I can’t see, so when my radio was destroyed in the cyclone, I felt very isolated. Now that I have a radio, I feel like I can see!
A blind Monk in Burma who received a radio after cyclone Nargis
Poor information flow is undoubtedly the biggest source of dissatisfaction, anger and frustration among affected people
TEC Thematic Evaluation
If we understand what is going on, we can be patient
A man talking to the CDA Learning Project in Aceh
I would say that registration [of those in camps] would have been almost impossible without the support of the communications teams
CCCM Cluster Coordinator Haiti
“A community without a radio is worth nothing,”....“People have already realized here that without radio the region is dead"
Internews Humanitarian Information Service in Eastern Chad
Rahma Mohamed Ibed
“What they desperately needed was access to local information in a language they understood – could they go home? Where were the local services and who were all these foreigners who said they were coming to help?”
Mark Frohardt, at the time Internews’ Vice President for Africa
“We were trying to be a community safety valve – to sit the two groups down together and find out how they felt about the problems. If we couldn’t get them into the studio we would send the reporters out to the camps.”
The CDAC Network Secretariat is currently made-up of a Global Coordinator with additional short term support introduced as required for specific projects and activities. The Secretariat support and coordinate the Network's membership to deliver activities focused on the Network's four strategic objectives. The driving force behind the Network's change agenda is its committed and diverse membership, with the Secretariat acting as a catalyst and facilitator.
The Secretariat Team:
Rachel Houghton - Global Coordinator
The gap between the need to think and act interdependently and our ability to do so sits at the heart of the most difficult problems we face today. A sustainable world will only be possible by thinking differently; by learning to see the larger systems … and by fostering collaboration across every imaginable boundary (The Necessary Revolution by Peter Senge, 2008).
…the challenges we face require us to become aware and change the inner place from which we operate (Theory U by Otto Scharmer, 2007).
Rachel has over 15 years’ experience in the international development and humanitarian sectors. For the past five years she has specialised in developing, leading and assessing complex multi-stakeholder initiatives, which is initially what attracted her to the CDAC Network. She is a trained Partnership Broker.
Rachel says: ‘I believe passionately in the power of collaboration. Working in partnership represents a potential, brought about through the alchemy of many different stakeholders. When diverse groups work together, magic and innovation can occur. Together, we need to pursue deeper, more fundamental solutions to the challenges we face today and will face in the future. Only then will humanitarian organisations be in a position, alongside their partners in business, government, and other sectors, to achieve a more effective humanitarian response.’
Rachel joined the CDAC Network in February 2011. She is aware of the privileged opportunity she has been given to work with such a unique, diverse stakeholder group on one of the most critical issues facing humanitarian action today: how to communicate in a way that not only affords greater dignity to people in crisis, but also likely improves the quality, effectiveness and accountability of aid.
“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes. But they are useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.” - Jules Verne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
As the Research and Learning officer for the CDAC Network, Nicki is passionate about sharing and using experience to make humanitarian practice as good as it can be.
Nicki has six years experience working in international NGOs and university research centres. Working on large-scale disability surveys as a research assistant at UCL inspired her to undertake an MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2009, where she specialised in humanitarian health. Nicki went on to work for Merlin as Monitoring & Evaluation Officer in DRC, where she developed M&E processes and carried out a number of community-based studies. She has also undertaken evaluations and research studies in Malawi and the UK.
She is excited about working with CDAC Network members on building the evidence base around communications interventions, and driving forward the research agenda.
Leonie has seven years experience working in the media in Ireland. She worked in The Irish Times newspaper in Dublin for six years, as a production editor, subeditor and reporter. During this time she worked across special reports, features, sports, home and world news.
She completed an MSc Humanitarian Action at the end of 2012 and worked as Communications Intern for the CDAC Network for four months while writing her thesis. She now provides part-time communications consultancy support to the Network. She also works with the Irish Forum for Global Health.
Leonie is from County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland and previously lived in Sacramento, California; Chaing Mai, Thailand; Bukit Lawang, Sumatra; and London.
Leonie says: "I am driven by a belief that communication – face-to-face dialogue, traditional media and, increasingly, social media – and access to information can improve the realities of people affected by crises around the world. Working as part of the CDAC Network team, I hope we can improve the understanding of the importance of 'commisaid' and practically improve communication with crisis-affected communities, thus aiding co-ordination, transparency and accountability in the humanitarian sector."
