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The challenges included access to a still-risky location, internet and communications technology issues, and the need to communicate in a human-centered way while also respecting the "do no harm" principle (protecting the identity of survivors, for example). I think Eliane handled the situation admirably -- her video of the girls singing is so simple and powerful -- and I don't see much that I would have done differently. Perhaps organize a site visit for selected media, subject to security, or place more interviews in leading global media. But that's all.

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I think Eliane handled the situation incredibly well, using the resources and information she had to achieve the greatest impact.
Challenges included:
- Lack of access to the location
- Ongoing instability and uncertainty, and extremely high risk for anyone travelling to the location
- Unreliable communications technology

I think Eliane's efforts were very comprehensive, engaging a wide range of audiences across different platforms. The only thing I would do differently is to reach out to media to offer to do media interviews, in addition to the field diary/Op-Ed she did for CNN. This could have resulted in UNICEF presence across many more international and national media outlets.

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Challenges- lack of information, dangerous locations, left alone, not reliable technology (internet, mobile phones), time zone difference to HQ

Well done the twist of personal moving information and maintaining the institutional focus.

I am impressed by how she and her team handled this situation and the support she managed to receive being like a "first responder" to this highly dangerous situation.

I miss in her story the close relation to other UN entities in the country to join forces as reporting. There should be a joint crisis comms unit to work with. Also I miss the close media engagment from beginning on. She says that she fulfilled the role of a journalist providing and disseminating information. More impact can be done by professional journalists. So the reachout to the media should be strengthened.

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The challenges were lack of information, limitation in access and movement which makes verifiable information difficult and it was difficult to identify patterns, it was also a problem to speak out too fast before understanding the dynamics and this could backfire in terms of ethnic and political polarization.
In this case, I would try to tackle the challenges by speaking to more experts on the country and this specific region to ensure that the social media or writing I am doing doesn't have any sensitivity.

I think she acted well, in my opinion, by starting a global conversation and including different humanitarian actors. I also think the blog she pitched to CNN was very well.

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I think one main challenge is the lack of  data which I believe Eliane's navigated very smartly by focusing on the storytelling element keeping the core mandate of UNICEF centered. I think she took a brave course of action and at the same time kept the work ethics and values and that is what working under emergency requires.

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I am inspired by the course of action described in the video.

The main challenge is to share the information in a neutral
way to avoid any tension with the national counterparts (in a highly polarized
context).

These sorts of stories also highlight the importance of
having a crisis communication group that maps out the possible threats/crisis
UN needs to prepare.

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I was really impressed by Eliane's course of action. It seems to me that she has communicated proactivelly, told human stories and recognized an opportunity in this crisis to do thinks that could not have been done before. As a result, an account of this horrific violence against children was reporter by CNN to the worldwide audiences.

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I was especially inspired by the idea to do a joint media brieifng in NY/Geneva - far from the crisis location but where these news are much more easily spotted by global news. Smart move. More coordination with other agencies could indeed be beneficial.

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While she was quick in responding to a pressing situation in the field with limited resources, I think there should be a sort of standardized way to respond to these issues. Not the first time it happens, and unfortunately not the last. I would guess if there isn't, there should be SOP to coordinate in real time. Moreover, as this is perhaps unclear to me, there should be a set of goals in the stories to put out there so to highlight what happened and the core violations to IHRL and IHL. What is the ultimate goal of this? Also, she mentions CNN which if course is a huge media outlet. But other ones might be neglected.

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It's always easy to have a better answer or tactic post facto. I believe she acted bravely and with expertise when facing such a huge challenge. I guess partnering and allying with other UN agencies could have brought some extra benefits in order to broaden the "emission" aspect as well as rely on other similar professionals as herself.

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She was very creative and effective in getting out a story that needed to be told factually and impactfully in a timely manner.

Beyond the initial messaging on Twitter and the blog + the media pick up, I would have suggested a more coordinated strategic advocacy push with other UN agencies in-country.

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I think Eliane's response was extremely effective despite the fact that the situation was very urgent and politically complex. Her crisis communications has positioned UNICEF as a leading voice on this issue especially pertaining to children victims. I am interested in learning how UNICEF has collaborated with other UN agencies to convey the UN's coherent and also comprehensive messages leaving no one behind, given this crisis has also affected other vulnerable populations such as women, displaced people and disabled people.

