This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to work in the Communications Unit of the World Food Programme’s regional bureau in Panama thanks to the Vanasse Wilbert International Experience Internship Award. This would not have been possible without the support of Ms. Martine Vanasse and Mr. Randall Wilbert whose donations allowed for the provision of such an opportunity. Thank you, Ms. Martine Vanasse and Mr. Randall Wilbert, for making this opportunity possible.
Cards created on Canva based on the based on WFP’s Annual Country Reports (2024) to be published on Instagram.
Working inside the communications unit for a large international organization (the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)) and covering the region of Latin America and the Caribbean meant knowing our target audience but also a responsibility to adhere to WFP’s branding guidelines and objectives. Through my work for various units and their audience, I learned how to navigate this balance and create purposeful and creative content. I was tasked with work for both internal (within the organization) and external purposes (to an audience outside WFP). For internal communications, I created reports summarizing data from social media engagement and growth. I also proposed strategies for how to increase our engagement on Instagram and helped improve our internal communications channels such as Viva Engage, in-office displays and our weekly mail newsletter. Through these tasks, I observed the process of quantifying communications and the data-driven side of this area. Working on external-oriented communications developed different skill sets. I learned that transforming articles into small visual pieces for social media is not only about recognizing and choosing the most pertinent information but also delivering it in a manner that raises awareness, recognition, and the reputation of WFP. For both internal and external communications, a key aspect was creative graphic design that adheres to branding guidelines. Through the creation of visual content for all the organization’s different social media platforms, I was able to develop my technical skills using Canva, Adobe Illustrator, Wochit, Microsoft PowerPoint and Adobe Premiere Pro.
Filming a short video based on a self-written script about preparedness ahead of hurricane season (Published as an Instagram reel on @wfp_es).
In addition to the communications unit, I also had the opportunity to branch out and work with other teams including Partnerships, Migration, and Indigenous Peoples, allowing me to understand the wide range of work the organization does. I particularly found working with the partnerships unit interesting as their purpose, like that of communications, is to reach a target audience–in this case, donors–and gain recognition and thus funding. In the context of the United Nations undergoing an unprecedented financial situation, it has been interesting to gain an insight into WFP’s new funding strategy and observe how this will affect beneficiaries, WFP staff, and the world of humanitarian work as a whole.
Over the course of 3 months, I developed skills that will help my future both in and out of work environments. I challenged my creativity with tasks involving technical skills in graphic design, my language abilities by working in Spanish, and I developed my professional etiquette by quickly responding to feedback. This internship has thus been an experience of internal growth as well as insight into all the working parts of an international organization. Thank you again to Ms. Martine Vanasse and Mr. Randall Wilbert for providing me with this opportunity of a lifetime.
