Summary: In this promotional video published on Invisible Children’s YouTube channel, the non-profit organization that aids the children of Uganda give their supporters an update on how their microfinance project is impacting the Ugandan community, and briefly explains the humanitarian injustices that still exist in Uganda today.
Topic: Should the state department of the Obama Administration double foreign aid for Africa?
Category: Non-profit Institutional
What Is It? Online Promotional video
Title: World Tour 2007: The Invisible Children Update
Publication Information: youtube.com, January 22, 2007
Author: No Author Listed
Location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b_hyJOggZQ&feature=channel_page
Accessed: March 4, 2009
Support:
• Norbert Mao, Mayor of Gulu
• Jacob, Northern Ugandan youth
• Boni, Northern Ugandan youth
• Tony, Northern Ugandan youth
• Jolly, Country Director, and Ugandan mentor to Jacob, Boni, and Tony
• Jan Egeland, United Nations
• Betty Bigombe, former peace negotiator
Norbert Mao is seen in the video speaking to a crowd of citizens before a “white flag parade” and declaring Gulu a “peace zone.” Jacob, Boni, and Tony were all featured in the original Invisible Children documentary and the viewer gets to see their progress with mentor, Jolly. Jolly speaks about the mentor program, explaining that now every child in need of help is assigned to a mentor, who is there to help them and offer guidance on everything from school to basic health care. Jan Egeland is seen speaking as a member of the UN, bringing attention to the plight of the internally displaced in Northern Uganda and what terrible conditions they live in. Betty Bigombe speaks on the topic of what she wants to see as the future for those living in displacement camps.
Audience and Agenda: The Invisible Children YouTube channel has 3,110 subscribers and 56, 514 views total. It’s a sizable audience as far as youtube channels go, but not very large in the grand scheme of things. They are specifically targeting those who are already invested in the Invisible Children movement and those who are interested in learning more about how they can contribute. Invisible Children is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to ending the strife in Uganda, especially for the children there who have to migrate into the city every night in order to sleep safely. However, this is a promotional video in the end, so they want to highlight both success stories they’ve had, but also keep people interested and contributing.
Usefulness: This video has a slight agenda because Invisible Children (non-profit aid program) wants to both highlight their successes so their supporters can feel good about their donations, but they also need to keep people contributing, so the viewer has to see that there is still something to fix. It would be useful in providing evidence in support of the privatization of foreign aid because this particular NGO’s approach (microfinance projects, focus on individuals, and education) has yielded strong results so far and progress is still being made. However, this is a somewhat special case because this organization focuses solely on Uganda (specifically the Northern region) so they are able to provide that individual attention and get down to the root of what people really need there. They are leaving out the results of foreign aid in the rest of the continent. In answer to the question of whether or not the state department should double foreign aid, this video could be used to argue no because foreign aid is more successful coming from specialized NGOs rather than government-to-government.
Works Cited:
Invisible Children’s Mission statement
Invisible Children’s YouTube Channel