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The communication plan was very good. It acted quickly, UNICEF was a reliable and neutral source of information and the focus of the communication was on the people. The only thing I would have done differently is to coordinate with other agencies of the UN System and try to speak with one voice so that the message was stronger, at least the first message. I know it was done later but maybe it should have been coordinated earlier with the other agencies.

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Florencia S. Murphy - UNIC BA (Argentina)

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Florencia S. Murphy - UNIC BA (Argentina)

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I think that Eliane's story is a great portrayal of the expertise needed to react with courage and a clear head on a crisis situation. I think that the immediate and respectful coverage of the story, relying on testimonies and photos from those most affected, is the key factor to showcase the human consequences of the violence. The inter-agency work and the partnership with media are also vital elements, as well as the use of social media to amplify the message in a very polarized lanscape.

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Quick, accurate ,consistent humane and respectful information was gathered and channeled to the media in a very limited and challenging time for positive results. It seems like taking immidiate action made the big difference. I also have to say that involving a professional photographer and a videographer, as well as collecting the two girls story which appeared suddenly added  a lot for the tragedy be more visible and attracted public attention.

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Kudos to the wonderful reporting by Eliane. Challenges I could think of include security challenges, finding the informants on the spot in only 60 minutes, finding a storytelling angle that is both touching while ethical, and the internal communication between different level of offices in such a short period of time to get clearance, align on messages, etc.

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The situation is clearly very challenging but the reaction was timely and well thought. I would say the challenges are mainly to secure quick clearances, reach the impacted area, deciding internally on the best course of action while dealing with security issues and polarized media. I would still put UNICEF Mali official accounts in the picture and not entirely depend on the chief accounts because as an agency fighting violence against children, I need to bold and factual.

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I think security and how you keep in touch with HQ is important, but also the opportunity to have first hand information is key, as that will give a realistic version of what is happening.
The relationship that you have with the government and other actors, at some point the media will seek official information and it should be the government who gives it.

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Kudos to Eliane Luthi for the quick action and brave coverage of the attack in Mali. The main challenges I see were security wise and political. Being able to report on such a delicate situation without falling in the political blame game of the different actors is very hard.

The only thing that I would have done different was perhaps to work in a more coordinated manner with other UN agencies. Unfortunately this comes with so many layers of red tape slowing down quick action on the ground. However, it would have provided a united voice and demanded for more accountability on the government's side.

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Many congratulations to Eliane Luthi for beautiful reporting on a horrific situation. She did well to provide the story to a news agency where it would get a greater number of views. The personal accounts on children affected are - specific and heartfelt and therefore memorable.
Elaine was very brave to choose to visit the village that was attached. Well done choosing the fastest means to get the story out - on her personal twitter feed (interesting tactic to appear most sincere, if this can be approved and coordinated with the agency).
Well done to gather more information by visiting the IDP site and the hospital.
Additional possible tactics could include to welcome an international journalist to the site; additional first person accounts.

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I would not do anything differently.
Considering the challenges with security, difficult access to the site, language barrier and UN internal clearances, she decided correctly to put it from her own twitter account and do it on country level without waiting for clearances.

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The main challenges I see here are around security and the fact that the subjects of the stories were minors. Getting consent, ensuring that the comms is survivor sensitive and not increasing the risk for the affected communities as well as those trying to help them, including the humanitarian workers in the field.

I wouldn't necessarily do anything differently, but I am wondering about efforts made to reach out to local media on the issue. This wasn't mentioned in Elaine's narrative. The comms response was however comprehensive and gathered enough material to draw attention to the issue at a global scale.

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For me the main challenge is to inform in a neutral way, well funded enough so that the international media will recognize it and talk about the news. But at the same time, being well received by the local media, so they will also take it seriously, giving the importance needed.

I don't know what I would have done differently, I think Elian dealt with it in a very professional and positive way.

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Challenges:
The biggest challenge to the crisis situation is the access, including the access to the location and access to the information. In addition, it probably is challenging to get approval from senior management in terms of the content in the context.

