GCYF's INAUGURAL WORKSHOP 

Dr. Anu Chakravarty conducted The GCYF Academy’s inaugural workshop for the U.S. State Department-funded South Asian Consortium for Regional Responsibility (SARCC) on 20 December, 2024. 

The Audience 

The audience comprised think tanks and research institutions from  

• India 

• Sri Lanka 

• Maldives 

• Nepal 

• Bangladesh

— all brought together by the Rule of Law Collaborative at the University of South Carolina.   

The Theme 

The workshop dove into the risks, ethics, and strategies involved in collecting information from vulnerable populations, such as unemployed youth, young members of armed groups, survivors of war, prisoners, and elites and ordinary people living in repressive or otherwise hostile contexts.   

Pedagogy 

GCYF’s workshop integrated story-telling and experience-sharing into the methodological discussion—

Drawing on Dr. Chakravarty’s first-hand field experiences in post-genocide Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as also cases of reporting from the hidden worlds of North Korea, street gangs in the US, and the 1932-33 famine in the Soviet Ukraine.

The Content 

Some topics covered were

• How do you know a group is vulnerable? 

• How and why do vulnerable groups test, demur, and sometimes mislead researchers?

• How can you build at least partially trusting relationships with your respondents and informants? 

• What does “consent” to be interviewed mean in delicate situations?

• What strategies have war reporters, researchers, and practitioners used in their work in politically difficult and culturally different contexts? 

• Which strategies to avoid? What risks might be worth taking? 

• How can you identify inconsistencies and inaccuracies in what your respondents and informants are saying?  

• How do you analyze qualitative data that are generated?  

• How can rumors and misleading information be used as kinds of data in their own right?

• How are you responsible for the safety and wellbeing of your respondents and informers?

                                       

 Can this training benefit you? 

This workshop builds and hones critical field skills for  

• Journalists

• Election observers

• Researchers

• Humanitarian workers

• Development practitioners 

• And anyone that works directly with vulnerable groups around the world.   

Interested in learning more? 

The GCYF Academy offers short courses on this topic. If you are looking for a workshop, we look forward to discussing ways to customize to your needs. 

                              Email [email protected] or Text us +1 919-389-3059.