by Jayne Cravens
More resources at coyotecommunications.com & coyoteboard.com
(same web site)
Experience & explorations in
studying & working in development
-- human, community, institutional & environmental
(with information about aid, relief and humanitarian efforts as
well)
This section of my web site is to provide resources for
colleagues working in humanitarian / aid / development efforts,
as well as to anyone studying such. In other words, development:
human development, community development, institutional
development, environmental development, country development, etc.
(in contrast to its meaning in the USA, where the word development
is related to fund raising or software or real estate). When I say
development here on my web site, I mean development in
terms to capacity-building as a part of humanitarian or aid
efforts, as well as economic development of areas experiencing
high-unemployment, poverty, even conflict. My major was in development
management: the management of projects to improve the
well-being of a particular group of people or the entire
population of a region, through activities that encourage
economic, social, cultural, and political inclusion and
development.
Originally, this part of my web site was a blog about my experience with Open University in
pursuit of my MSc in Development Management, and a way to
link to OU resources I might need to access when I wasn't at my
own computer. But over time, I expanded it to cover all
of my work and continuing
studies regarding development.
My resources for colleagues working in humanitarian / aid /
development efforts, as well as to anyone studying such:
- How folklore, rumors, urban myths
and organized misinformation campaigns interfere with
development and aid/relief efforts, and government
initiatives, and how to prevent and address such.
This was almost my Master's Degree thesis in 2005. I decided the
data I had gathered initially was too helpful not to publish,
despite not using it for my degree, so I put it up on my web
site. For almost 20 years, I continued to research this topic
and update this resource. With fake news sites set up
specifically to mislead people, as well as crowdsourced efforts
by professional online provocateurs and automated troll bots
pumping out thousands of comments, countering misinformation
efforts has to be a priority for aid and development
organizations, as well as government agencies. I no longer
update these pages, but I hope they remain helpful.
- Recommendations
for UN & UNDP in Ukraine
to use Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and Other Social Media to
Promote Reconciliation, Social Inclusion, & Peace-Building
in Ukraine (PDF). This is a draft document I submitted to UNDP
Ukraine just before I left Kyiv in October 2014, having
completed my term there as a "Surge" Communications Advisor.
This draft document offers considerations and recommendations
for social media messaging that promotes reconciliation, social
inclusion, and peace-building in Ukraine.
It provides ideas for messaging related to promoting tolerance,
respect and reconciliation in the country, and messaging to
counter bigotry, prejudice, inequality, misperception and
misconceptions about a particular group of people or different
people among Ukrainians as a whole. I know that social media
tools have changed a lot since then, but I still think this
resource has a lot of valid advice.
- Highlights and resources from the research for my final paper for my Master's Degree,
regarding the non-artistic elements necessary for success in
"Theater as a Tool for Development"
initiatives.
- Tips
for staying in contact with remote staff in developing
countries / conflict zones
Many factors stand in the way of trying to stay in contact with
field staff at projects in rural or conflicted areas in
developing countries. In this resource, I reviewed various
challenges faced by people in a main office in getting data from
field staff working in humanitarian / development / aid
initiatives, and how to address those challenges.
- Women's Access to
Public Internet Access, a resource I developed
through research & experience to support the development of
women-only Internet centers/technology centers/etc., or
women-only hours at such public Internet access points, in
developing and transitional countries.
- Empowering
Women Everywhere - Essential to Development Success, a
list of research and articles (none written by me) that confirm
that empowering women is essential to development success
and highlight the very particular challenges to women's access
to education, health care, safety and economic prosperity.
Additional submissions welcomed.
- Virtue
& reputation in the developing world - In some
countries, a woman’s reputation regarding her virtue is every
bit as important as food and health care, in terms of
prosperity, let alone survival. This blog offers details that
should serve as a caution to humanitarian and development
workers wanting NGOs and government agencies to engage more on
social media; you need to provide guidance for the women who
would be expected to manage online activities on how to stay
safe and protect their personal reputations.
- How to
take photos in a culturally-sensitive manner, particularly
with regard to respect for local customs regarding women,
and to meet various needs, e.g. to show female participation.
This resource was developed in 2007, for Afghan staff working
out of an Afghanistan
government agency, and is adaptable for various cultural
settings.
- A presentation
for Afghan women on public speaking. This resource
was developed in 2007, for Afghan female staff working out of an
Afghanistan government agency,
and is adaptable for various cultural settings.
- Aid
workers need to help local staff avoid scams. If you
are working in aid, development or humanitarian affairs on site
in a developing country, I hope you will consider doing a
lunchtime workshop for your locally-recruited colleagues about
online scams. Just 30 – 45 minutes would be so helpful. Talk
about visa scams, inheritance scams and phishing. Even if
locally-recruited staff are particularly savvy about knowing
when something is a fraud, their family and friends may not be,
and you would be helping them to help their family and friends
avoid being taken advantage of.
- A comprehensive
list of questions to answer in preparation for reporting to
donors, the media & general public. I developed
this with a colleague in Afghanistan,
to help the local staff at the government ministry where we
worked know what information donors and UN agencies regularly
asked for, and what we anticipated they might start asking for;
what subjects the media regularly asked about or reported on,
and what we anticipated they might start asking about or
reporting on; and what information could be used for evaluation
purposes later. It was part of our many efforts to build
public sector staff communications capacities in
countries where I've served.