What I would do differently:
From my perspective, what Eliane did is incredibly excellent. What could be done more maybe is to reach out to UN partners and prepare the guidelines and communication materials for them to amplify the message and enhance the influence.

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It is impressive how Eliane managed everything perfectly give the challenging situation and environment she had been in.

Security, gathering accurate information and the image of UN probably worked against her in this case as the biggest challenges.

The only thing I would do differently is localizing the messages on social media to attract the local media's attention.

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Challenges:
+ Persisting Insecurity
+ Weak (polarised) media
+ Weak involvement of Government

What would i do differently:
+ Hear more authentic stories/testimonies from Malian themselves, including from local organisations
+ Push out regularly information to the media
+

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Challenges:

·        Access to location, security, and time limitation

What would I do differently?

·        Get audio testimonial from survivors with video masking their identity.

·        The video that showed faces should have been blurred to protect identity.

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Challenges: security, access to information, access to the field, media that is polarized and / or biased, UN perception, language barrier

What I would do - not differently but in addition to great work Elaine did: include local staff and locals (affected people) and tell stories from their perspective

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I would replicate a lot of what she did.

The security situation on the ground preventing her from twitting directly is a big challenge.

Being the first one to be speaking first can also be a challenge as one might not know what implication the response can have locally, also how can we be sure to have the right picture of the event so early with such a limited access?

Safety and access are the two other main challenges.

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In my opinion, there are several challenges:
1. Security and difficulty to access the attacked site
2. Language barrier while collecting the stories
3. Getting HQ clearance on messaging slow the process of acting quickly

- I would have reached to the Humanitarian actors in the village if any, other humanitarian  organization to collaborate.
- Try to involve media people of the village
- Reach out to other UN agencies trying to have one UN global voice on the incident.

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- The main challenge was getting access to conflict-affected areas for humanitarian agencies and the media, something Eliane resolved well by visiting some sites and sending out personal accounts.

- Besides CNN I would have also pitched the story to UN News, if Elaine didn’t do so.

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Challenges included the security threats limiting access and information flow, slow clearance from HQ, and difficulty getting first hand stories. Excellent creative problem solving and drive to tell the story including via personal social account and with high quality video/photo. Potential for additional stories on wider UN impact/response.

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The challenges include lack of factual information about the crisis to communicate to other stakeholders, difficulty in accessing the location (especially by the media), and security threat.
In addition to the excellent work by Elaine, I would produce a human-interest story focusing on or following the narrative of the victims of crisis as the situation allows. For instance, the story of the mother who lost her child in flames could be turned into one standalone piece (in addition to Twitter thread).

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In addition to the security situation and the difficulty reaching the site, and coming from Lebanon where we have witnessed multiple wars and crises, I would have engaged the media directly and worked more on having more media coverage to get the victims' stories get across. Social media is great and riding on trending hashtags to create a conversation is excellent, but traditional media should be engaged as well to cover the catastrophe and the impact of violence on children, families and the community, especially that the media have more freedom than UN audiovisual material to tell the story and point to the atrocious acts carried out by armed guerrillas.

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Challenges include insecurity, media polarization, lack of accurate info, internal clearance process, etc.

However, I think Eliane had worked perfectly to counter these challenges by focusing on the impact of the incident on children, and what the organization was doing to help. Sometimes we do tend to focus on stats and numbers, which are important, but having a human face behind each and every crisis is always much more impactful. Storytelling was key in this crisis, probably more than anything else.

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1. Gap between the attack and briefing
2. Challenge to get global approval on messages
3. Working under extreme unprecedent scenarios

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Challenges included:
- Limited access to the site due to the security risks
- Challenges in coordination because of the time difference and connectivity issues
- Polarised media in the country

Elian did an amazing job in taking lead of the narrative and bringing human stories to the front. However, going to the site immediately after the attack involved enormous risks and could have resulted in another crisis if the team was hurt or adducted during this mission.

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According to the given scenerio, Eliane has managed the situation brilliantly regardless of these challenges;

1.   Security concerns

2.   Access to the location

3.   Access to the updated and reliable information

4.   Media polarization

In this case, though Eliane has well handled, I would encourage to work with humanitarian agencies in the country for more collaborative approach.

