International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

Guide for submitting a news story to GEF IW:LEARN

In order to streamline the process and save time, watch this video explaining the details of writing an article for submission to GEF IW:LEARN.
 
Key guidelines for the article submissions:

  • Make sure there’s a reason why we need to tell this story. Tell the story in a conversational way.
  • Avoid ‘lists’ of programmatic accomplishments.
  • Write in the active voice ("The ocean provides us livelihoods" instead of "Livelihoods are provided by the ocean") and avoid unnecessary acronyms and development jargon.
  • Include links to support facts and figures and prioritize links that are to the GEF IW:LEARN website, GEF IW website, project reports and sources, your lead executing and/or executing agencies, and UN wide reports and sources.
  • Maximum 800 words for full feature stories and blogs, and maximum 600 for short articles.
  • Include some high-resolution photos with captions and credits.
    Please note the photos cannot be a part of the text document, and will have to be sent as separate files (.png or .jpeg).
  • Include one high-resolution photo in landscape format that can be used as a header, including captions and credits (see previous stories for examples of this).
  • A video from YouTube or Vimeo can be added to the story if desired (with link, caption and credits).
  • If you have any website sources, include links as these will be hyperlinked.
  • Keep the title short (maximum 7 words), concise and informative, as much as possible with no acronyms.

Download the GEF IW Project Story template.

 If you need any help or guidance on your story’s structure, the GEF IW: LEARN Team (pcu@iwlearn.org) is available to advise.