COMMENT
THE POWER OF COMMUNICATION
I
t’s very easy for people to think that Africa is stuck in the past, says Steven Shalita, the World Bank’s Africa Communication and Partnerships Manager (on page 19). But he and his team are determined to transform this thinking: “…our aim is to help change the narrative of the continent through contemporary and empowering images, videos and photography,” he says. We interviewed Steven as part of our special feature on development communications, and he helps explains the ever-growing importance of such, especially in today’s age of information overload and fake news. Talking of contemporary and empowering images, this photograph was made by the inspirational Giles Clarke, a Getty photojournalist who attended a recent workshop held jointly by the OPEC Fund and DevCom (the OECD Development Communication Network) on how best to communicate development results. The image was taken just outside the town of Dori in northern Burkina Faso in May 2019. It makes a change from the ‘Live-Aid’ type imagery that many people still associate with the African continent. Clarke spoke about the need for responsible storytelling, and working in the best interests of the people
we are trying to help. Read more on pages 14 to 17.
See also some of our own development
reporting, from recent missions to Suriname and Viet Nam (to name just two countries featured over the following pages), to news of the OPEC Fund’s participation in the 2019 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. On the cover of this magazine is another dramatic image: this time of the World Bank’s Main Complex building in Washington, DC. Pages 28 to 33 feature a photo-based article showing some of the important development partners we met and worked with during the week-long event in the US. In line with the above, we’re working
hard to ensure that our beneficiaries retain their dignity when we feature them in this magazine and on our website. We believe it’s important to show progress and attempt to create hope, so people recognize that development work really can (and does) result in better lives for many people. This latter point is the main purpose of the OPEC Fund. All those who work here aim to maximize the impact of our development impact in underserved communities, countries and regions all across the world.
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