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I was surprised that the beautiful clip of the girls singing got the lowest interaction (perhaps because it was missing the #childrenunderattack hashtag which shows how important good tagging is. But I think that Elaine did everything perfectly. She prioritized witnessing and telling the stories of the impacted, from the field. And she did not neglect traditional media. If anything, I might have tried to get more impact on the wire services, and in other languages, but essentially she did a perfect, courageous job.

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Challenges

Security; access; lack of information; politically sensitive, logistical impediments; protection concerns;

I would have shared the information with our regional office or NGOs or national red cross for amplification and that rapid assessment, for the first 24 hours, until situation calms down. Situations that have peacekeeping or enforcement missions tend to target UN staff so I would be careful approaching almost immediately . She could have been caught up there in case of retaliatory attacks. I think she risked too much reporting from site soon thereafter.

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Security was certainly a challenge, as explained by Eliane. Additionally, the need to strike the right tone and balance at different stages was a challenge, but I believe this was handled expertly.

In terms of what to do differently, I may have looked to amplification possibilities for Eliane's live tweeting - if there were prominent voices that could have helped spread the information to a broader audience.

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Challenges

Lack of security

Polarised media that fails to provide good, reliable, sourced and unbiased information

Absence of state structures

Lack of governmental decision-making mechanisms at local level

Risk of resurgence of violence in affected ares

What I would do differently

Tell the stories from the perspective of the Malians, hear the voices of the victims.

Give background information to medias and ensure the true stories are told in an accurate way

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The main challenge was the lack of security, which then made everything else a challenge too. I honestly think I wouldn't have been able to do even half of what Ms. Luthi did. Maybe since she was there, more information, more footage and photographs to share with the SG's office and international media, to make sure this incident got global coverage.

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Challenges include

·      Security.

·      Proper information and communication on location due to connection.

·      Limited access to location.

·      Polarized media in the country.

Eliane Luthi did well in mitigating certain factors such as polarized media, by using her personal account and further by publishing the blog post on the events that transpired with as much supporting material and quotes from the field as possible.

In addition to fully scale the potential of the story, provision of raw media files and images to the general local and international media via platforms such as Unifeed would have helped amplify the messaging to a wider public audience and international media.

Human centered stories can be narrated by those directly impacted, a change in how the story is told would further help in neutralizing the messaging to be less UN heavy and more people centered, featuring them and what they experienced at eye level, this can be effected by blurring faces and altering votes if security doesn't allow.

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Challenges: Security concerns
Remote location
Threat of violence
Limited access to accurate information

What would I have done differently:
Remain prepared already for such happenings
Would have requested media to visit the site
Would have used the help of local staff

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Many challenges and risks faced. distrustful media, security risks, language barriers, accessibility etc... Good perception to overcome situation and communication approach but synergies are not perceptible. A lot of actors should intervene. Although communication has been taken with factual and accurate information it will be good to get professionnal humanitarian actors involved to get to the point and reassure population about the work of United Nations team.

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Challenges:
- Security issues
- Media polarization
- Language barrier
- Local's perception of the UN

I would work on this through a local lens as well, try and infuse some behavioral comms through the various layers of communications in country

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The challenges included limited information and access to the village, safety risks and I would imagine fact checking/getting verified information. I think she handled the situation really well, partnering with another UN agency for the press briefing and then getting the images and information as soon as possible and in as safe a way as possible. One thing I may have done differently is to do more joint communications with other UN agencies and possibly bring along local/international media to expand the audience, widen the context and show UN cooperation.

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Even though she faced many challenges, I believe this was very well done. Some of the challenges included partial facts and their verification, need to move fast, poor connection with colleagues and the site, security issues, polarized media and need to not have messaging taken out of context.

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Challenges: limit access to information with limit sources of media, security risk and threat, the confidence of population on the public media channels.

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Challenges:

-       Security issues. Elian Luthi took so much risk. I do admire her courage and tenacity to be the one who went to the scene, covered with the turban and with the clothes that were necessary and with all the necessary precautions to try not to expose herself as a target.

