The Drum Beat 368 - Communication and Change News and Issues

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Department for International Development (DfID) Consultation: The UKP 100 million Global Transparency Fund

DfID has commenced consultations on this Fund.

• The proposed Criteria and Guidelines for the Fund can be seen by clicking here [PDF].
• Secretary of State Benn's introduction to this Consultation can be seen by scrolling down this page.
• This Fund was first announced in the UK Government White Paper - a summary of which can be seen here (where there is also a link to the full White Paper).

Communication and media, voice and debate are vital elements for any transparency process and are crucial parts of the rationale for the Fund and effective delivery of its important goals.

Please do contribute your critique of the present guidelines and suggestions to improve those guidelines. Contributions to the Consultation should be emailed to [email protected] The Consultation period closes November 8 2006.

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EXPERIENCES

1. Youth Outreach Programme (YOP) - Cameroon
This non-profit organisation focuses on building the capacity of Cameroonians between the ages of 5 and 30 so that they might participate fully in building their communities - taking up leadership roles and playing active roles in society with confidence. YOP draws on interpersonal exchanges - such as the ChangeMakers Project, which engages young men (aged 18-30) in the fight against HIV/AIDS by providing them with appropriate skills and information to adjust to new concepts and roles surrounding sexuality - as well as printed materials - such as the monthly reproductive health newsletter "Let's Talk" and a youth-managed village library. YOP also uses sports initiatives to develop leadership skills, self-esteem, self-confidence, and global citizenship in young people.
Contact Omer Songwe [email protected] OR Frida Luma [email protected]

2. Anti-Stigma HIV Prevention Project - Central America
This was a 3-year project launched in 2001 in an effort to reduce discrimination against commercial sex workers (CSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM). Pan American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO) used the mass media to raise public awareness, promote discussion, and challenge discriminatory attitudes through radio and television advertising campaigns on abstinence, condom use, women's ability to negotiate condom use, and partner reduction. Through these channels, human rights and sexual health information was presented to both vulnerable populations and potential or actual perpetrators of abuse, with strong emphasis placed on appropriate and effective reactions to abuse. Face-to-face, interpersonal activities were also carried out to provide information and empower CSWs and MSM to challenge human rights violations.
Contact Michael Holscher [email protected]

3. Next Generation of Teachers (Next Gen) - Asia-Pacific
Initiated by UNESCO, the Next Gen Project is designed to assist Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) in the Asia-Pacific region to prepare the next generation of teachers to use information and communication technologies (ICTs). The project began with a survey to examine to what extent there is provision of ICT training for teachers, specifically in pre-service teacher education, in 6 countries of the region. This survey, and a subsequent series of consultative meetings, will inform the design and development of a set of initiatives, approaches, resources and tools for participating TEIs. The aim is that "by 2008, all regional Member States will be in a position to offer teachers an education on how and when to best use technologies for teaching and learning, through training which is integrated in all national pre-service teacher training institutions in the Asia-Pacific region."
Contact Alan Jolliffe [email protected] OR Ms. Tanaporn Perapate [email protected]

4. Tuberculosis Film Broadcast - Global
This 25-minute documentary film about tuberculosis (TB) and TB/HIV was produced through a global partnership and broadcast to BBC World TV's 260 million global viewers in 2004. The purpose of the initiative is to reach out to the global public with informational and activist messages about TB, in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease. To ensure that as many people as possible watched the documentary during its week of transmission, Stop TB asked members of the public to spread the word by undertaking the following communication activities: posting a notice with the description and broadcast times on a website; circulating an email with the same information to constituents; directly informing key audiences about the broadcast, e.g., donors, policy makers, ministries, etc.; and watching, and then discussing, the film with others.
Contact Shalu Rosario [email protected]

