IRIN Evaluation Report - March 2003
by Graham Mytton & Sharon Rusu

IRIN's French Service

98. IRIN's Readership Survey found that 'French readers noted that the francophone output was often late and less comprehensive then the English version'. Timeliness has improved with the launch of the French website, but the French service still reflects the lack of monies available for both translation and firsthand reporting in French. Until 2001, IRIN translated all the IRIN-Central East Africa and IRIN-West Africa services into French ( 41% of its output for Africa), but due to funding constraints this service was reduced in late 2001 and again in 2002 to just 14% of the Africa English service. Due to lack of funding and an substantive feedback from donors approached thus far, IRIN will likely be forced to discontinue the service altogether by the end of 2003. ²⁹
99. When a web-based French subscription service was launched in 2001 and the complementary French Web Site in 2002; both made IRIN articles more available to those outside of the humanitarian community. As of September 2001 subscribers had grown by 36% and as of December 2002 by 33% even and despite a dramatic drop in output since 2000. Were the coverage to improve substantively, IRIN management estimates that this number stands to grow exponentially.

    The absence of IRIN - A short summary of findings from Kosovo

100. Though IRIN has no physical presence in the Balkans, the advantage of adding Kosovo to the list of interview venues was to collect stakeholder perceptions of the humanitarian information needs and response in an area a) that has no real IRIN presence; b) is in Europe, where IRIN has not before had an office with reporting capacity c) where humanitarian issues continue to exist, as does the potential for renewed conflict.
101. As noted in the analysis of interviews with the humanitarian community and the media, there are strong views on where IRIN should be present. In fact, the findings of the evaluation are that the majority of respondents support the expansion of IRIN services world-wide. Although not explicitly asked in the Readership Survey, it was clear that most subscribers would like to see IRIN-type coverage expanded. By contrast, the need for quite extensive coverage, worldwide as some have stated, was not clearly a finding until this evaluation. The interviews with the humanitarian community in Kosovo support this finding. Of those interviewed in Kosovo, a number knew IRIN from other duty stations, or human rights monitoring. The following are summaries of the interviews:
     • Outside of UN public information and some public domain reports by OSCE and UNDP's 'Early Warning Report' there is no breaking news or capacity to identify key stakeholders and follow humanitarian issues on a focused and consistent basis. According to the majority of those interviewed, there is a demonstrated need for impartial, objective humanitarian news reporting.

     'There is an urgent need in Kosovo to have information that rectifies uninformed, erroneous or biased views. In the absence of reporting of issues and events that is reliable, rumour prevails and creates mistrust with both locals and returnees'.
     Spokesperson, Office for Return and Communities, UNMIK

     • Although ICG, for example, publishes in-depth analysis on the region, what is lacking is reporting on public opinion, local news on reform in the municipalities, and initiatives that support the linking of peace and security with the rule of law. (Robert Piper, UNDP Resident Representative, Kosovo)
     • Within the UN and OSCE structure, each shares reports with the other. However, there is no information exchange network in place, nor is there a culture of networking on information apart from official reports. (Greg Lindon, Senior Human Rights Officer, UNHCHR, Kosovo).
     • What is needed is reporting that identifies key stakeholders at the local, national and international levels in the interests of creating a common medium for reporting on humanitarian issues and human rights issues, not least those associated with reconstruction and return. (Arjeta Emra, Director, British Council, Kosovo)
     • In Kosovo, at the local level, no structured way exists to find information. This is made more complicated by the fact that the system is highly decentralized, and at the municipal level there is no culture of information-sharing. Reports in the public domain issuing from OSCE or the UN are known to have gone through a number of filters, making the published report questionable as to its substance, origins and purpose. (Ylber Hysa, Director, Kosovo Action for Civil Initiatives)
     • According to a number of interviewees, there exists no reliable chronology of Kosovo post-NATO bombing. Humanitarian history and current events in Kosovo are subject to continual revision by both the international community responsible for peace and security, and the nationals bent on staking their own claims for future independence. Thus, there is a need for impartial, objective reporting. (Golam Mahmud, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, OCHA, Kosovo)
     • Gaps in humanitarian reporting are apparent now that OCHA is leaving and UNHCR is decreasing its staff. Outside of UN public information and some public domain reports by OSCE and UNDP, there is no agency that is in place to take on this role. The Office of Returns and Communities(OCR) cannot pick up the pieces alone. Unfortunately, according to a number of views, UNMIK never took on this task in the first place, nor is it geared up to take it over now. (Peter Sorenson, Director of EU Office, Kosovo)
     • The dilemma for UNHCR is that though it has the most effective system of information-gathering and analysis from the field it has to strike a difficult balance between handover and maintaining the integrity of HCR. One of the challenges is to continue information flows by establishing various ways of sharing information, with significant input from UNMIK, on IDPs and returnees. In this regard, UNHCR would welcome an objective, third voice, like IRIN, to partner in this complicated environment, so long as territorial boundaries were respected. (Spokesperson, UNHCR, Kosovo)

[Ends]

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