Samenvatting

In this report the outcomes of the research, that was fulfilled by order of UNOY Peacebuilders, are presented. UNOY Peacebuilders is a network that consists of youth organizations active in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation. Due to many obstacles, such as distance problems, a lack of good connection to Internet and a lack of capacity building, UNOY faces problems of bad internal communication and loose cooperation between its members. This includes that members work on their own, instead of cooperating with each other. Information is not being shared, which makes it impossible to learn from the experiences from others. Furthermore, members do not participate actively and they do not report back on their developments. These challenges hinder optimal networking and have a bad influence on the quality of the work.
In order to understand and overcome these problems, research has been done. The needs of the members and the needs of UNOY had to be clear and suggestions had to be made, to find a common solution. A questionnaire was sent to member organizations, to find out how they perceive the network and how they think the communication and cooperation should be improved. In general, the majority of the members is positive about the network. Most of the respondents think that information and resources are spread efficiently. Moreover, a great majority indicated that they are satisfied with the current amount of communication. However, this does not mean that it cannot be improved. Many organizations gave suggestions on how to enhance the networking with other members, for example, by organizing more regional and physical meetings. Members also came up with suggestions on how to intensify the involvement, for example, by more joint projects or campaigns and by more possibilities to meet with other members. In this way knowledge can be shared. Furthermore, discussions were held with representatives of UNOY to understand what their ideal situation would be and how they believe that could be achieved. It became clear that UNOY's main demand is a more pro-active attitude of the members towards the network. This includes that member organizations should report back on developments they have experienced. When, for example, the Eritrean organization NUEYS that is a member for UNOY, accomplishes a project, the contact person should inform UNOY about the results. Furthermore, it includes that members share their stories with the network, that they submit their own ideas by using their creativity and that they cooperate with other members. In addition to that, interview questions were sent to similar network organizations operating in the same field. The aim was to determine whether they cope with the same challenges and how they handle this. It became clear that almost all networks face the same challenges, which they try to overcome by means of modern tools such as Skype, as well as by means of 'old-fashion' tools such as an ordinary phone.
Furthermore, theories on how to strengthen a network and how to optimize internal communication have been investigated. These theories have been linked to the case of UNOY, which made it possible to come up with concrete methods to solve the problems they were coping with. Some of these methods are the (re)formulation of a clear set of objectives to which all members can adhere, clear communication channels, stronger ties with the environment, membership balance and content balance and more joint activities.
Moreover, it became clear that in order to optimize the internal communication, a new communication plan, including a new strategy, should be created. This has been done. The plan gives a broad image of the organization, its internal and external situation, its challenges and methods to tackle these challenges. A DESTEP-analysis and a SWOT-analysis were made, followed by a new strategy to improve the communication and cooperation. The strategy consists of the following recommendations:
- The translation of documents to make sure that everybody understands the content;
- The use of mass mailing options to ensure that information is sent to all members;
- The organization of workshops and regional events so that members who are working in the same region or the same fields of activity can meet each other and learn from each other's experiences;
- The use of the newsletter as an incentive to push members to report about their work.
Furthermore, it could also be concluded that the main reason for members to join UNOY was to benefit from the possibility to share experiences with other NGO's. Hence, UNOY should enlarge this possibility by organizing more joint projects and by linking up members from the same region. If the new strategy has been implemented, the communication and cooperation can be improved.