Sponsor a word. Make it reality.

Sponsor a word. Make it reality. 

This was the main objective of the UN's latest Campaign for World Humanitarian Day, which commemorates the sacrifice and commitment of aid workers all around the world. 

On this very special day, I was able to be a part of the United Nations Association Public Forum marking World Humanitarian Day, which discussed the challenges faced by aid workers in Syria. The event was held at the State Library and my role was to help set up the stage, organise the marketing materials and take the photography on the night.The forum highlighted the current humanitarian programs in Syria and Australia's contribution in Foreign Aid. It was amazing to hear from all the speakers including Judith Robinson from AusAid and Richard Towle From UNHCR; and it was also great to participate in the debate. I also met the most interesting people including Dr Mohamad Ali-Trad from Médecins Sans Frontières - and I was approached by his Manager to take photographs during this talk and that was a great privilege. After the event was over, I was also in charge of editing and compiling the final photos which included shot listing and uploading them onto the UNAA website.

My next job for the next month involved working on the Media Peace Awards, which I am incredibly excited about! The Media Peace Awards recognizes journalists and producers whose work has helped bring to light humanitarian issues and contributed to social justice change. The awards are held annually at the Melbourne Hyatt Hotel on the 18^th of October.

The preparation for the Media Awards works in a three-step process. In the first few weeks, my main job was to research journalists and humanitarian stories via email or twitter to get them to submit an application for the awards. I used an existing media database to contact journalists as well as research new stories. My second task was to help prepare sponsorship materials and send the proposals to organisations and businesses to support the media peace awards. I used an existing media database and contacted other organisations via email.

By the start of September, it was time to start processing all of the media award applications. This involved updating the database with their details in the different award categories and assigning them into the correct nomination folders. Processing applications also involved processing payment for the entry. Once I had processed the payment, I then sent them an invoice via email for confirmation.

The greatest thing about processing the applications for me has been being able to read or watch all the amazing stories that are submitted and being a journalism major, its very eye opening and humbling to see all the journalists that are combing their love for reporting and their passion for social justice together, which I hope to one day achieve.

All and all, It’s been a great first month of the internship and I cant wait to see what happens next. I hope I’ll be able to join my team at the Media Peace Awards dinner!