Amplifying Voices: A Media and Communications Officer's Commitment to Afghanistan
On a Sunday morning at 7:30 in Kabul, a TV moderator prepares for work. A few hours later, everything will change. By the time she arrives at the studio, the atmosphere is tense. News spreads quickly: by 10:00, the Taliban are at the city gates. Her editor gathers the team and urges everyone to leave immediately.
Before stepping outside, she wraps a hijab around her hair. On the streets, panic erupts. Women run home, desperately trying to find safety. She and her colleague attempt to hail a taxi, but none will stop without a male escort. Only a motorcyclist, trembling with fear, eventually agrees to help. Kabul has not yet fully fallen, and yet overnight, the image of the city has changed. Only a short time after the Taliban took Kabul, women were made invisible in the cityscape. Advertisements were painted over; mannequins were removed.
Now the struggles of people in Afghanistan are invisible in the global media. Only four years after the 12th of August 2021, German politicians are making deals with the Taliban to deport refugees back to Afghanistan. If I can make the world only a tiny bit more aware of the situation in Afghanistan with my work, I can do my part in working towards an equal world.
I work across many visual and technical languages: professional reports, impactful photographs, viral videos, educational graphics, emotional illustrations, and animated explainers. I adapt messages into formats that resonate with diplomats, policymakers, and children alike. In my role as Communication Manager with Caritas Vienna, I prepared advocacy statements for the press, managed social media channels, and maintained the organization’s digital presence. As a Social Media Manager, I learned how to craft content that moves people.
With strong Adobe Creative Suite skills and a data-informed approach, I design inclusive, decolonized communication. Sharing knowledge and supporting IOM's mission by helping ensure that the voices of refugees are heard, protected, and never pushed back into silence would be a great privilege for me.
Elisabeth Sellmeier