What’s the latest story you’ve heard about AIDS or disability this week? Maybe about a homosexual who has been having trouble lately in accessing treatment in Uganda, or a blind woman who needed assistance to reach a decent toilet facility in her community in India? These examples from different parts of the world come up all the time.Aid agencies highlight their plight in hopes of alerting donors, or as part of their advocacy campaigns. And they may be true, only that the story that came out may not necessarily explain what the potential beneficiaries need.
That’s what worries Tony Quinlan, founder of Narrate Consulting, a U.K.-based firm that helps collect stories for NGOs, companies and sometimes even governments to better inform their interventions and policies as well as improve their services, about the way aid agencies tell their story. Read more.