YouSaid · the spoken record

Russo

lines on the record
9
first
2022-07-12
most recent
2022-07-12
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “I would like to suggest that, as the United Nations continues to grow and develop its work in this area, that it focus as much on the listening aspect of communicating as on the speaking aspect, centring the stories of individuals and acts of everyday peace. Storytelling is the oldest art form of communication. Stories make us think, make us feel. They take us to a place where facts and figures are denied access. Data and analytics may persuade people, but they rarely inspire them to act for the sake of peace against all odds. Let us therefore not lose the power of the individual story and the role that it can play in informing and inspiring our work around the world.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  2. “Every element of a mission’s mandate requires an awareness of the context in which the mission is operating. Those contexts are complex, and each individual region and village has a unique story to tell. Community engagement is now a regular part of peacekeeping mandates. Yet, in my own research with civil society organizations, I often hear that peacekeepers are perceived as maintaining a “power over” relationship with community members, rather than a “power with” relationship. There is a sense among some people that peacekeepers feel that they have only knowledge to give, rather than knowledge to gain, with an attitude of certainty rather than curiosity.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  3. “While such efforts should be considered a minimum standard in a mission’s approach to strategic communications, missions can go beyond being gender sensitive to also being gender transformative. Gender- transformative communications use narratives and storytelling to promote gender equality and combat harmful stereotypes and behaviours, for example, by highlighting stories and images that expand traditional understandings of gender roles, address harmful gender practices and use information to increase women’s access to power and resources. Finally, strategic communications in peacekeeping should move beyond a unidirectional flow of relaying information to a dynamic dialogue between missions and communities. Communication is not only about informing; it is about being informed.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  4. “The second point that I want to touch on is engaging in strategic communications that are both gender sensitive and gender transformative. Gender-sensitive communications require tailoring messages to the needs and concerns of women, as well as men, and considering potential barriers to women’s access to information, including access to radios or cell phones, literacy levels or whether the venues chosen for in-person convenings are considered safe or accessible. Improving women’s access to information and addressing their specific concerns related to the mission mandate and the broader peace process are central to achieving the full and equal participation of women and the fulfilment of the women and peace and security agenda.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  5. “Missions can also train journalists in conflict- sensitive journalism, as has been done in South Sudan, for example, where hate speech has been described as nearly as dangerous as the proliferation of weapons. In addition to relaying information, the effective protection of civilians also requires active listening. Community members are the ones who are best positioned to understand the risks that they face and how to respond to those risks. Failing to listen to communities when planning the protection of civilians prevents the mission from building upon self-protection efforts that are already taking place, and even risks putting mission efforts at cross purposes with other protection actors, including community members themselves.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  6. “That includes not only managing expectations by communicating the limitations of the mission’s protection work, but also messaging on how populations can better access the protection interventions that are available, for example, mechanisms for reporting risks of violence or the presence of peacekeeper patrols protecting routes to gather water, firewood and other supplies, as well as community-based support from local partners, who play a critical role in providing sustainable protection. Strategic communication can also be used to counter hate speech and misinformation or disinformation that is used to incite violence, inflame identity-based cleavages or mobilize individuals into armed groups. Mission radio programmes and local-level workshops can be an important tool in combating the effects of hate speech.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  7. “I would like to use my time here today to touch briefly upon three points: the role of strategic communications in enhancing the protection of civilians; how to ensure that communication is not only gender sensitive, but also gender transformative; and the importance of active listening to centre the experiences of communities in peacekeeping. Communicating with community members, belligerents and national and local leaders is central to planning and implementing protection-of-civilians mandates.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  8. “While such efforts are no doubt important, I want to challenge us to imagine a more dynamic two-way flow of information that includes more listening and the use of storytelling and narratives that transform both the work of the mission and the context in which it operates. While the United Nations can, and should, relay messages that seek to build trust and protect the reputation of the mission, that is only one part of communicating, which also requires listening to, and learning from, the people whom the mission is there to serve.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source

  9. “Ms. Russo: On behalf of the International Peace Institute, I am honoured to be here today to brief the Security Council on the role of strategic communications in United Nations peacekeeping. Over the past several years, the United Nations has made some important strides in its focus on strategic communications, and I want to echo the words of the Secretary-General as to the centrality of strategic communications across the whole-of-mission work. Despite some improvements, strategic communications are still too often understood as a unidirectional flow of information, most often centred around managing expectations or communicating the parameters of the mandate.”

    2022-07-12 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9090 (2022) · source