HuCom Awards
The Humanitarian Communication Awards are annual awards given to the best and worst campaign of a Dutch INGO, respectively the High Flyer Award (‘Hoogvlieger Award’) and Fly in the Eye Award (‘Vlieg in ‘t Oog’). The winners are selected by an annually changing jury of experts who evaluate the five nominations in each category brought forward by our board and staff, after a careful review of all the Dutch INGO campaigns disseminated in the past year.
Archive Humanitarian Communication Awards 2023
Archive Humanitarian Communication Awards 2022
Archive Humanitarian Communication Awards 2021
Archive Humanitarian Communication Awards 2020
Why do we organise the Humanitarian Communication Awards?
The Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication is a non-profit organization committed to better communication in international development. One way to bring representation issues of fundraising and advoacy campaigns under the attention and on the agenda in the Netherlands is by organizing the annual Humanitarian Communication Awards.
With the Awards we aim to heighten awareness and encourage discussion of these issues by providing examples for best and worst practices of humanitarian communication. The Humanitarian Communication Awards are inspired by the Rusty Radiator Awards (Radi-Aid Awards), the annual awards created by the Norwegian Students’ & Academics’ International Assistance Fund (SAIH) with the aim ‘to challenge perceptions around issues of poverty and development, to change the way fundraising campaigns communicate, and to break down dominating stereotypes.’
Read here the interview about the Humanitarian Communication Awards 2022 with our chair, and the chair of the 2022 jury, Anika Altaf, on Nieuw Wij (in Dutch).
Read here the article about the Humanitarian Communication Awards 2020 by our directors, Wouter Oomen and Emiel Martens, on One World (in Dutch) and ZAM Magazine (in English).
Listen here to radio interview about the Humanitarian Communication Awards 2018 with one of our directors, Wouter Oomen, on Dit is de Nacht (NPO1) (in Dutch):
How are the nominees and winners of the Humanitarian Communication Awards selected?
Throughout the year we are always on the lookout for best and worst practices in humanitarian communication and actively approach people to send in campaigns they think are problematic or successfull. Once a year, usually in April, the (managing and supervisory) board and various expert volunteers get together to discuss all the campaigns of the past year. We look at all the communications of Dutch INGOs that are part of Partos as well as all other Dutch INGOs we know of and decide on the five campaigns to select in each category based on our Communication Code (see below) as well as other literature on the topic. We then announce the nominations for the Highflyer Award (‘Hoogvlieger’) and Fly in the Eye Award (‘Vlieg in het Oog’) and present them on our website and social media. We also inform the organizations in question about their nomination (or special mention). Finally, an annually changing expert jury selects the best and worst ‘imaging in humanitarian communication’ of the past year. The winners of both awards are then presented online, usually in June or July, and of course communicated to the organnizations
Hoogvlieger Award (High Flyer Award)
Do you know a communication expression of a Dutch development organization that tells a nuanced story, shows results, gives ‘developing people’ a voice, create realistic expectations, shares context and causes of problems, and offers a perspective for action that goes beyond making a donation? Then nominate this organization for the Hoogvlieger Award (High Flyer Award) by emailing us at [email protected]!
Vlieg in het Oog Award (Fly in the Eye Award)
Do you know a communication expression by a Dutch development organization that does not meet the Communication Code and damages the image of international development and developing countries and peoples (and as such development in general, as practices are sustained by discoures)? Then nominate this organization for the Vlieg in ‘t Oog Award (Fly in the Eye Award) by emailing us at [email protected]!
Why is My Organisation Nominated for the Humanitarian Communication Awards?
We nominate communication expressions from all the submissions we have received. While development organization can send in their own communication expression for their awards, we ask the general public to submit their suggestions for nominations as well – and of course we ourselves also evaluate the humanitarian communication of the past year. This is how an organization that has not send in anything for or has shown no interest in the Humanitarian Communication Awards, can be nominated for either the Hoogvlieger or Vlieg in ‘t Oog Award (or both). In case we nominate your organization, we will of course send you a message explaining why your communication expression has been nominated – and invite you to join the Humanitarian Communication Awards as our special guests. Does your organization win the Vlieg in ‘t Oog Award? Then we offer you a free Communication advice report to give your communication new inspiration!
Communication Guide for International Cooperation
The nomination process is based on our Inclusive Communication Guide for International Cooperation (2023), an ethical guide for communicating on international cooperation consisting of Guiding Principles, an Inclusive Language Glossary and three Future Briefs. The guide, which we developed in collaboration with Partos and several of their members in a CoP on Inclusive Communication, is available in both Dutch and English.