War Child UK

I led War Child UK’s communications through a period of unprecidented uncertainty and transition, following the loss of a third of it’s staff. I saw communications and my contribution towards it’s new organisation-wide strategy as tools to motivate staff into a fresh positive period for the organsiation. The following was just one of the methods employed.

Having secured The Times as our Christmas appeal partner, I travelled to Iraq to source editorial content, pairing a team of journalists with Yazidi children and their families, supported by War Child programmes. The appeal documented the positive impact of War Child programmes on those who had experienced the trauma of conflict, specifically the genocide of Yazidis at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Kurdistan and the subsequent enslavement of women and children. The appeal featured a series of in-depth interviews with survivors  and required extensive negociations about access with Iraq-based authorities. The campaign riased £212,000.

Part of my brief as communications lead was to respond to events and policy developments. As part of War Child’s campaign to urge the UK Government, the United Nations and other agencies worldwide to better protect children affected by armed conflict, I responded by reaching out to contacts and securing coverage.

Public affairs work was supported with media coverage including a national news interview with a former child soldier from Sudan. Elsewhere, I responded to fresh attacks on Iraq and Syria and the UN report on Children Associated with Armed Groups, securing newspaper coverage, which was then turned into social media content. The debate around supporting children with UK nationality detained in camps in Syria was particularly notable. War Child was one of a number of INGO’s to campaign on this issue, which forced a u-turn at the FCO.