Post your views on the story

The ICRC continues to remain impartial in Libya

By Mohau Ramashidja

 Journalism students at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) had a public lecture about the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) it does in war torn countries worldwide.

With the current trend of rebel after rebel toppling dictatorial governments in Africa, Libya finds itself as one of the most war torn countries in the world. In such incidences many lives are lost and families are separated from their loved ones. With the situation getting out of hand the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) steps in to play an impartial role; providing aid for both parties partaking in the war.

“Our role is to play an impartial role and remain as neutral as possible in order to provide for the humanitarian needs that are needed in Libya,” said ICRC spokesperson Tebogo Mogaswa. With the ICRC providing humanitarian services worldwide to those who need it. It continues to be an independent non-governmental organization promoting humanitarian laws and principles which serve as a fundamental basis to protect human rights.

The ICRC was established in 1863 under the leadership of Henry Dunant and the assistance of his friends Gustave, Defour, Appia, and Maunior. Since then, the symbol of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent has been a great sign of hope in many countries all over the world. “With the current situation in countries such as Libya and Somalia, we continue to provide food, water, medical assistance if needed and we have a tracing system that we use to help and try unite family members who were separated by outbreaks of wars, ” added Tebogo Mogaswa.

The work of the ICRC has gained momentum in recent years; it now has permanent presence in approximately 35 countries in Africa, including 25 delegations, 5 missions and a number of country offices and over 5 thousand people work for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Africa both being expatriates and national staff. “The work of the ICRC in Somalia has been questioned by the media recently as we do not have offices there. However the ICRC has been monitoring the happenings in Somalia as we have a delegation in Nairobi, Kenya which makes it easier to help out Somalia the best way we can.”

As countries such as Libya continue to fight for peace and freedom in their country; the International Committee of the Red Cross continues to remain to be an impartial, neutral and independent organization which continues with its international humanitarian mission to protect the lives and dignity of victims of war and internal violence providing them with assistance.

It continues to direct and coordinate the international relief activities conducted by the movement in situations of conflict. It also endeavors to prevent human suffering by promoting and strengthening universal humanitarian law and principles.

Hancock review

 A nice curve of bringing back the tradition of super heroes; from bad guys who seek nothing else but trouble to the good guy who actually has super powers to combat evil. Though the end result is usually predictable in these kinds of movies; both writers of the movie [VY Vincent NGO and Vince Gilligan] did a splendit job in highlighting the processes and functions of Public Relations and how well the general public can benefit from it.

Al though the movie Hancock forms part of other aspects of media entertainment. It can be argued that though a very dull angle of trying to resurrect the dead era of the time where superhero movies dominated the screens and hailed by the mass viewers worldwide; the movie, from a sociological perspective has achieved its goal as it has managed to instill an intrinsic quality of what media entertainment is suppose to do; which is to orientate, integrate and educate people in their societies.   

Public relations is an organization’s efforts to win the cooperation of groups of people (Lesley, 1987)

 

In basic terms Public relations is a channel which provides a platform for an effective communication between the two parties. The word “ass-whole” is used quite often in the movie in most cases referring to the lead actor Hancock. As a matter of fact it is used from the beginning right up to the very end of the movie referring to one person as an “ass-whole”. The lack of appreciation from people Hancock is trying to help deters him. He then develops a bitter attitude, caring less on whether his help is appreciated or not.

This is where Public Relation gets in. Ray, a Public Relations officer who has a dream of changing the whole for the better meets up with Hancock, and tries to help Hancock with his issues. In this part a few points standout in Ray of what to look for in a public relations officer and these are:

    Tenacity and adaptability- Ray patiently works with Hancock and does his level best to convince him that being imprisoned is the best option for him, with the idea in mind that the public will miss Hancock the moment they see crime escalating.

  Organizational ability and administrative talent- Ray organizes the media for Hancock in order for him to plead with the public that he is one of his kind and that during his incarceration he will do his best to develop for the better.

 Communication proficiency- in this case after a careful study on Hancock conducted by Ray he comes up with a final conclusion saying that “It gets redundant after a while but my basic diagnoses of your fundamental problem is… You wanna hear it?  You are an ass whole”. Well this might seem a beat improper for a professional language that is likely to be used by public relation officers but it sun in well into Hancock’s system.

  Professionalism- The way the media was organized by Ray in order for Hancock to address the public at large about him going to spend some jail time answered a lot of questions about Hancock also being subjected to the constitutional law.

  A lively enquiring mind- for what seemed to be a media attack on Hancock for being in contempt of court as he failed to make appearances in court for the 600 subpoenas he was summoned for; Ray saw it as opportunity to make the public realize the worth of Hancock by him going to jail.

  Moral courage and integrity- Ray as the public relation officer convinces Hancock that it is for his good to stay in prison while learning some public relation life skills.

In this movie we turn to see that public relation is not just a typical job; it is art. It requires the ability to observe, analyze and manipulate every situation into your advantage. In this case Ray saw that the FBI wanted Hancock behind bars but they didn’t have the backbone to do so. Ray also realized that the only way that the public was to be in good relations with Hancock was that if separated from the public and be missed for a while. This tells us one thing that public relations also plays a managerial role hence this enables the public relations officer to mow and identify what’s really needed to solve an issue.

The movie does so well to highlight some of the characteristics of public relations which are to: maintain relationships and build new ones by constantly adjusting and changing; analyze a situation and factors influencing it and evaluating the progress of the solution implemented. Like the time when Ray analyzed Hancock’s behavior on youtube and therefore coming up with a strategy to solve Hancock’s problem; one of the goals Ray set was that eventually the general public was going to need Hancock’s help, thus the plan was to make the public miss and be in desperate need to get Hancock’s help; the action required from Hancock was to improve his behavior while he did time in prison; one of the things that the superhero had to learn was to learn to appreciate the effort of others by saying to them “Good job”. This was to be evaluated when he was out of prison and helping to fight crime along with the police; and for Hancock it was not an easy job to adjust to the new attitude, like for example, saying “Good job” to a fellow crime fighter but he eventually did.

In all of this we turn to see how the public relation officer analyzed social opinions and trends by planning and performing an action to ensure that Hancock came out of his depressed self to being one of the most productive members of society in the aspect of solving crime. And major success achieves by the public relations officer it is that he managed to train Hancock to solve problems without damaging the states infrastructure and buildings.

Separate from the fact that the movie failed to adopt to the evolution from the traditional movies of superheroes you would watch in the early and late 90s; it has achieved its goal by highlighting some important fact of life. The first one being, believe it or not we are made in pairs and we are bound to grow old someday. Secondly, no one can be forever young time is ticking, what are you doing with you own life. And lastly changing the world will be quite a mission for one to accomplish but changing my approach towards life to a more positive approach will certainly make a big difference in this world.