership that resulted from UNHCR\u2019s initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe most important thing is that we are fighting for the same cause, which is protecting refugees \u2014 each one of us is doing it in a different way, with the same goal,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is a very positive experience to tell these moving stories because the reality of refugees and the situation that each one has passed until entering in Angola marks the lives of everyone involved in this honorable cause.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n We\u2019re always looking for great stories, ideas, and opinions on innovations that are led by or create impact for refugees. If you have one to share with us send us an email at\u00a0innovation@unhcr.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nStep one: Get a fresh perspective<\/b><\/h2>\n
Step two: Use common sense as a guide<\/b><\/h2>\n
Step three: Build something new together<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/innovation\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_ff21.jpg\")
<\/p>\nStep four: Take inspiration from others, then pass it on <\/b><\/h2>\n
Step five: Make an inventory of your accomplishments<\/b><\/h2>\n