Shaping the future: Our strategy for research and innovation in humanitarian response.
Linguistic barriers are a longstanding problem in humanitarian operations. A 2011 report from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Disaster Relief 2.0, cited lack of translation support as a “perennial hidden issue…delaying critical communications and disenfranchising affected populations.”
In addition to ensuring that vital information is both accessible and comprehensible, linguistically appropriate communications can reassure affected communities, increase trust in aid workers, and effectively promote behavior change. However, the majority of international aid nonprofits are equipped only in major world languages that often do not match those of the affected population. Similarly, official government languages may be spoken or understood by only a minority of a country’s citizens.
The only service of its kind, Words of Relief (WoR) bridges existing language gaps to:
WoR was first deployed in 2014 in Kenya and later during the Ebola crisis where WoR translators produced more than 100 posters, social mobilization messages, Ebola videos, and maps translated into 30 languages.
Words of Relief package was created for potential partners and funders. Fully defining the Words of Relief tools for organizations who are looking for better language solutions during crisis, and we will package it professionally.
In 2016 TWB were awarded our ‘Journey to Scale’ grant in 2016. Their pathway to scale involves developing the platform to meet emergent needs (such as on-the-ground interpretation and voice capabilities), developing new and more effective outlets for disseminating vital information directly to affected populations, promoting increased use of the platform across a broader spectrum of humanitarian NGOs, and implementing a new business model to ensure the long-term sustainability of its services.
All our Journey to Scale projects have been keeping video diaries of their progress. Watch them to see how the different projects have grown.
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