The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
Time to read
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 10 years ago
Last updated 1 year ago
Read so far

Youth Chhlat, Cambodia

0 comments

"Youth Chhlat is a cross-media life skills programme that enables and encourages young people to engage with gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) issues. It combines a computer-based eLearning system with a mobile phone question-and-answer service." OneWorld launched the project in 2013 in Cambodia, based upon a scoping study, bringing together partners and technology to support SRH eLearning on topics considered sensitive in Cambodian culture, in a manner and medium - SMS text messaging - considered by young people to be private.

Communication Strategies

This life skills programme, developed and implemented in six countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East since 2007, is adapted to each country context using the popular new media in each local context. In Cambodia, an in-depth scoping study was done in prior to launch in 2013.

 

The following are parts of the project resulting from that study:

  • "The eLearning platform  is being implemented by teachers in Cambodia's public school system. The national Life Skills curriculum has been adapted into a series of 'info-cartoons' and interactive exercises... The question-and-answer platform makes use of SMS texting, email, and Facebook. Radio spots have also been used to reach out to young people in schools and out of schools."
  • Because the scoping study found that youth consider SMS as a private space for seeking information, non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners help to implement a mobile and online question-and-answer (Q&A) service. "Young people can text their questions anonymously to a short code, and they will receive accurate, confidential, and non-judgemental answers, usually within 24 hours. They can also submit questions via email or Facebook’s private messaging system." Through OneWorld's technical platform, counsellors can respond to questions about youths’ daily problems related to reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), menstruation, pregnancy, arranged marriage, love, family relations issues, and gender. The Q&A service is "cloud-based" (information is held online).
  • "The SMS service is available in English, Khmer and... Khmer-Latin, a phonetic version of the Khmer language that young Cambodians have been developing off the cuff to facilitate written communications on mobile phones and computers."
  • Counsellors receive training from partners Child Helpline and Inthanou on child protection and Khmer-Latin and are taught by OneWorld to use the platform to enable them to work on computers to receive and send SMS messages to users' mobile phones.
  • OnWorld chose iLab Southeast (InSTEDD)'s tool, Nuntium, an open source tool with the ability to access the cloud-based information and connect it with major mobile phone service providers in Cambodia. "Nuntium transmits SMS messages from the various telecom operators to OneWorld’s cloud-based Q&A platform, and back again."
Development Issues

Education, Reproductive Health, Youth

Key Points

This project takes into account research from BBC Media Action (2014) finding that 96% of Cambodian youth have mobile phone access, and 30% send and receive text or SMS messages as a basis for its SRHR eLearning platform.

Partners

OneWorld, Butterfly Works, the Reproductive Health Association of Cambodia (RHAC), the Cambodia Ministry of Education, Child Helpline Cambodia, Inthanou.

Sources

One World website, iLab Southeast Asia website, and ICTworks website, October 7 2015.