This post looks at the importance of transparency in the non-profit sector, and how corporate storytelling can encourage greater transparency.
Transparency in the non-profit sector is as important as ever. A dangerous combination of intense funding constraints and misinformation or ‘fake news’, means that the sector must not only remain accountable, but that it must seen to be so. Or to put it another way: if an organisation wants to be accountable, it must first be transparent.
In 2009, I was privileged to be part of the wider team that began the reconstruction of Nahr el-Bared Palestine refugee camp (NBC) in northern Lebanon. Before arriving, I had never seen – and nor do I ever want to see again – such unnecessary, wanton destruction.
Deadly assault by Lebanese armed forces
Between May and September 2007, Lebanese armed forces assaulted the camp in response to, amongst other crimes, a series of attacks on its soldiers posted nearby. These murders had been committed by the radical militant group Fatah Al-Islam, which had been using NBC as a base for its operations. The camp, which had come into existence following the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, and had since become home to at least 30,000 Palestinians, consisted of buildings – homes, schools, community centres and the like – largely made of concrete.
Close combat in the streets of NBC
This counter-response by the Lebanese military was arguably far more brutal than any crime committed by Fatah Al-Islam. Lebanese soldiers and militants fought in close combat in the narrow streets and walkways of NBC, something for which the militants, many of whom were believed to have fought in Iraq, were much better prepared than their opponents. Frustrated by their slow progress, the Lebanese military deployed heavy artillery, and dropped explosives from helicopters onto the buildings below.
Entire camp destroyed by Lebanese armed forces
Virtually the entire camp was destroyed and it still astonishes me that ‘only’ 41 residents of the camp were killed. Most of those deaths took place on the first day of the assault, before the Lebanese authorities had realised that it would be in everyone’s best interests for all non-combatants to be evacuated. Most escaped to nearby Beddawi camp, which now attempted to absorb this sudden influx of people.
Unexploded ordnance made reconstruction highly dangerous
The welfare of Palestinian refugees falls within the remit of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which had been running the camp since its inception. Now it needed to be rebuilt. But it was also just as clear that such a task went well beyond UNRWA’s everyday mandate, not least as reconstructing the camp in such perilous circumstances – the ruins were unsafe, with unexploded ordnance littered everywhere – would take years.
I myself began my work with UNRWA in January 2009, some 16 months after the cessation of hostilities. There were four of us in the small comms team: two young Palestinians, one each from NBC and Beddawi, and two expatriates, an American colleague and myself. Part of the tragedy for those who called NBC home was that it would not and could not reappear overnight. These people found themselves caught up in a web of geopolitical and historical forces, most of which were far beyond their control. For instance, the Lebanese government was at first none too keen for the camp to be rebuilt. Its historical enmity towards Palestinians in general was now compounded by concerns that NBC might attract the same undesirable elements as before.
Rebuilding the camp would take time
Reconstruction was therefore slow. This meant that much of our focus as the comms team was to communicate with NBC’s (former) residents that rebuilding was in fact taking place. Quite unsurprisingly, they needed reassurance that they would not be left in limbo for the rest of their days. Rumours abounded that UNRWA had simply given up, but this was categorically not the case. Reconstruction could not have begun immediately, quite simply because what remained of the buildings needed first to be made safe and all unexploded ordnance cleared. This was no easy – or speedy – task.
Rumours abounded that UNRWA had simply given up, but this was categorically not the case.
That’s why we devised a newsletter updating residents with progress, and why we held ‘Town Hall’ meetings with camp residents and senior UNRWA staff. The message needed to be shouted loud and clear: UNRWA could be entrusted with the rebuilding of their homes, but it would take time.
Donor governments needed to see the devastation for themselves
But rebuilding did not come without a financial as well as human cost. UNRWA needed money, far more than its ordinary budget, and it needed it fast. Existing donor countries were the obvious places to look and on a fairly regular basis an array of country ambassadors to Lebanon were shown around the remains of the camp. They saw – and needed to see – the devastation for themselves; “needed” because only a visit in person could truly convey the shocking extent of what had taken place.
Only a visit in person could truly convey the shocking extent of what had taken place.
Open about the scale of the challenge
My role was to tell the story of all that had happened before these ambassadors visited the camp. This ‘backstory’ contained all the necessary details from the day the assault began right up to the latest news on reconstruction. The story is told concisely but frankly. We did not hide the scale of the challenge we were facing. Yes, we needed money, but we also needed any donor to know that rebuilding would take at least several years to complete. The message to donors was the same as it was to the camp’s residents: this will take time, but you can trust UNWRA to do what we say we will do.
The message to donors was the same as it was to the camp’s residents: this will take time, but you can trust UNWRA to do what we say we will do.
And that is the point about transparency. It is a given that every organisation must be open about the activities it undertakes. But as a sector we have to go beyond superficial transparency, and aspire to be as open as possible about the scale of some of the challenges facing us. This must be the case even when faced with enormous pressure from both donors and beneficiaries alike. The real story may sometimes hurt those who need to hear it, but hear it they must. Authentic storytelling cannot lie.
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