Open an I+C+E Pack

"New words or concepts get coined every single day. Most of the time, these words or concepts, popularly called catch words or in-thing concepts, get coined or floated by certain quarters who have little or no real time experience of the existing ground realities. Such words and concepts move top down rather than the reverse - bottom up. It should be bottom up because experiences can help shape words and concepts for effective use by numerous groups, especially those working and toiling within the 'development sector'."

This 4-page article examines one such string of words: "IEC", or "Information Education Communication". Author Sanjay Joshi notes that development practitioners use this phrase without really understanding or clarifying what each of its three independent components signifies, and without ensuring that the objective of IEC "touches the participating communities". Joshi attempts to disentangle these concepts in the following excerpted material:

1. "Information: Information does not merely mean providing information or a glut of information. The first important thing is providing correct and need based information to the participating communities within a context. This information is the basis for a dialogue with the community, through various forms of communication. This means communication has already begun and within this process information is argued and tested because information 'given' and 'received' are from different perspectives....This dialogue actually shapes the information which is relevant and becomes viable both for the 'giver' who is within the realm of their objectives and useful for the participating community. In short, the information through a two way communication process, shapes the information which is realistic and useful and when practiced and sharpened becomes knowledge.
2. Communication: ...Sadly, communication as a word or a concept or a science if you may call it, has popularly come to mean posters, charts, brochures, slide shows, films, puppet shows...the list is endless. These, incedently are mere
   vehicles to allow the information to move up and down, right or left or even in an undefined direction if you please....this information has to be argued and tested and made relevant and useful for the participating communities. Hence communication as a process allows the information, laced with experience, to be shaped in such a manner that it adds on to the bank of knowledge. This bank of
   knowledge then leads to education.
3. Education: Education is a state of being. It is an amalgamation of
   relevant and useful information and sensitive communication initiated through a process. When this new information is practiced several times and gets sharpened to reduce flaws. The final process that emerges is a state of being educated - or education that is shared with others."

Unfortunately, Joshi argues, "IEC has been reduced to the number of materials developed and displayed or stacked in store rooms for want of prospective users...IEC churns out numbers without any sensitive process initiated and it does not mean providing information or leading to education. It's the giver of IEC that is more important rather than the receiver - in actuality the participating communities."

Joshi suggests that practitioners should be using and engaging with a different set of words: "Information Communication leading to Education", or "ICE". ICE is a continuous dialoguing process, the purpose of which is to raise awareness to a level that leads to action - which in turn informs another cycle of dialogue and learning. "It is not easy because it has to be done without allowing any superiority coming into the process. The giver and receiver category is not relevant here. The level and flow is on equal terms."

Despite the challenges associated with ICE, Joshi claims that the process "not only allows achieving the set objectives, but has other outcomes that may be incidental but have a far greater impact." To illustrate this impact, Joshi cites two examples, drawing on the experiences of India's Centre for Environment Education (CEE). As part of the Jalsankalp Project (click here for a summary), video was used as a communication tool to help raise awareness. Using a news format, an-hour long video was recorded to showcase the work being carried out by the village water committee ("Pani Samiti"); opinions of leaders, women, and children were gathered. The entire video was "telecast" that very evening though village dish connections. Joshi claims that "The leaders were able to share what they had done for the village, while the village was able to share what they felt and how they plan to support the efforts. It created a dialogue in the village and had a repeat value since the faces were recognized by the village viewer. ICE had been initiated here." A summary of Woman's World, the other project Joshi highlights as an example of ICE, may be accessed by clicking here.

In short, Joshi urges that the ICE concept be integrated into development discourse, concluding that "IEC is passé."

To request a copy of the full publication in PDF format, please contact the author.