Communication for Development Programmes in the United Nations System

Prepared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), this 22-page report responds to General Assembly Resolutions A/50/130 of 23 February 1996 and A/51/172 of 3 February 1997. While recognising "the important role of communication for development programmes in the United Nations system", these resolutions acknowledge "the need further to facilitate inter-agency cooperation and to maximize the impact of the development programmes". The report also stresses the need to support two-way communication systems that enable dialogue and that allow communities to speak out, express their aspirations and concerns, and participate in the decisions that relate to their development. The text, as stated in the summary, presents the engagement of United Nations (UN) organisations in the implementation of communication for development programmes and inter-agency collaborative mechanisms for effective and integrated follow-up of related actions.

The tenth Round Table, February 12 to 14 2007, attended by more than 40 participants, was convened on the theme "Towards a common system approach for harnessing communication for development to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)". It focused on practical and achievable interventions around which UN system organisations could develop a common approach, strategy, and action plan for the implementation of communication for development practice.

The objectives of the meeting were to (a) increase inter-agency collaboration at Headquarters and UN country team levels, (b) strengthen awareness among UN system organisations on ways to measure the impact and effectiveness of communication for development, and (c) introduce mechanisms to harmonise communication for development programming approaches within the UN system in domains such as:

1. Communication as governance or participation: amplifying citizens' voices, enabling public debate, and holding governments to account using the media as an important constituency as well as a conduit for information;
2. Sector-specific communication: responding to the MDGs and other internationally agreed-upon development goals using tailor-made communication approaches;
3. Information and communication technologies (ICTs): facilitating information access and enabling community participation;
4. Promotion of enabling policy environments, innovative financing, and partnerships.

As stated here: "The general recommendations of the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and, in particular, those reached at the tenth United Nations Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development are:

a) To impress upon senior-level decision makers of United Nations specialized agencies, programmes and funds the importance of prioritizing communication for development principles and methodologies in all programmatic areas, and the need to allocate human, technical and financial resources for this effort;

(b) To advise the heads of respective agencies, programmes and funds to integrate communication for development principles and methodologies into programme and project planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation; to ensure the incorporation of communication for development principles and methodologies, including needs assessments, into [the Common Country Assessment (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF)] CCA/UNDAF guidelines, or equivalent exercises, so as to improve development results;

(c) To call upon the United Nations Resident Coordinator system to ensure greater coherence and coordination of communication for development at the country level;

(d) To establish a formal inter-agency mechanism promoting and enhancing communication for development within the United Nations system."

The full text of the Addis Recommendations can be found here.

In conclusion, the document recommends ascertaining resource allocation to prioritise communication for development, including:

• training staff;
• establishing formal linkages with the UN Development Group as an essential step towards ensuring a harmonised and coherent working approach;
• assuring cross-fertilisation of ideas and opinion on communication for development with the UN Communications Group;
• recognising the Round Table as a formal UN inter-agency working group in order to give it increased ability for follow-up and planning; and
• emphasising that communication for development is more than a tool for generating and disseminating content and should be used to facilitate relevant social change processes.

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