-       Getting the human stories in a devasted village and an unreceptive population after the pain and fear.

-       Media polarization

-       Lack of information besides de work of the UN System. For instance, who perpetrated the attack, risks of new attacks in the surroundings, amount of dead people caused by the attack, how many children died, families affected, etc.

What I would do differently?

-     I really think Elian has made an incredible job. However, thinking about ONE UN and because children are part of the victims but not all of them and the issues that come after a massacre perpetrated by a terrorist attack are huge, I would have built synergies with other UN Agencies, have involved the head of the UN system, the RC, and also published via the institutional accounts of UN in Mali, that is ONU Mali, and the specific Agency, UNICEF, to add more credibility to the information provided.

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What were the challenges?
The challenges were:
- To get the information out to the UN leadership and to the world
- To document the abuses and atrocities
- To ensure the UN shows up as people expect it to be in such cases: principled, protector, siding with vulnerable people and helping them get their right, also a UN that holds perpetrators accountable.

What would you do differently?

I think she did great but as a secretariat staff member, I would ensured the office of the SG is also on board. In this case there should be I think  a stronger and larger UN position that goes beyond the issue of  of children (which the UNICEF ensured well) and points out to warring parties and their backers and hold them accountable and and call for an investigation of possible war crimes or crimes against humanity.

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Time was limited due to security concerns, there for you can only do so much.
There is also need for those who understand the context more.
More innovate ways to communicate like sending out a blank  black press release, if asked why you respond with "WE ARE OUT OF WORDS ON WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHILDREN DURING THE ATTACK".
The other challenges is lack of details on the exact numbers.
Going to the hospital and the funeral and grave yard will also be important on showing the impact.
Interviewing parents who lost their children as well is powerful.

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I believe the following were some of the major challenges:

- There were high safety and security concerns.

- The media was polarised and the public doubted any information shared via their platforms.

What could have been done differently is to enhance the level of engagement of government stakeholders in order to ensure proper coordination of information sharing.

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These are key challenges:
- Necessity to quickly respond on various fronts
- Tragic human situation with a heavy toll
- Security issues
- Limited access to the remote location

Maybe I would have also prepared a news story about the families affected by this tragedy, to make sure their voices were heard and to put an even more "human face" on this story.

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1. Safety of UN Staff and their staff (local staff and their families living in the directly affected communities would need extra support, something which is sometimes overlooked).

2. Telecoms/connection challenges due poor or non-existent infrastructure causing delays in communication which affects coordinated responses.

3. Providing/facilitating media access.

4. Balance wanting to get story out quickly with ensuring reasonable duty of care for the survivors - so avoiding any exploitative behaviour... should never be 'story first, people's needs second'.

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This was a seamlessly run comms effort led by Eliane Luthi and UNICEF. I would be remiss not to particularly also point out the work that her team -- especially the national officers and local staff -- put in to get these out, in whatever way and form.

I'd say the challenges that they must've faced were:
- polarised media, making it difficult to sift through which outlets to 'invite' to the field and/or pitch their content to
- logistics and distance to the site (often exacerbated by the bureaucracy in getting UN staff deployed to the field)
- risks for any possible escalation or aggravated attacks that would follow
- unpredictability of the situation, and related to that, the lack of information
- concerns of public trust
- of course, staff safety

Things I'd have done differently, or suggest in addition to Eliane's efforts:
- empower national officers/local comms staff to produce content and pitch these to major global media (national outlets would be risky, given the polarisation)
- pitch more first-person accounts from survivors, perhaps someone from the camps to author a story about their experience
- given the bureaucratic process of UN staff deployment, if there was a set of LTAs on the ground/near the place of the attacks, they could have been deployed much sooner and gather content earlier, for UNICEF's use in their comms channels
- if possible, get more media outlets (both local and/or international) to visit and do their own reporting from the ground
- in addition to the close-up shots of the impact of the attacks, I would use drones to capture aerial images and show the wider impact; and/or show the harsh terrains and challenging route that survivors had to take to feel the attacks
- more actively pitch/distribute content gathered from the ground, to the media and allow them to use the footage
- UNICEF + OHCHR, et al, to provide more updates of the event at the bi-weekly Palais briefings in Geneva, given that they would cater more to the French-speaking media more easily