5. Children's Video Project - Kenya
This project aims to give Kenyan children a voice in advocating for their rights and development by helping them identify and analyse issues that impact on their development. The goal is to improve communication among children, and between children and their immediate environment (parents, teachers, and development workers) and their wider environment (leaders and decision-makers). To foster this participation and reflection, the project offers consultation forum workshops in which children express their opinions, hopes, and desires about the world in which they live through child-friendly participatory methodologies such as role-play, puppetry, song, dance, modeling, and drawing. Children also take part in production workshops during which they analyse video magazines created by children from other villages, and learn basic production techniques to enable them to create videos that feature discussion about issues they themselves have voiced.
Contact Wajuhi Kamau [email protected]

6. Silk-Road Radio - Central Asia
Silk-Road Radio produces radio programmes and delivers educational messages to listeners in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. UNESCO Tashkent began by collecting ancient tales from the Silk Road in an anthology; Silk-Road Radio sought to continue this tradition, with stories in the form of radio dramas and reports, adapted to a modern context. Two educational soap operas focus on rural populations and urban youth, while accompanying short factual reports aim to reinforce the themes of the soap operas. The programming has touched on issues such as drug addiction, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, legal and human rights, privatisation and profitability of agriculture, and travel and trade restrictions. Silk-Road Radio has also produced CD and cassette compilations of audio programmes and educational storybooks.
Contact Bakhtiyor Khalikulov [email protected] OR Aziza Ataeva [email protected]

7. Who Counts? Campaign - United Kingdom
Mango's Who Counts? Campaign encourages non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide financial reports to their beneficiaries. Using this information, beneficiaries can see how funds are being used, which aims to create positive pressure in favour of dialogue between beneficiaries and agency staff. The campaign is based on the principle that informed beneficiaries are in a position to work with agency staff to make sure that funds are spent on their real priorities. At the same time, the strategy aims to reduce the risk of fraud and funds being spent on inappropriate activities. Mango publishes free, short information sheets to help support organisations that would like to participate in the campaign. These include information about why it is important to disclose how much organisations are spending, examples of good practice, and a how-to-guide.
Contact Alex Jacobs [email protected]

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Pulse Poll

Understanding the information and communication needs of people living in economic poverty is vital for development progress.

Do you agree or disagree?

[For context, please see The Drum Beat #367]

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EVALUATIONS

8. Sustainable Development Networking Programme, Pakistan: End of Project Evaluation Final Report
by Seán Ó Siochrú & Rizwan Rashid
The UNDP launched the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) globally in 1992; SDNP Pakistan was among the first national-level projects. Though the strategy of launching itself as an internet service provider (ISP) was found to be problematic, it "did, however, yield significant benefits on the development side. Even in its short existence it had pioneered ISP services in remote areas, pointing the way to later commercial arrivals. Its level of service and support was much higher, building the capacity of many NGOs and other non-commercial users. It provided differential tariffs, enabling many development bodies with low spending-power to begin using the Internet and the Web. Furthermore it pioneered the use of Linux in an ISP, an open source development-friendly software, and disseminated public domain software widely..."

9. From Fieldwork to Facts to Firearms Control: Research and Advocacy towards Firearm Control Legislation in South Africa - A Case Study
by Maylene Shung-King, Paula Proudlock & Lori Michelson
This case study examines the participation of the Child Health Policy Institute (CHPI) in a South African law reform process aimed at reducing firearm injuries and deaths among children in the 5-18-year-old age group. After a brief description of the political context in which the project was initiated, the study examines the research on firearm injuries and deaths in children conducted by the CHPI, focusing particularly on the communication of the research findings and the outcome of the associated advocacy efforts. The authors note that "...a decline in child firearm injuries at a large children's hospital in the study area has been observed....The extensive media coverage that the campaigns generated can be said to have shifted public mindset towards responsible gun ownership and gun usage."

10. Influence of Presumed Influence
by Albert C. Gunther & J. Douglas Storey
This paper explores the indirect influences of mass communication, examining a theoretical model - the indirect effects model, or influence of presumed influence approach - which proposes that an unintended audience of a campaign or communication may (1) perceive some effect of a message on others, and then (2) react to that perception by changing their own attitudes or behaviours. To examine one case of indirect effects on an unintended audience, this document draws on evaluation data from a maternal health campaign in Nepal that featured a serial radio drama ("Service Brings Reward") directed at clinic health workers. The evaluators conclude that many campaigns like this one may have unanticipated effects that help realise their goals - for instance, by taking advantage of these indirect effects purposively to enhance communication-based campaign impact.

