Media developers and humanitarians: A shared path forward
The joint events took place on 9-10 December 2025 at Deutsche Welle's headquarters in Bonn and culminated in a Call to Action urging stronger coalitions across humanitarian, media development, and local actors.
Co-organized by DW Akademie and Fondation Hirondelle, the gathering brought together more than 140 participants, including media development experts, humanitarian practitioners, journalists, activists, media managers, academics and representatives from government, civil society, and philanthropic organizations.
In various sessions, participants addressed urgent shared challenges revolving around the need to listen to and engage with affected communities despite shrinking resources and the fact that digitalization and automation are reshaping how people in fragile and crisis-affected contexts access, share and trust information.
Throughout the event, participants were invited to contribute to refining a Call to Action, aimed at fostering principled collaboration between media developers and humanitarians. The momentum generated by bringing these two sectors together in Bonn is already translating into concrete follow-up: a dedicated session on "Information Is Aid" will take place during the Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week (HNPW) 2026, held from 2–12 March 2026 in Geneva.
Find more resources from the event here
