Arvind Kumar – When communication becomes responsibility

Early in his career, Arvind Kumar struggled with language.

Moving from a small town to a larger professional setting, he realised how much influence communication carries — not only as a technical skill, but as access to opportunity and confidence. An army officer once told him: fear remains until you face it. For Arvind, that meant learning to speak, to listen, and to bridge differences across cultures and contexts.

Later, working in frontline humanitarian settings, another moment deepened that insight. In an IDP camp, he met an eleven-year-old girl caring for her siblings while continuing her schooling. Her resilience reframed his own sense of challenge. Problems could be faced differently. Perspective mattered.

A third experience came while supporting women-led solar initiatives in Yemen. Innovation succeeded not because it was well designed on paper, but because communication created trust and ownership across humanitarian and development actors.

In this episode, Arvind reflects on how communication is not simply about conveying information. It is about connecting community realities to institutional decision-making, and bridging humanitarian and development approaches in fragile settings.

When language fails to translate lived experience into institutional action, trust weakens. Arvind’s moment shows how responsibility grows when communication becomes a form of accountability.