TRENDS

11. Citizen Media Beats Big Media, YouTube Blows The Whistle
by Tom Siebert
This brief article explores an example of how e-enabled "citizen journalism" can be used to spur traditional, mass media coverage of a story - perhaps providing "further evidence that the Internet has given the average person a way to be heard." It describes the experience of a whistle-blower who, in August 2006, used YouTube - a free video hosting website which allows users to upload, view, and share video clips - as a medium for sharing his concerns about a financial transaction being carried out by his employer at the time, Lockheed Martin.

12. Analysis: Looking at Community Radio in Africa
In June 2006, the author of this analysis piece, Mike Hickcox of the United Methodist News Service, traveled to South Africa, Uganda and Kenya to visit some of the community radio stations being launched and sustained to share information and raise awareness. The trip was motivated by the following question/challenge: Can the United Methodist Church find ways to help its conferences in Africa reach the people, speak to their own members, and alleviate suffering - caused by HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other challenges of various kinds - through the development of community radio? This article details Hickcox's findings, tracing trends in this medium while also offering strategies for its continued effective use.

13. Inveneo and Green WiFi Announce Partnership to Jointly Develop and Deliver Solar-Powered WiFi to Remote and Rural Communities
Two United-States-based social enterprise groups - Inveneo and Green-WiFi - are working to distribute a low-cost, solar-powered mesh wireless networks products solution to improve ease of installation and to reduce costs for rural wireless networking around the world. Green WiFi's product, planned for limited trial release at the end of 2006/early 2007, consists of a small form factor solar-powered WiFi node, a battery, and an intelligent charge control system. In an effort to address what Green WiFi feels is the biggest barrier to bridging the digital divide, this "SoFi" solution has been developed to respond to the lack of reliable electricity in developing areas required to power the network.

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Promoting Innovative Programs from the Developing World: Towards Realizing the Health MDGs in Africa and Asia - Call for Proposals

The Global Development Network (GDN) invites proposals for its Fifth Global Research Project: Promoting Innovative Programs from the Developing World: Towards Realizing the Health MDGs in Africa and Asia. This 3-year, US$5.9 million project involves conducting impact evaluations and cost-effectiveness analyses of both about-to-be-launched and ongoing health and health-related programmes from the developing and transition world that are contributing to the achievement of 3 of the Millennium Development Goals (reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating diseases). The goal is to accumulate a body of empirical evidence to inform the decisions of national policymakers and international donors, as well as to assess the accuracy of quasi-experimental designs as a practical means of conducting evaluations on a routine basis. The process will involve capacity building and mentoring, funding and networking, and communication about and promotion of innovations.

Submissions are invited from researchers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and private sector organisations or governments who are from and/or operating in developing and transition countries. Deadline for submission: October 31 2006. Visit the GDN website for details on how to apply.

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MATERIALS

14. Reality Checks Content Analysis Kit
This kit is designed to assist in measuring how accurately a local newspaper represents the community's diversity, and to help stimulate discussion and dialogue about both this representation and the community in general. The Reality Checks kit seeks to help journalists make news coverage more inclusive and representative of their communities.

15. Monitoring and Evaluating Information and Communication for Development (ICD) Programmes
by Mary Myers
This document is designed to provide guidance on monitoring and evaluating information and communication for development programmes that use: face-to-face communication or information activities such as counselling or extension visits; community-level communications such as theatre, role-playing, workshops, posters and other print materials; TV, radio, film and video; internet and email communications programmes; and telecommunications-based projects. It introduces a range of approaches for users to choose from at various stages in programme design and evaluation.

16. Winds of Change
This illustrated board game is designed to help players learn about the risks of global warming as well as the complex connections of climate change in a playful, relaxed way. The game allows 2-4 players to play with the goal of developing a responsible discourse about the risks associated with climate change and keeping global warming under two degrees.

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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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