| IRIN welcomes two new board members
IRIN is very pleased to welcome two new members to its governing board: Sara Pantuliano, Managing Director at the Overseas Development Institute, and Paula Fray, a veteran South African journalist and media trainer (see full bios below). Both were elected during a 12-13 May 2016 meeting of the executive committee, IRIN's decision-making body, in London, UK.
Dr. Pantuliano and Ms. Fray join five other members of the recently-constituted IRIN Association, presided over by Pulitzer-nominated journalist, author and professor Howard French.
"Sara and Paula – each leading experts in their fields – bring decades of experience in humanitarian response and journalism on the African continent, dealing with the very issues at the core of IRIN's mission," French said. "They join IRIN at an exciting time of growth and renewal, and we look forward to their contributions."
At a time of unprecedented crises around the world, IRIN spun off from its historic home in the United Nations in 2015 to become an independent, non-profit media organisation specialised in crisis reporting.
IRIN appoints new Director, head of Enterprise Projects
As part of this transition, IRIN has appointed former Managing Editor Heba Aly as its new Director.
Aly was a core part of the team that planned and executed IRIN's spin-off into an independent, non-profit media organisation. A Canadian-Egyptian multimedia journalist, she first joined IRIN's West Africa office 10 years ago, and has worked her way through almost every part of the organisation since.
"We're delighted to announce Heba's appointment. She has the right drive, talent and vision to take IRIN into the next chapter," French said. "IRIN's transformation over the last year and a half would not have been possible without Heba's dynamism and tenacity, and we know she will apply that same energy and passion in her new role."
Aly takes over the leadership from IRIN co-founder Ben Parker, who most recently guided the organisation's successful establishment as an independent entity. Parker will lead a new enterprise unit at IRIN, leading investigative and data-driven reporting on the causes, effects and responses to humanitarian crises.
"Ben's new unit will allow IRIN to hold the emergency aid industry to account in new and innovative ways, at a time when the sector has recognised the need for increased transparency and accountability," French continued.
See full bios below.
IRIN receives two new funding grants
So far in 2016, IRIN has struck two new partnerships to complement its existing donor base, including a three-year agreement with the Swiss Lottery (Loterie Romande) to support the transfer of its operations to its new headquarters in Geneva.
This funding complements previously-agreed 2016 funding for IRIN from the Swiss Development Cooperation and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
"With its expanding board, new leadership, and increasing funding base, IRIN is positioning itself for growth in the years to come," French concluded.
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Sara Pantuliano is a Managing Director at the Overseas Development Institute, one of the world's leading think tanks on aid and development, where she has led the humanitarian team for six years. Sara is a political scientist with extensive experience in conflict and post-conflict settings. Prior to joining ODI, Sara led the UN Development Programme's peacebuilding unit in Sudan, managed post-conflict response in Sudan's Nuba Mountains, was an observer at the IGAD Sudan peace process, and lectured at the University of Dar es Salaam. She holds a PhD in politics, has written widely on Sudan, South Sudan, the Middle East and humanitarian affairs, and is a recognised public speaker on these issues. She is the Managing Editor of Disasters journal and the vice-chair of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Risk and Resilience. She is a Trustee of SOS Sahel and serves on the advisory boards of Oxford University's Refugee Studies Centre and the UN Association of the UK, amongst others. Sara oversaw the temporary hosting of IRIN at ODI during IRIN's spin-off from the UN.
Paula Fray has worked in media for more than three decades as a journalist, editor, trainer and media manager. An award-winning journalist, Paula was the first female editor of the Saturday Star newspaper. In 2005, Paula started Paula Fray and Associates (now frayintermedia) before joining Inter Press Service (IPS) as Africa regional director in 2008. As regional head, she oversaw the operations of the international development news agency. She was a trustee of Brand SA until March 2016 and is a trustee of Media Monitoring Africa. She has wide-ranging consultancy and project management experience and has served as a mentor for organizations such as Health-e and the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA). Fray graduated with a BJourn degree from Rhodes University and has a Women and Law Certificate from UNISA. A recipient of the prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, she is a former member of the Nieman Foundation Advisory Board at Harvard.
Heba Aly has reported from conflict zones in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Christian Science Monitor and Bloomberg News, among others. Her work has taken to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chad and Libya. In 2008, she received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for her work on the risk of conflict breaking out in remote villages in northern Sudan. She was a key part of the team that led IRIN through a spin-off from the United Nations to become an independent media non-profit. IRIN is now one of the few independent voices in the aid industry able to cast a critical, analytical eye on humanitarian response. Heba is a regular commentator on humanitarian policy issues in her published work, in government briefings and at conferences around the world. Holding a double-major in journalism and human rights, she speaks English, French, Arabic and Spanish.
Ben Parker has been working in humanitarian affairs, online media and fragile states for more than 20 years. In 2013, he was the director of communications for the UN in Somalia, based in Mogadishu. He headed the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Syria, based in Damascus from 2012-13. Previously, he was the director of UN OCHA's Eastern Africa offices, and of IRIN. Since 1989, he has worked for relief and development agencies in Africa (including Oxfam, UNICEF, WFP, the EU and UNEP), but also as a freelance writer and technology consultant. Most of his career has been in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.
He set up the initial editorial and online systems for IRIN in 1995, and later moved into web publishing in the private sector with Africa Online in 2000. In 2007, he returned to IRIN, taking over as Editor-in-Chief and Director. As a UN communications officer in Sudan from 2003-2006, he was closely involved in raising the alarm about Darfur internationally and released some of the first photos and TV footage of the crisis.
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