The Drum Beat 125 - Communication and Change News and Issues

A very happy new year to all.

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1. Children's Assembly - Bihar, India - In Oct 2001, 183 children aged 10 to 17 drawn from different districts of Bihar took over the Bihar Legislative Council's special assembly hall to hold their own day long session, with the Council Chairman as observer. The participants, both girls and boys, were drawn from various backgrounds - award winners, non-formal schools, shelter homes, government schools. Role-plays, picture-language sessions and discussions formed part of the process. After 2 days of brain-storming exercises, they presented their concerns on the Global Movement for Children agenda. Contact Augustine Veliath [email protected]

2. VISION - Nigeria - a project initiated by EngenderHealth to improve family planning and reproductive health services and to assist USAID/Nigeria in developing a strategic framework for the future of its family planning and reproductive health programme. VISION also aims to establish models of high-impact, high-performing family planning and reproductive health service delivery networks across 3 states - Bauchi, Enugu and Oyo. The programme models in these states will be tested by 5 local government authorities per state. Contact Theresa Kim [email protected]

3. Non-Violent Week at School - Western Europe - an awareness raising campaign to prevent violence and promote school wellbeing was held Oct 8-12, 2001. Non Violent Week is an activity of the CONNECT-fi 006 Network activities. The aim is to place safety and social wellbeing on the school agenda in the beginning of the school year. Several schools in Finland, Ireland and Norway organised various activities during the week. Posters were used to announce the campaign. These are available in English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish. Contact Ulla Salomäki [email protected]

4. Study on Community Orientation to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care & Support - South Africa - The Bambisanani Project involves development and implementation of home-based care systems in an area of the Eastern Cape strongly affected by high levels of migrancy-related HIV/AIDS prevalence. The study was conducted in primary (ave. age 13) and high schools (ave. age 18), with the addition of a household survey (ave. age 40) in each of 3 areas. It reports on community responses in terms of a wide range of indicators, and outlines the problems of developing an integrated response to HIV/AIDS in deep rural areas. Recommendations for project implementation, and for monitoring and evaluation are presented in the report. Contact Warren Parker [email protected]

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The next DB Classifieds - Vacancies will be issued Jan 16.

Please contact Carey Hooge to advertise your vacant posts - [email protected]

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5. Rory Peck Trust - Global - promotes the work, safety and security of freelancers working in news and current affairs broadcasting worldwide. The Trust subsidises training in hostile environments, advises on insurance and provides financial support to the families of those killed or seriously injured during the course of their work. Contact [email protected]

6. Media Centre de Dakar - Senegal - has trained over 50 young women and men, aged 16-30, in all aspects of current audio-visual production. Beyond comprehensive technical training, coursework includes units on film theory, script writing, graphic design, research, and approaches to participatory communication. As of August 2001, 20 student films had been completed which deal with a wide range of community issues: child labor, genital mutilation, drug abuse, alcoholism, environmental abuses, etc. Contact Sonia Marcus [email protected]

7. Streetwize Publications - Australia - addresses issues of concern to young people and other target audiences by using stories from their lives. Streetwize has produced hundreds of resources on a wide variety of subjects and formats, including comics, magasines, brochures, posters and infocards. Some examples include: Show, Not Tell - a series of comics about HIV/AIDS for the Vietnam Youth Foundation in Hanoi; Reconciliation - a comic, poster and kit looking at the issues of Reconciliation from young people?s perspective and how they can get involved in the process; and, It?s Not Right - a resource for indigenous women on the subject of family violence. Contact [email protected]

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The 2nd round of the Call for Opinions on Competencies: Communication for Development/Social Change is underway. This second survey takes 15-20 minutes to complete.
Please contribute

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STRATEGIC THINKING

8. TB and HIV: Counseling & Testing in Tandem - Cote d'Ivoire - HIV counseling and testing services were established at the 2 tuberculosis centers in Abidjan in 1989 and were extended to 6 centers in the interior in the first half of 1994. Characteristics of counseled patients, acceptance rates of HIV testing, and HIV serologic results were analyzed for all 8 centers from 1994 to 1996. Temporal trends in HIV seropositivity rates were examined for 2 two centers of Abidjan from 1989 to 1996. Contact Dr Lucien Y Abouya [email protected]

9. Assessment of the Level of Implementation of the Zimbabwe National HIV/AIDS Policy & Accessibilty of the National AIDS Trust Fund by Civil Society, by Felicity Lydia Sekai Hatendi - this study, undertaken between Aug and Oct 2001, sought to ascertain levels of awareness about the 1999 Zimbabwe National Policy on HIV/AIDS document and National AIDS Council Funds by Civil Society (including NGOs), progress in the implementation of these initiatives and make recommendations for their improvement. Contact [email protected]

EVENTS

10. Let Africa Live! 1st African Young People Aids Coalition will be held Jan 23, 2002 in Mombasa, Kenya. The conference will focus on the prevention needs of young people and look for appropriate ways capable of bridging the existing communication, language, and experience sharing gap between young HIV/AIDS activists in Africa. Contact [email protected]

11. International Conference On Renewable Energy For Rural Development will be held Jan 19-21, 2002 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Considers future technologies, in the medium- to long-term time frame, to address the technical issues for future development of these renewable energy sources. Contact A.K.M. Sadrul Islam [email protected]

WEB SITES

12. Itrainonline - offers materials and links to resources on topics ranging from computer and Internet basics to highly technical areas and the ways that civil society and development organisations can increase their impact using these tools. 

13. Recycle World International Non-profit Corporation (RWINC) - a group of professionals from Canada and Chile who are working to provide used, recycled and refurbished equipment to be sold at the lowest price possible or donated toward the neediest sectors.

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Sophie K. Ly, Secretary General of AMARC for the past 7 yrs, has been succeeded by Marcelo Solervicens. Mr. Solervicens has experience in the field of community radio, international relations and other social issues. He began working with AMARC on Dec 1, 2001 and took full charge on Jan 1, 2002.

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MATERIALS

14. 'Latin Politics, Global Media' edited by Elizabeth Fox & Silvio Waisbord - 13 media experts examine how the intersection of globalisation and democratisation has transformed media systems and policies throughout Latin America. Contact [email protected]

15. Empowering Young Workers in the Coffee Industry: The Example of CESESMA, by Harry Shier - gives an overview of experience working in development projects for youth employed in the coffee-growing area of Matagalpa, Nicaragua. The work involves a wide range of methods, including regular workshops, practical work around organic agriculture, traditional crafts, music and dance, and active back-up and support for the promotional work the young people themselves are carrying out in their own communities. Contact [email protected]

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

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