What is the Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication?

The Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication (HuCom) is a non-profit organization committed to better communication on international development. We consider representation and discourse as integral to the production of the Global South and see the communication on (the needs of) developing nations and peoples by government, industry, NGOs and the media in the Global North as part of the problem of (the failure of) international development and worldwide issues of poverty, inequality and injustice. In other words, we do not consider humanitarian communication as a means to an end, but as part and parcel of the end itself.

We aim to contribute to an environment in which all players in international development can and will dare to learn more from each other, so that we can work more effectively and ethically towards a world without poverty, inequality and injustice that we all aspire to. On this website you can read how we try to make a contribution. Most visibly, we organize awareness events, notably the Humanitarian Communication Awards and the Humanitarian Communication Thesis Prize, and provide international development organizations with advice on how to do their humanitarian communication (strategies) better. In addition, we organize, host and/or participate in various workshops and other events throughout the year.