Also:
- tap into content from and/or collaborate with other UN agencies doing response efforts, in order to show a more 360-degree view of what were being done for the community
- use more first-hand voices in telling the stories through videos/vignettes (even if concealed, to protect children's identities)
- show the resilient side of survivors some more; but not forgetting what they have lost

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Challenges may have included verifying facts while simultaneously reporting on the situation that is continuously evolving makes it difficult to formulate statements that do not mislead or misinform the audience. The security risks of visiting the affected village so soon after the attack could also be seen as a critical challenge.

Further monitoring and reporting on the agency's response in the weeks or even months following the attack may be one thing to expand upon.

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Challenges:
- Security, including public distrust
- Limited media coverage and polarization
- A very difficult situation to report from to get human interest stories and adhering to the ‘do no harm’ principle

I think the situation was handled as best as possible the only thing that could have been done differently is coordinating with other UN agencies and humanitarian agencies to show a collaborative and coordinated action to the response.

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I think another challenges would have been: Speaking without having the full picture, security concerns, quickly developping context and updates.

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Challenges would include;
- difficulty in getting to the ground reality (security risks). Being given 15 mins would not be enough to cover the realities of the families there
- coordinating with media agencies who were also communicating on the incident from Mali, especially local media in local languages
-  misinformation, inaccurate numbers, developing context, political sensitivities all make it a tough situation to communicate in

What I would have done differently;
- I would have looked at a more coordinated approach to this. Why weren't UNHCR or the UNCG as a whole taking on the comms mission to communicate as one? Given the sensitive situation the UN already had in the country, this would have helped the organization as a whole to establish and build its reputation.
- communicating from the agency handle, as opposed to her personal social media channels, as it feels like a media reporter on the scene and not a UN agency communicating from the incident

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Challenges:
- Lack of numbers of deceased children.
- Response with no full information
-Limited access to the field
-Security issues

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Challenges would have included insecurity, lack of communication access, and working in an extremely difficult condition with a lot of tragedy. I think that, given the circumstances, the situation was handled in the best way possible, getting credible, human-centered information to the public before it was too late.

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The challenges was security, safety and to access the area and the victims. Eliane cover this crisis well and she was brave and very organised.

1- stories from The govt and local authorities on how they are handling the crisis.
2) to easy safety concerns, working with local organisations, and local coordinators to get for more information or stories would have been great too.
3) working with local media on the trip would have given the story more coverage  legitimised the crisis locally.
3) translating the content, and providing local media with access to blog before it was released.
4) giving access to information to people that may not have access to internet or social media posts.

This crisis needs to be tackled locally as much as internationally, the local context needs more urgent messaging which is translated and disseminated it in the areas that is at the core of the crisis.

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What were the challenges? What would you do differently?

My respect to Eliane. I think she is so brave and handle the situation very well.
There are a lot of challenges in this situation. One of which was the security/safety reason. Going to a place which had just been attacked to collect info is such a noble and brave act. She risked her life because she believed information could help with the situation. The other challenge I would like to raise is the fact that we could gather people to work with us in such an urgent scenarios: the photographers, our teams, etc. I think Eliane's success in getting the info first-hand out to the world is also thanks to those working with her in this mission.
Just one more thing I would suggest to better this mission. Involving media people in the mission would ease it and also could provide another angle to the story.

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Challenges:
Access to the village
security
Very little time to gather information/image/testimonies
other challenge : the UN are also supposed to protect. The fact that the massacre took place despite the deployment of a peacekeeping mission event may trigger resentment against the UN.

What I would have done differently : I am not sure that "being the first" is that important as UNICEF is not a news agency. I may have brought along an international media. I don't find any consultation or joint communication with other UN agencies/entities. I supposed that for example Human rights may have been interrested to be part of the trip. Sometimes acting as ONE UN takes more time, but such an horrific event shouldn't be an opportunity to showcase one agency over another. For example, in the IDP camp, the image are only showing UNICEF play ground. No mention of other agencies which are doing a great job, like UNHCR or WFP.

