Social and Humanitarian Work Experience

• Aug 2016 – Jun 2017: Program Coordinator @ German Children and Youth Foundation, Berlin
• Feb 2016 – May 2016: Intern and Project Coordinator @ German Foreign Office, Berlin, Division for Humanitarian Assistance and Humanitarian Demining
• Oct 2015 – Jan 2016: Social Worker in a refugee camp @ Malteser Germany, Düsseldorf
• Jan 2014 – Sep 2014: Intern and Volunteer @ Spanish Commission for Refugee Aid (CEAR), Valencia

Research Focus and Interests

• Media Development, Press Freedom, Public Sphere, United Nations, Human Rights, Peace and Conflict Studies, Cosmopolitanism and Global Citizenship, Discrimination, Intercultural Communication, International Cooperation, Humanitarian Assistance, Global Justice, International Humanitarian Law, Post-Colonialism, Social Inequality, International Relations, Sociology, Political Theory and Legal Philosophy 

PhD Project

From Idea to Reality?

The UN Efforts on Media Development in Fragile and (Post-)Conflict Contexts 

Until today, the United Nations (UN) has undertaken numerous efforts in order to promote peace and security through media development. Various actors in the UN system, including main organs, such as the General Assembly, the Security Council, the United Nations Economic And Social Council (ECOSOC) and the Secretariat, as well as subsidiary organs, such as UNESCO, the Department of Public Information (DPI), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), have generated, adopted and implemented different measures to improve the media coverage in fragile and (post )conflict contexts. Despite of the fact – or because of the fact – that media development is a cross-sectional topic affecting the entire UN system, the UN’s efforts on media development in fragile and (post-)conflict contexts constitute a highly fragmented sphere. Yet, not only the UN efforts on media development in fragile and (post-)conflict contexts, but also the scientific landscape dealing with media development in fragile and (post-)conflict contexts is rather fragmented. My PhD project aims to analyse the UN efforts on media development in fragile and (post-)conflict contexts and investigate in which degree the UN has been able to transcend its efforts from idea to reality. The results from the analysis form the basis on which practice-oriented suggestions for improvement should be placed.

Supervisor

Prof. Dr. Barbara Thomaß, Ruhr University Bochum

Publications 

• Zaitoonie, Roja (2014), Between Idealism and Realism – The Global Governance of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (master’s thesis), online available

Presentations

• Oct 2019 – "The Achievements and Challenges of the United Nations’ General Assembly in the Field of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs)" @ DGPuK, Dortmund
• Sep 2019 – "Constructing Peace through Media? The Targeted Use of Media Interventions in Peace Processes" @ ECREA, Tel Aviv
• Jul 2019 – "The Achievements and Challenges of the United Nations’ General Assembly in the Field of Media and Public Communication" @ IAMCR, Madrid
• Oct 2015 – "Between Idealism and Realism – The Global Governance of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament" @ German Red Cross, Alsfeld
• Feb 2014 – "Detención incomunicada en España" (Working Paper for the Open Society Justice Initative) @ Second International Congress on Security, Justice and Criminal Law, Valencia

Contact

Email: roja.zaitoonie@rub.de