You are here: Home » Our work » Our methodologies » Voice

Voice

An oral testimony interview in Sudan's desert region

Panos London amplifies the voices and builds the capacities of poor and marginalised people to be included in the debates and decision making that affect their lives.

A key feature of poverty is exclusion and lack of voice. Most people living in poverty have their own perspectives on its causes, effects and possible solutions, but these are rarely heard or acted on by decision makers. For development to be effective it must be informed by those experiencing poverty on a daily basis.

We use a range of approaches, including oral testimony, digital storytelling and participatory video, to enable individuals and communities to record and communicate their first-hand experiences of poverty and exclusion. They gain skills and opportunities to reflect on their situation, address challenges, share their knowledge and perspectives, and make their voices heard by authorities and service providers.

We advocate for national and international policy to respond to and be informed by the experiences, needs and aspirations of poor girls and women, boys and men, the young and elderly, in all of their diversity.

Oral Testimony

Much of our voice work centres around our experience of oral testimony in the development context, which Panos London pioneered in the early 1990s.

Oral testimonies are vivid, personal accounts that draw on a person’s direct memories and experiences. They challenge the generalisations of development literature, increase our understanding of development problems, and enlighten planners and policymakers about the realities of how their actions impact them, or, too often, miss them out and fail them.

Oral testimony does not rely on consensus; rather it celebrates the diversity and –at times -contradictions between individuals’ experiences and perspectives. The one-to-one nature of oral testimony allows even the ‘quietest’ members of a community to participate – it does not rely on people having the confidence to speak up at a public event.

The result is a set of powerful first-hand accounts which show the human reality of development. These direct voices can be used in multiple ways to raise awareness and encourage action, such as community radio, exhibitions and policy documents.

We train and support local civil society organisations to run community-based oral testimony projects with their constituents, who are marginalised by the intersecting dynamics of poverty, such as illiteracy, age, gender, disability, caste, religion and ethnic identity. By training local people, interviewing can be done in their own language, in relaxed settings, and between people who share aspects of each other’s backgrounds, which, in itself, can help tackle exclusion.

How is it different?

The use of participatory communication tools is widespread, and there is an increasing use of voices in the communication of development issues. Our oral testimony methodology is unique in combining the following principles:

  • Taking a locally-rooted capacity-building approach
  • Adopting methods and principles from oral history, notably ethics, documentation and archiving that ensure respect and ethical and rigorous safeguarding of people’s stories
  • Focusing on the individual
  • Producing high quality outputs based on the testimonies for awareness-raising and advocacy

What have we achieved?

The publication of Listening for a Change in 1991 paved the way for Panos London by identifying the value of oral history in the context of development. We have since worked on several international thematic projects, including recording and sharing the stories of women in conflict-affected settings; women and men living in mountain areas and populations coping with resettlement, desertification and tackling poverty reduction.

Through these projects we have worked with more than 50 partners in 30 countries, generating more than 1200 testimonies to date. We have also supported local and national information activities based on the testimonies, as well as produced a range of material – print, radio and online – for international audiences.

We widely promote our oral testimony methodology by offering support and consultancy activities to other organisations.

Key resources

For a PDF of our training manual Giving Voice click here Giving Voice (English)

Read about one of our current projects:
Khanyisile Mlotsa and Thabsile Nzima listen back to their practice interview during the oral testimony workshop in Swaziland - Siobhan Warrington | Panos London

Give stigma the index finger

Latest updates

Video: Under a Different Sky

Yongmi Park grew up in North Korea, but now lives in the north of England with her family. In this nine minute film Mrs Park describes the circumstances leading up to her forced marriage in China, and how on escape, she was sentenced to hard labour in North Korea. This is her story of survival.

Under a Different Sky: a journey from North Korea

Under a Different Sky is a short film that tells the story of Yongmi Park, who escaped from North Korea and now lives in the North of England with her family. Read accounts about the background of the film, including from Yongmi Park herself.

Breaking rocks to pay her school fees

Like many Liberians, Mercy Womeh missed several years of education as a result of the 14-year civil war. She is now 18 and determined to complete her final two years of schooling. To fund her education, she crushes rocks.

Gender equality starts at home

What’s the best way to engage young people in social movements and politics? Bhan Sahu explains the small steps helping to create a new generation of leaders who want to change the system from the bottom upwards.

‘Land and natural resources must belong to the people’

Villagers take part in a non-violent march to demand their rights to land and resources - Ekta Parishad

In her latest blog Bhan Sahu tells us about a non-violent civil resistance movement, inspired by Gandhi, which aims to bring about social and land reform in India.

Indian men increasingly opt to be sterilised

Jag Roshan Sharma wanted a vasectomy in order to pay his children’s school fees. The choice to limit the family sizes is increasingly common and cash incentives are offered to women living below the poverty line to use birth control.

Family planning: a collection of perspectives

Sierra Leone: Traditional birth attendant, Isatu Kargbo, examines a pregnant woman - Jenny Matthews | Panos Pictures

With the London Summit on Family Planning this Wednesday, we wanted to showcase some of the decisions and dilemmas people around the world face when it comes to sexual health and planning a family.