- Basic Fund-Raising for
Small NGOs in the Developing World, a guide I
developed a decade ago and regularly update until October 2015.
Requesting NGOs have been based primarily in Africa, Asia and
parts of Eastern Europe.
- Starting
a Nonprofit or Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). The
laws and procedures for starting a nonprofit organization, an
NGO, a charity or a foundation vary from country to country. The
laws and procedures are never exactly the same. This page offers
the general advice that is applicable to any country, but you
will still have to go through country-specific requirements,
which are NOT detailed on this page but there is advice on where
to find them).
- What’s the difference in for-profits &
nonprofits?
The first step in forming a nonprofit isn't creating a logo. Or
thinking about what accounting software you are going to use.
Answering the questions I propose in this blog will create the
business plan you MUST have to launch and succeed. It will also
help gather the information needed by a new program for
partnerships, community support and funding proposal.
- Vetting
Organizations in Other Countries: A resource that
can help you evaluate volunteer-placement organizations that
charge you for your placement as a volunteer, as well as for
people interested in partnering or supporting an organization
abroad but wanting to know it's a credible organization, that
it's not some sort of scam, or an 'organization' of just one
person.
- Hosting
International Volunteers: More and more local
organizations in developing countries are turning to local
expertise, rather than international volunteers, to support
their efforts. However, the need for international volunteers
remains, and will for many, many years to come. This resource
provides tips for local organization in a developing countries
interested in gaining to international volunteers.
- United Nations Tech4Good /
ICT4D Initiatives, a list of the various United
Nations initiatives that have been launched since 2000 to
promote the use of computers, feature phones, smart phones and
various networked devices in development and humanitarian
activities, to promote digital literacy and equitable access to
the "information society," and to bridge the digital divide. My
goal in creating this page is to help researchers, as well as to
remind current UN initiatives that much work regarding ICT4D has
been done by various UN employees, consultants and volunteers
for more than 15 years (and perhaps longer?).
- The positive effects of sustainable
development and alternative tourism and ways to
cultivate efforts that support tourism as a part of sustainable
development efforts. This is something that has been of interest
to me for several years, and something I continually research on
my own.
- Motorcycles and
development/aid/relief & volunteer efforts. I'm
a motorcycle rider. I'm a development worker. It's not something
you can combine in the PeaceCorps, but it is something many
people helping others in developing countries do
combine, and this resource reviews how it's done.
- PDX-area
Organizations Involved in Overseas Development / Aid / Relief
& Volunteer Efforts Or Educating People Re: Other
Countries/Global Affairs. Some are nonprofits, some are
university programs, and some are for-profit companies /
businesses. Some are focused exclusively on aid and development,
some are focused only partially on such.
- Civil Society Capacity
Building: Why?
My favorite kind of professional work is building the capacities
of civil society organizations, especially in transitional and
developing countries, to communicate, to change minds and to
engage a variety of people and communities, through
communications, dialogue and volunteering. But the term civil
society isn't used in USA as commonly as it is elsewhere,
and many don’t understand exactly what I mean when I talk about
my favorite type of work. This resource explores exactly what is
meant by the phrase civil society capacity building.
- Efforts to Educate the
Public About Humanitarian Development & the work of
Nonprofits, NGOs, Charities, etc.
The audience for my web pages and blogs are, primarily, staff at
mission-based organizations: nonprofits, non-governmental
organizations (NGOs), charities, government agencies, schools
and other public sector organizations, as well as their partners
- corporations, universities, etc. I also sometimes write
material for volunteers themselves - or people who want to be
such. Sometimes, however, I write material to try to educate the
public about humanitarian and development work and about the
work, culture, ethics and limitations of nonprofits,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), charities and other
mission-based organizations. Here are some of those blogs
focused on the general public.
- How to get a job in
international work, including with the United
Nations.
- Jayne, how did you get to work
for the UN?!" An answer to a frequently asked
question.
Also see
I am always interested in networking with other professionals and
students engaged or formerly engaged in development studies, with
OU or other universities, or working in humanitarian, aid, relief
and development in areas similar to my own experience and
interest. If you are working or studying in initiatives that
relate to the subjects of the resources I've listed above, I would love to hear from you, or
interact with me via any social
networking platform I'm on. If you are a woman who will be
working in Afghanistan or any
other post or current conflict area or area that is particularly
religiously-conservative, feel free to write me for advice.
If you want to work or volunteer abroad, see this detailed advice and
resources.
Countries I've visited or lived in:
Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina,
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba,
Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain (England and
Scotland), Guatemala, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan,
Luxembourg, Macedonia (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia),
Mexico, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Poland,
Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (Catalunya and
Castilla), Sweden, Switzerland, USA, Ukraine,
United Arab Emirates, Vatican City.
Quick Links
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& my workshops &
presentations
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created & managed by a human.
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Guidebook
contact me or see my schedule
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Tech
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responsibility programs
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to volunteer
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To know when I have developed a new
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Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by
the poster/distributor of the materials on this web site.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied
warranty or liability.
See my web site's privacy
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The art work and material on
this site was created and is copyrighted 1996-2026
by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to
another web site).