The woman behind two development 'justice' Twitter campaigns

Twitter recently welcomed a new handle: @DadaabSecurity. Those who followed Steve Dennis’ court case with the Norwegian Refugee Council will quickly find a connection. Dennis asked his former employer for additional compensation for injuries he suffered from his kidnapping in 2012 in Dadaab refugee camp. The Oslo District Court found the Norwegian Refugee Council to be "grossly negligent in regards to the safeguarding of staff." Dennis was awarded $520,000. But the humanitarian organization has yet to fully compensate the other international and local staff who were injured in the same incident, according to Gry Tina Tinde, an election observer and human rights advocate who has held code of conduct trainings at the U.N. refugee agency and worked for over 20 years in various international organizations. Tinde, the woman behind the Twitter handle, wants NRC to compensate all those affected in the Dadaab kidnapping, and believes a social media campaign could help push the organization to face what she calls its “duty” to former and current staff. “This is a very sensitive topic for NRC, but it should not be. They should be as open as their open information policy says,” Tinde told Devex 10 days after setting up the account, which now has 161 followers as of this writing. The success of the campaign will depend on two things, according to the human rights advocate: when NRC compensates the other affected staff members and when the organization becomes more transparent about its operations, including actions following the Dadaab kidnapping. “I think the impact can be achieved when they become more open, and I recommend NRC to document all their follow up from their internal reviews, from the judgment,” she said. The campaign also aims to put a spotlight on the importance of codes of conduct, a set of rules outlining the social norms and rules and responsibilities of, or proper practices for, an individual or organization. Tinde wants the NRC and other members of the international cooperation community to take their codes of conduct seriously. “Codes of conduct are usually very well written and you can agree with it immediately when you read it, but put six people around the table and discuss a scenario and you will have six different opinions on the why, the how, and how to solve it,” she said. “Code of conduct should not just be a piece of paper; it should be implemented.” Tinde avoids “fights” on social media and said she abides by the rule: “If you cannot be positive, do not tweet it,” although she has a different take on it in the NRC case. “Of course it’s not really positive to be confronting an organization with facts, but it’s also quite positive for those that have been affected,” she said. She’s currently brainstorming a hashtag that should accompany the campaign. “Never send a tweet without a hashtag,” especially for campaigns, she added. This is not the first time Tinde has used Twitter to further a cause. Over the past five years, she’s used the social media platform to do what she calls “justice campaigns,” and encourages colleagues to share their own thoughts and professional knowledge online “because their angle could be completely different from mine and we can all learn from each other,” she said. Stop #AllWhitePanel was one of those campaigns. In August 2015, she set up “@NoAllWhitePanel,” a Twitter account that shames panels — mainly in Norway — whose speakers are dominated by Westerners. Incorporating her love for screenshots, the campaign uploads a conference or meeting’s agenda with a meme of Mr. T that says, “FOOLS. I pity them.” For panels with all male speakers, meanwhile, they stamp the agenda with a photo of American actor David Hasselhoff holding a thumbs-up sign. The campaign and the visuals were inspired by a Finnish woman who created two Tumblr pages: one for panels dominated by Westerners, and one for those dominated by males. But Tinde’s activism was triggered in 2011 when she noticed how people from low- and middle-income countries are seldom if at all represented in panels in Norway, and this includes sessions surrounding the international development industry. “I think there is a superiority syndrome among Westerners that they should speak in behalf of people from lower income countries, and this is very often reflected in panels,” she said. But it is alarming, especially when these speakers or so-called experts, “pontificate” about what should be done on the ground, she argued. “They get a microphone, things are written up and tweeted, and the risk of not hitting the target, the risk of giving wrong advice is much higher if you don’t involve the people that [the topic] is actually about,” she said. Tinde recounted moments when she encountered a panel about Syria lacking Syrians, a panel on Ukraine without Ukrainians, or a panel by a research institute on international affairs about South Sudan with no South Sudanese on the list of speakers. The latter eventually placed two South Sudanese speakers on the panel — one diplomat and a former aide to former South Sudan minister of peace and South Sudan chief negotiator — and Tinde credits that largely to the campaign. Now, several organizers are contacting her and others behind the campaign, asking for help with speakers. Tinde sets up separate accounts for the campaigns she pursues but this doesn’t mean she’s hiding her identity, she noted, adding that being transparent about who you are is important for accountability. “Being yourself and having your name there is important. Life today is such that we have to be accountable whether we are as private individuals or as employees or managers … as humanitarian workers, we have to be accountable 24 hours a day,” she said. Tinde spends several hours in a day on Twitter. It has become “part of her life,” using it as her own advocacy tool as well as search engine for relevant articles on a topic she is interested in. She has also started conducting Twitter trainings to professionals working in the development and humanitarian sectors. She’s done group trainings at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, and recently at Norwegian youth organization Juvente. Humanitarian and development professionals can use the platform to learn about the cause they care about and find a community — as she did. For now, Tinde is focused on her new campaign. But when she finds another topic that strikes her interest, she’ll likely have another Twitter handle and campaign started within three minutes — the time it takes for her to set up an account, and one of the greatest benefits of the social media platform, she told Devex. Devex Professional Membership means access to the latest buzz, innovations, and lifestyle tips for development, health, sustainability and humanitarian professionals like you. Our mission is to do more good for more people. If you think the right information can make a difference, we invite you to join us by making a small investment in Professional Membership.