2024-09-19
Symptom 2: Challenging Narratives
One key challenge discussed was how to promote positive narratives around the work of civil society organisations. Narratives hold significant power. Forus and its members have embarked on an innovative journey to create alternative narratives, much of which is being driven by CSOs within the human rights community. This effort is aimed at better articulating the critical role of civil society and highlighting the public value of their contributions. Like others engaged in this narrative-building, Forus and its members believe that these efforts will help generate greater public trust, deepen engagement with civil society, and ultimately strengthen civic space while improving the operational environment for CSOs.
However, it has been noted that CSOs often struggle to communicate their messages in a way that resonates with general audiences, leading to a disconnect between their mission and how their work is perceived. Over time, the international development sector has also developed its own jargon—often laden with neo-colonial, sexist, and racist terms—which shapes how people interpret the sector’s efforts and relationships. This language perpetuates power imbalances and can be alienating to those it seeks to serve. At the same time, civil society is facing mounting pressure and being targeted by misinformation and negative narratives that seek to delegitimize their work.
Who tells the narrative is equally important. Voices, especially those rooted in the communities and causes CSOs engage with, are more likely to resonate with the public and challenge negative stereotypes or misinformation. Supporting diverse, local, and underrepresented voices to share their experiences and perspectives not only strengthens the authenticity of the narrative but also helps challenge power imbalances that have long shaped the discourse. In this way, narrative-building is not just about what is said but also about who is saying it, ensuring that civil society's message is inclusive, representative, and impactful.
At the same time, civil society is facing increasing pressures and being targeted by misinformation and negative narratives that seek to delegitimise their work, erode public trust, and weaken their influence. A landscape that is being transformed by emerging technologies such as AI. These harmful narratives and practices in an increasing polarised world, not only undermine the credibility of CSOs but also contribute to a hostile environment that hurts their ability to advocate for social justice, human rights, and sustainable development. As a result, countering these false narratives has become a critical aspect of safeguarding the integrity and effectiveness of civil society’s mission.
Causes – The difficulties of “breaking through the noise” while also defending civil society from negative narratives, misinformation in an increasingly connected – yet polarised – landscape. More specifically:
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The use of complex and inaccessible language that fails to break down ideas for a general audience.
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Overwhelming amounts of information make it difficult for CSOs to reach their target audience effectively.
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Messages that are not relatable or too technical, reducing the impact of CSO initiatives.
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Negative narratives. Misinformation and harmful narratives actively undermine the credibility of CSOs, erode public trust, and create a hostile environment that hurt their ability to achieve their goals.
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Lack of coordination and disjointed efforts among CSOs in narrative-building weaken the overall message. Without a strategy or common spaces of discussion and strategizing, individual voices struggle to break through the noise, and the collective impact of civil society is diluted.
Potential Cures
Long-Term
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Invest in capacity strengthening for communications providing training for staff and local partners or members in storytelling, communication strategy, and digital presence.
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Form alliances with media and communication experts by building partnerships with media outlets, journalists, and communication professionals to co-create content. This will help amplify your messages. Co-create a media list with Forus members.
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Ask your network how effective your narratives are by establish a feedback loop or channel to regularly assess how your narratives are being received. Adapt your messaging based on trends, feedback from your network, and changes in audience perception over time.
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Create a narrative building strategy with the key values and mission of your platform and how you are planning on building, improving and maintaining your narrative. Focus on goals important for civil society organisations, like strengthening public trust, countering misinformation, reinforcing advocacy, expanding civic space, creating awareness. Make sure this strategy evolves with emerging trends and technologies, such as AI.
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Build an inclusive and diverse narrative network Work to elevate underrepresented voices within your network and community. Support these individuals to participate in telling their own story, ensuring that the narrative reflects diverse perspectives and experiences
Medium-Term
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Create or strengthen an internal team dedicated to communications. This team should focus on refining your narrative strategy, producing content, and coordinating outreach efforts.
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Design narrative-building collective campaigns around specific themes or issues relevant to your audience - for instance on the SDGs, on civic space, human rights or more. Present your campaign at our next CommsForUs!
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Diversify content formats. Expand beyond traditional reports or social media posts by creating podcasts, blog posts, videos, and other multimedia content. This will engage new audiences including young people. Translating your content in local languages or taking into consideration people affected by disabilities might also help making your content more accessible.
Short-Term
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Review and revise current materials to eliminate jargon and make messages more accessible. Focus on clarity and relatability.
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Experiment with storytelling formats like short posts, reels, or live Q&As. Check out our DIY Forus Podcast Guide to start your first podcast series with little resources!
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Begin gathering stories. Mobilise your members and encourage them to share their activities and the impact they have.
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The more the merrier. Partner with local influencers, advocates, or community leaders who can amplify your message to a broader audience. Share your stories with the Forus network (all articles are translated into English, French, Spanish and Portuguese and shared on social media).
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Participate to A Space for Us multimedia hub by Forus. Organise a collective or bilateral interview with Forus for a podcast episode or for an article to showcase your work and the work of your members.
Healthy experiences from the Forus network and beyond:
