Mission 21 hosts two experts, Emiel Martens and Wouter Oomen, from the Amsterdam-based Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication (HuCom), who will critically discuss the storytelling challenges in international ("development") cooperation. Every year, they organize the Humanitarian Communication Awards (HuCom Awards), which identify unethical NGO communication and highlight NGOs that lead the way in ethical storytelling. Join us as we analyze impactful examples, uncover lingering structures of coloniality and racism in development communication, and explore anti-racist alternatives.
Host and concept: Claudia Buess, Head of Educational Events, Mission 21
Event in English with translation into German
Wouter Oomen is a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at Utrecht University, where he obtained his PhD in the field of humanitarian communication in 2023. As one of the Managing Directors of the Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication, Wouter aims to broaden discussions about what ethical communication on development cooperation means, and he does so through education, research, advice and advocacy.
Emiel Martens is a film scholar-practitioner specializing in the intersections of film, tourism, and empire in the Caribbean. He currently works as an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial Film Studies at the University of Amsterdam and is one of the Founding Directors of the Expertise Centre Humanitarian Communication. In addition, Martens is an independent filmmaker, contributing as script consultant, story editor, producer, and impact producer