Headteacher faces down the Taliban

'Educate one girl and you educate a household' teacher Gul-e-Khandana saved her school from the Taliban - Muhammed Furqan | Panos London

Gul-e-Khandana, headteacher of a girls’ school in rural Pakistan, challenged the Taliban soldiers who came to destroy her school. Our journalist Rina speaks to her about the importance of educating girls.

Compensation for rape victims, or justice?

Detail from a poster made by WAD (Women Action for Development), the organisation that Ambra works for - Thingnam Anjulika Samom | Panos London

A new government scheme that has been recently rolled out in Manipur offers rape victims a chance to apply for financial compensation. However, Ambra fears that while the scheme will help women financially it won’t help to bring them justice and that rapists will walk free.

Escaping São Paulo’s drug gangs

Marcos at the soccer field of the São Paulo neighborhood - Lilo Clareto | Panos London

Marcos Lopes tells his story of reform, from being the leader of a street gang to leaving that life and reaching out to help others like him.

Reframing Africa’s story

Panos London’s senior media advisor took part in a debate on the African Diaspora media. Panellists and the audience discussed the role the African Diaspora media has to play in challenging the traditional narrative of Africa as a place of war, poverty and hunger.

Afghan mothers at risk with every birth

38 years old Fariba holds her a year and half years old boy while putting down a sleep her youngest son Mustafa who was born a month ago in her home in Kabul - Farzana Wahidy | Panos London

Aunohita speaks to mothers, NGO workers and the Deputy Minister of Health in Afghanistan to examine the strains placed on women in the family – fertility, contraception and social pressures.

Activist recognised for her work on oral testimonies

Bhan Sahu interviewing people in rural India - Stella Paul | Panos London

Great news – Bhan Sahu, our blogger from Chhattisgarh in central India, has been awarded a fellowship with the citizen journalism group CGNet Swara.

Kashmir’s children pay the price of conflict

Shabir and his family - Raashid Bhat | Panos London

Unexploded ordnance is a very real problem for people living in rural Kashmir. Shabir lost his brother to a discarded army shell, and has received only a very small amount in compensation for his own injuries including the loss of his leg.

From ridicule to fulfillment; ‘I have made the journey’

Ambra showing her son's high school marks - Thingnam Anjulika Samom | Panos London

Talking of her own ‘journey from victimhood to self-reliance,’ Ambra blogs about how a moment of determination was the turning point for her and her sons.

Gender equality in Rwanda from the grassroots up

Farmers with the fruit trees they have been given by the organisation SDA (Service au Developpement des Association) - Dieter Telemans | Panos Pictures

Women are rebuilding Rwanda from the grassroots to the highest tiers of parliament. Local journalist Didier speaks to grassroots leaders, university academics, schoolgirls and charity leaders to find out what has changed since 1994 and how they see their future.

Mali rebellion stirs fear in rural villages

Armed Tuareg man herding sheep in this remote and insecure area north of Gao - Crispin Hughes | Panos Pictures

As rebel groups in Mali combine to announce an independent Sharia state after the recent Northern coup, Kaidia voices her fears about her future in the south of Mali.

When people starve they do things they know are bad for them

Kaidia holds some néré pods - Soumaila T Diarra | Panos London

“We know we are destroying our environment… but we don’t have any choice.”

Change comes when we break the silence

Bhan recording a woman's story - Stella Paul | Panos London

Citizen journalism and knowledge-sharing can make an impact, and Bhan’s work shows it. She blogs about how she helps people in remote conflict areas, who often can’t read or write, use the internet and mobile phones to make themselves heard.

Primary schooling in Kenya – a parent’s dilemma

Margret Mukoma helps her daughter Michelle with homework - Adrian Gathu | Panos London

This from-the-ground feature explores the impact of corruption on the education system in Kenya, hearing local perspectives from home, from school and from the NGO sector.

The human cost of displacement

Lipholo Bosielo, one of the narrators in the Molika-liko valley - Kitty Warnock | Panos London

Olivia Bennett talks about her recent pubication, Displaced: The Human Cost of Development and Resettlement, based on learning and oral testimonies from a Panos London project.

Being jailed made me into a leader

A meeting of the Telengana Mahila Mahajena Samakhya (All Dalit Women’s Association of Telengana) - Stella Paul | Panos London

Looking back over how she became the activist she is today, Mary Madiga is proud to be a Dalit – “people who are broken in body, but not in spirit”.

Afghan theatre of war comes to the stage

A woman wearing a white burqa holds a rose to her nose at a street market in Khwaja-Bahauddin - Yannis Kontos | Polaris | Panos Pictures

Emotional trauma is perhaps the single largest unreported fallout of Afghanistan’s brutal wars. This interactive theatre project aims to help the survivors cope with violence, even when facing social restrictions.

Mexican law aims to halt journalist killings

TV journalist reporting from a crime scene. Ciudad Juarez is the most violent city in Mexico, and the epicentre of the war on drugs. In 2008, 2,000 people were murdered, an average of 5.5 murders a day - Teun Voeten | Panos Pictures

Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist today. Siobhan talks to Peace Brigades International about the new law to protect human rights defenders and journalists.

Leaders must think of rural people – we are starving

Women from Gwelekoro village processing cereals - Andrew Esiebo | Panos London

Kaidia explains the urgent matters that the new Mali government must attend to – the economy, education and hunger.