March 24th, 2016: Students and faculty from the School of Communication and Media Studies (SCMS) at Canadian University Dubai (CUD) have heard from international experts in the field of global media about the power of communication, at the International Government Communications Forum (ICGF) held recently in Sharjah.
The CUD delegates were invited to attend the fifth edition of the annual Forum, which was hosted by the Government of Sharjah and opened by His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, UAE Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. The event focused on dialogues surrounding the importance of communications as a tool to connect government and the citizens or residents of countries.
Amongst the discussions, those that most fascinated the students were a panel session on how to counter extremism; communications in times of crisis, humanitarian, and natural disasters; the issue of communications and human rights; as well as examining the role of communications between government and civil society as a means to enhance social cohesion.
SCMS students were active over the two days, participating in workshops on Investigative Journalism hosted by the BBC, and Strategic Communications hosted by the EU Communications Department. Participating students raised important issues in these workshops, such as how to resolve the conflicting role of ethics and the need for public disclosure of information in investigative reports, as well as the role of communication officers in engaging key stakeholders.
Hala Nsour, a second year advertising student found the event inspiring, saying, “The topics were intriguing; we learnt about how extremism can be countered through effective communication.” Fellow second year advertising student, Salma Abdalla, added, “I loved Chris Gardner’s address to the Forum because he broadened my perspective about how we can be allowed to dream.”
Fourth year advertising student Michun Liu was inspired by the former Chair of the UN Human Rights Council, Mary Robinson, who she said, “offered a frank point of view about the UAE’s need to enhance its participation in Human Rights engagement”. Meanwhile, course mate Yara Younis described the experience as ‘fantastic’ because she found the Forum to be a great venue “in which we can take what we learned in the classroom and apply it to real-life situations.”
Second year advertising student Janine Pinto summed up the essence of the discussions, saying, “It was interesting because of the opinions shared by the world leaders about extremism; they offered enlightening views about a sensitive topic that might be considered taboo.”
Overall, SCMS students came away from the experience with a better understanding of how governments use communications, in all its forms, to enhance the lives of citizens and to ensure that the links between government and civil society remain robust.
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