Good written communication matters in international development. To capture people’s interest, engage them in your messaging and achieve your objective, your communication should be meaningful, truthful, well organised, concise, readable and carefully worded. This blog, the second of two, considers the importance of evidence and factual accuracy, making your communications inclusive, anti-oppressive and empowering, and being logical, clear and readable in what you write.
Be factually accurate and evidence based
Whatever you write (or edit) on international development should be factually accurate. Know and check your facts thoroughly. If you work with data other people have provided, check via authoritative, reliable sources (such as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or other official statistics) that you can be confident in their accuracy. In a project proposal, and particularly in a situational analysis or context section, include the latest socioeconomic, political and other relevant data to evidence the problem you are describing and support your proposed solution.
Where you describe project achievements and impact in a report, refer to the monitoring data collected throughout the project. This can include the number of activities conducted, people reached, communities affected, and so on. Your data should be disaggregated by gender, age, geographical region and any other important characteristics. It is often a good idea to visualise this data, e.g. to present it in the form of infographics, for better understanding.
If an external evaluator has carried out a mid-term or final project evaluation, you should also refer to the evaluation data to provide observations and recommendations around project performance.
Other evidence can include project financial statements, results frameworks, training agendas, participant lists, photographs and videos, as well as case studies, success stories and quotations from participants. In project reporting, such evidence is often referred to as the ‘means of verification’. Much of this evidence can be included as detailed annexes at the end of a report, and referred to more briefly in the body of the report.
Ensure you can back up any general statements you make with firm evidence from one or more trustworthy sources. Be alert to any questionable or inconsistent statements, exaggerations or unsubstantiated claims in your communication. Don’t draw unjustified or personal conclusions. Remain neutral, impersonal and objective.
It can help to illustrate and humanise your narrative and bring it to life if you place quotations in the text where relevant, perhaps highlighting them in a box. If you include photos, which can also add an important dimension, provide each one with a caption and credit the photographer.
Remember about informed consent (see Communicating Effectively: Reaching and Engaging Your Audience) when using quotes and photos. Obtain written permission to use identifiable personal data, or change or remove it if you can’t get permission.
Avoid repeating clichés (common phrases or views that may not be accurate). Also avoid plagiarism, which involves deliberately or unconsciously presenting other people’s ideas or exact language as if they were your own. Good practice means acknowledging, within reason, the sources of your ideas and, most important, using quotation marks for (and providing the source of) any language you quote verbatim.
Good written communications are often collaborative. Ensure you engage relevant colleagues as early as possible to provide timely input. Share a draft with them and incorporate their feedback before you finalise.
Make your communications inclusive, anti-oppressive and empowering
Social inclusion and exclusion are now universally recognised as critical issues in international development. When writing, take into account the human rights of the different social, economic, gender, age, ability/disability and other groups who may be affected by the situation or activities you describe. Minority rights are a key component of human rights.
Power is another key aspect of international development (see discussions around the #ShiftThePower movement and the book Whose Reality Counts? among many examples of debates about power). Good international development communications are sensitive to power issues. Above all, avoid reproducing or appearing to agree with oppressive power dynamics between different people or groups (including between women and men) and be conscious of intersectionality.
Use positive, inclusive, non-discriminatory and non-stereotyping language about people and groups. Show respect for difference, diversity, and a broad spectrum of opinions and voices. Value and validate the perspectives of the people and communities you communicate about. Use the non-hierarchical language of equal partnerships rather than top-down concepts of donors and beneficiaries, which imply a one-way relationship of giving and receiving rather than working together for the benefit of both.
The local reality is what matters most. Focus on the human rights, views, roles, objectives and self-determination of people, communities and their representative organisations in their own context. This is where power dynamics meet decolonisation, localisation and locally led development.
As writers or editors we may need to revisit our perspectives and assumptions from time to time to ensure we are working to rebalance and repair injustice, inequity and inequality, and not to reinforce them.
