Tragedy in Turkey and Syria: Appeals need to follow ethical guidelines

Fadlullah Wilmot

There are a lot of ongoing appeals for support for the people of Turkey and Syria and as donors we have a right and a duty to ensure the organisation we are donating to is doing so in an ethical manner.

When a disaster strikes, the generosity of individuals is triggered by a concern for humanity. However, some disasters tend to receive more funds than others, and the role of the images and messaging used to depict such situations can be significant.

The intuitive view is that images and messages that portray the difficult plight of disaster-affected populations in as much vivid reality as possible will have the most significant impact, generating feelings of sympathy, pity and guilt, prompting charitable donations.

Often the more graphic and heart-rending the images, the greater the emotion, and thus willingness to donate. But how graphic is too graphic?

An individual who has lost autonomy, the essentials of life and some of the basic requirements of dignity (having a place to wash, dress, go to the toilet, deal with menstruation) will not want their situation broadcast far and wide.

Being unable to provide for oneself and one’s family, being forced to become dependent on the charitable assistance and altruism of another, for whatever reason, can erode the dignity and autonomy of individuals, families, communities and even sometimes States.

Being brought low in life is challenging enough without the situation being broadcast far and wide with all of its difficulties communicated, and often exaggerated, merely to get some money.

Yet money is needed in order to deliver humanitarian assistance and this money primarily comes in the form of charitable donations from individuals who are moved by images and messaging depicting great need, or from donor governments who hope to attract public support for their provision of overseas aid.

For donors, such public support is more easily attracted at times of great disaster than it is for ongoing development assistance. For their part, humanitarian organisations need to elicit an emotional and immediate response in order to maximise donations, recognising that giving tends to be highest in the immediate aftermath of a disaster.

The Australian Council of International Development (ACFID) and the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisation (Dóchas) have adopted a Code of Conduct on Images and Messages. Disappointingly there are still many organisations including Muslim organisations who have yet to prioritise this aspect of fundraising.

• The appeal should accurately identify the organisation and clearly and accurately explain what donations will be used for.

• Information should include a portrayal of intended recipients, their situations, and potential solutions. Examples of how donations are being used may include provision of food, shelter, clean water, blankets, mosquito nets, sanitation and child protection or an explanation of a specific program.

• If the organisation mentions administration/donation ratios, they need to clearly state how they were determined including defining key terms such administration or fundraising etc. This allows donors to understand and compare how different agencies are operating. There is no such thing as zero admin.

• Good practice: Organisation Y informs its donors on its emergency appeals web- page that there are administrative expenses for receiving and receipting donations for its international appeal. Final costs can only be estimated after the appeal has concluded. However, in previous emergency appeals, Organisation Y contained administrative costs to X% of total funds expensed. This is explained further in our annual report, available here

Messages, photos, videos, or commentaries when broadcasting live appeals should NOT portray women and men, boys, and girls as hopeless objects of pity:

1. The images and appeals should

• put a human face or a personal story on the impact of a disaster,

• present a message of potential change

• appeal on the basis of justice and common humanity rather than guilt

• emphasise the positives rather than the negatives.

• portray a balanced picture of the needs and accomplishments of local communities.

• Accurately represent the context, situation, proposed solutions

• Avoid omissions, exaggerations, mis- leading visual portrayal and overstating the need or what a donor’s response may achieve

2. Images and messages used for fundraising should NOT:

• Be untruthful, exaggerated, or misleading

• Be used if they endanger the people they are portraying

• Be used only with the free, prior, and informed consent of the person/s portrayed, including children, their parents, or guardians

• Present people in a dehumanised manner

• Infringe child protection policies and in particular show children in a naked and/or sexualised manner

• Feature dead bodies or dying people

Fadlullah Wilmot formerly served at universities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia but after the tsunami in Aceh became involved in the humanitarian and development sector. He has worked in Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Solomon Islands, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.