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There were many challenges ins that situation. Some of them was the safety of the staff was at risk so I assume that getting the clearance from UNDSS was another big challenge. Additionally, getting the locals to participate, to speak was another important challenge in this mission that thankfully was a success because audiences got to know what was going on from first hand.
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Challenges:
- Need for quick responses on different fronts;
- Extreme situation with tragic human stories;
- Security concerns;
- Remote location with difficult access.

I don't feel like I can suggest a different approach from what has been done by our colleague, because I am not fully aware of all the resources that were available to her at that moment. Perhaps I would have done news reports about the perspective of the families affected by this tragedy, to make sure their voices were heard outside the polarized local media environment.

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I would identify as the biggest challenges were:
1. The lag of time between the attack and when the agency was briefed
2. The fact that it was not possible to get global approval on messages from a higher level, especially in the timeline
3. Working under extreme scenarios which does not necessarily have precedent on how to act in the situation.

All of this considered, Ms. Luthi was able to rise above all of the challenges listed, which could have risked having the story not get the attention it deserved, but instead she made sure that there was constant coverage at all times where available, and got the right messages out to bring awareness to the situation.

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Challenge: Security for the staff in the country speaking out about the attack and for the victims
-Limited access to the region
-Limited access to the accurate information from the region

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The challenge was to reach the affected area and the emotional strength to handle the situation especially since young children were involved. It was was also difficult to get the required clearances in view of differences in time zones with HQ yet there was need to communicate the facts quickly.

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I think the situation was handled brilliantly!

As for the challenges, what I see:

- limited access to the field/site;
- limited access to accurate information;
- long chain of clearance which can lead to time lost;
- security issues

What I would have done differently:
Now, knowing what Eliane has done, it looks like it was the best course of action possible. I might have acted slightly different, I would have found stringers embedded with big media outlets/local journalists working for credible media outlets to accompany me in the field. This could have given us even bigger audience during the first hours in the aftermath of the tragedy. However, this might have taken the UNICEF from the limelight.

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Challenges:
1. Safety of the UN Staff.
2. Difficulty with engaging with media on site. Engaging independant media would be timely and efficient to access credible and real time events

3. Coordinate with other humanitarian actors to show that all of us work together and coordinate the action

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This was a great example of the UN used its access and its neutrality to get critical info out.

Challenges:

- Security concerns for UN personnel visiting the site of the attack, and the possible backlash from portions of the populations whose views may be skewed by a highly polarised media
- Distance to this remote village
- Telling human-centered stories while protecting the privacy and dignity of these traumatised children

I would have tried to tell more complete stories beyond 10 second snippets of video posted on Twitter. Knowing that my access was quite privileged, given the circumstances, I would have tried to release longer edits or interviews.

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Safety was the first challenge. Another challenge that I identified is the risk that the news about this cruelty gets lost in all the shocking content that is already out there on the internet. It's hard to make information that is so serious to truly get people's attention.

I think it was handled very well, perhaps, if it was possible, I'd try to speak directly to the camera and explain the situation in my own words. But due to the safety risks on the site it might've not been doable.

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Lenka Ctvrteckova, UNICEF Czech Republic

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Lenka Ctvrteckova, UNICEF Czech Republic

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The biggest challenge that was handled well was the limited access to information and the related potential halt of the successive actions. However, it was also the most significant advantage that enabled UNICEF and its response to be widely covered by media. Safety was surely also a topic. I would probably try to cooperate with the local authorities and sister agencies more - however, the situation overall was handled so well!

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Security of staff and duty of care issues are things we often forget about, but will often be in conflict with Comms priorities. The presented managed to walk the line carefully. There will also be the issue of how to overcome the clearance procedures in the UN -- what can we do RIGHT here, without undermining HQ?

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In general the perception of the UN on the country is not positive and this already impedes our work and the way we have to communicate with the public .

Additionally , verifying facts in such situation is difficult since going on the ground is not secure enough .

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Challenges:
1. Safety of the UN Staff.
2. Difficulty with engaging with media on site.