Review your communications and ask yourself, Do my messaging and language help empower the subjects of development?
Be logical, well organised, clear and readable
Every communication needs a clear and logical structure. If you’re working on a report, develop an outline first and compile the information to be included, preferably section by section, before you start to write. This will help you develop a clear structure and avoid omitting important information.
Longer communications such as reports will usually need a series of sections (with or without subsections), well signposted with headings and subheadings. Include a contents list to help readers navigate between sections. Also include, where needed, footnotes or endnotes, a list of abbreviations and/or acronyms, and a list of figures and/or tables for ease of reference.
A good structure for a project or donor report is likely to include such main sections as (1) project background/context (the original problem and how the project has aimed to address it; this should match the project proposal used to gain funds for implementation); (2) achievements/results (what the project achieved through its activities and how; include relevant evidence here; this will probably be your longest and most important section); (3) cross-cutting issues (e.g. gender-sensitive approaches, social inclusion, child protection and safeguarding – although gender equality or child protection could need a separate section of the report if the main project focus was on such issues); (4) sustainability (how the results will be sustained beyond the project’s lifetime; e.g. if you were supporting a community centre, how will it continue to operate – with government funding or will it be self-sufficient?); (5) annexes (as described above, include all supporting evidence referred to throughout the report).
It is good practice to include an executive summary of around 1 to 1.5 pages to cover the key points, main arguments, conclusions and important recommendations. Not all your intended audience may have time or want to read the full report.
Keep paragraphs and sentences generally short and digestible, but vary the rhythm to avoid monotony. Shorter paragraphs are especially suitable for online/onscreen reading.
Use plain rather than complicated language. Some of your readers may not be native English speakers (assuming you are writing/editing in English), so avoid idiosyncratic expressions that not every reader may understand.
Explain specialist terms and avoid technical jargon. If you must use technical or specialist terms, acronyms or abbreviations, briefly explain them the first time you use each one. Keep your audience in mind when you use such terms (see Communicating Effectively: Reaching and Engaging Your Audience).
Use active rather than passive language to make your narrative more dynamic wherever possible and keep readers interested. Passive expressions such as ‘it was decided that …’, ‘it is said that…’ and ‘action was taken …’ are almost always less informative and less interesting than when you say who has decided, who said, who took action, etc. Passive language is often more clumsy too and not good at delivering strong messages. Be as precise and concrete as possible about the people, groups or organisations and the actions you describe.
Use words accurately and consistently, and avoid repetition unless it is intentional. For example, you may touch on sustainability when describing project results; however, instead of going into detail, refer readers to the report’s section on sustainability, where they can learn more. Consistent language helps readers grasp your meaning, reinforces your message, and avoids or reduces reader uncertainty or confusion.
Follow an up-to-date style guide such as the New Oxford Style Manual (for UK English) or the Chicago Manual of Style (for US English). Also follow the style guide or editorial manual of the organisation you are writing or editing for if it has one, as many international development organisations do. If unsure, ask your communications colleagues, before you start writing.
As far as possible, ensure your content has a logical and consistent visual appearance in terms of fonts and sizes of headings, subheadings, main text and tables, quotations, footnotes, and so on. Even if a professional designer will be involved in laying out the text later, designers can benefit if you clarify which are the main headings and the subheadings, how tables should be laid out, and any other special features of the text.
When necessary, obtain professional editing and proofreading services. Read through your written communication before you submit or publish it.
The first blog in this two-blog series, Communicating Effectively: Reaching and Engaging your Audience, covered the importance of identifying and targeting your audience, being clear about your objective, and engaging readers by focusing on human interest and people’s experience.
Interested readers can access a list of resources here. The two blogs are based on the webinar ‘Writing and Editing for International Development’, recording available here.
Contributor: Miles Litvinoff, Senior Writer & Editor, Consult KM International
consultkm.org 