Professional Experience:
I am a citizen of the world; I was born and raised in Cote-d'Ivoire, my father from Guinea (Conakry) and a mother from Mali and Senegal. I have worked and studied in Europe and South America (Brazil). This international background gave me a strong capacity of adaptation and a desire to share my knowledge and abilities.
Since 2006, I have been working as professional journalist for the French daily newspaper Liberation. For two years I have been mainly covering economy, politics and social issues for the website. I am part of this new generation of web reporter. I know that sharing information can save life and that spreading the word via Internet is critical. Passionate about the Web 2.0, I am interested in web-based communities, social networking, video sharing, and blogs. Please visit my website www.sarankoly.com . This excellent journalism experience has provided me with a first rate writing ability in various languages as well as sharp analytical, problem-solving and research skills.
As freelance journalist I decided to go to Haiti in march 2010 to cover stories related to humanitarian issues post earthquake for Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), hard news for French daily newspaper Libération and gender based violence issues for women magazines. I started working for Internews on the CDAC project (Communicating with disaster-affected communities) a project funded by the United Nations Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in may 2010 as media liaison officer. My mission was to create a trustful and equal dialogue between the humanitarian community and the local press. I also assessed media affected by the earthquake and provided technical support to guarantee continuation of their activities. From January 2011 to early august 2011 I have been leading communications and information management for a high profile debris management projects in Port-au-Prince with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded by the World Bank, USAID and ACDI. I took a three months break to develop my photography and filmmaking skills by attending various intensive workshops in New-York.
Since November 2011 and until February 2012 I am in charge of the communications and advocacy program of the Somalia Health Cluster, a very interesting and challenging position due to the lack of access of the most affected areas and the recent Al Shabab ban of various stakeholders. I advise the Somalia World health Organization Country office and coordinate communications/advocacy among the Health Cluster partners. On December 16th 2011, we supported the Ministry of Health for the launch of a cholera campaign in Mogadishu. My high level of concentration and excellent organizational skills has helped me achieve the coordination and organization of various international events in stressful and competitive environments. It reflects my diligence and commitment to success.