3. Try to engage with media in different languages and not limit to French speaking media.

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Challenges:
1. Safety of the UN Staff and the difficulties to get first hand info.
2. Get independant media to the ground for them to have accessed to the same information. Or at least, partner with the media to share with them reliable and trustworthy info
3. coordinate with other humanitarian actors to show that all of us work together and coordinate the action

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Agnes Kante, UNAIDS Liaison Office, Addis Ababa

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Agnes Kante, UNAIDS Liaison Office, Addis Ababa

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I think the biggest challenge is the safety of the communities who fled the village and the safety of the staff reporting on the attack, possible retaliation from exposing its devastating impact and providing support to the affected families. I would have encouraged and involved more UN staff from other agencies, high profiles from Mali with wider audience (celebrities, artists, singers) to take a step and comdemn the attack, CSOs...

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I think that safety was the main challenge. I think she did an amazing job, going onsite and using her Twitter account. I would have called a press conference, even with the information about the local media. It could be recorded and send to media outlets outside the country.

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Security of staff is the biggest challenge, as its highly likely UNDSS never allows the comms person to visit the accident site. In such scenarios where in-person presence of UN staff is not possible due to protocols, local media partnerships and volunteers network can be crucial in getting the accurate information. Moreover, wide media coverage is also a double-edged sword, at one side its necessary for getting the news out but at the same time it also generates panic and sense of fear among the public. To address this, the messaging should be clear and action oriented.

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The main challenge was insecurity on the part of the UN Staff and repeat attack on survivors. Additionally, the challenge of exposing the identity of the children fleeing the attack could have exposed them to targeted attacks by the insurgents. In addition to following the way she did the stories, I would also issue guidelines to the rest of colleagues on following strict standards of reporting to ensure no one gets in to harms way or puts the survivors in to risk

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I think the biggest challenge the security and protection of the staff and getting verified information for emergency response.
I would add release of more specific information for safety, security and protection of the target audience. The audience should be guided on what to do in an emergency situation.

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Main challenge is the safety and insecurity of UNICEF team members as they might have been targeted for exposing the situation.
I believe she successfully managed the situation and positioned UNICEF as the first agency to intervene and provide emergency response.
On the other hand, I believe coordination with the local government is essential to ensure better coordination in case such incidents are repeated in the future.

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tThe biggest challenges were access to verified information and security issues. The organization took the risk to go on the ground in a volatile situation to be able to report stories of the affected population. What is possibly missing there it's something that goes beyond the communication work and tries to answer to the question "what's next? " in terms of programming. It could be a call to action to support the affected population, a declaration that the UN will be launching a early warning system to try and prevent crises like this to be happening in the future, etc... I feel that too often communications is not properly integrated into the whole programming cycle but it occurs ad hoc.

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Safety of the Ms. Luthi and her team was the #1 challenge from my point of view. Second, I might think of local extremists targeting UN in revenge of the coverage.

She has done amazing and I wouldn't do much more, except a following up awareness activities amongst local communities and trying to breach the extremists communities with more open thoughts on human rights including children and women.

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The challenges faced matched the levels of insecurity and sensitivity of the situation

1. Access to verified information
Security
2. A biased media that couldnt tell the true story
3. Slow government response and involvement.

This was successful because she took a risky stand as the sole story teller, was supported by the UN agency and also the international media took it up as an OpEd leading to increased global attention and action.

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Slow and difficult access to information was a major challenge in this case. But I think this also turned out to be an opportunity. In most instances we are required to respond to a stream of information--true or false, accurate or inaccurate--that makes it into the public sphere. In this case, the UN became the first and most important source of information to the world. International journalists weren't on the ground to cover the tragedy's aftermath. Therefore the appetite for the different types of content UNICEF's team developed was probably higher than normal.

Something I'm working on personally is ensuring I have a clear call to action attached to more of the content we put out. Having gotten people's attention and engaged them emotionally, use the chance to be explicit about what they can do to help. UNICEF does this better than many, if not all, UN agencies.

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I can't say that I would do anything differently I have not been put in that situation and I feel that Eliane handled it effectively as through her actions and communications she was able to reach intended audiences with her messages. The challenges mentioned were security threats, limited media access and access to information and also an issue of being able to communicate immediately with HQ due to time differences.