Advancing Communication and Media for Development - Consultation - East and Southern Africa

I would like you and other participating members to consider:

• Local langauges especially the minority languages to make sure that communication is understood at the lowest level to any given community.

• the funding most be  a long term initiatives/project not a fly by night communinction for development project  that will left people whether the project was meant for their developkent or the implementors to make money

• Clear communication structures must be put in place in communities for easy monitoring and evaluation purposes.

• Local stakeholders must be involved in the design,planning and implementation of the Communication for Development Project.

• Local Norms,Ethos,value and cultural practices must be considered when carrying out the Communication for Development Project.

Thank you

Warm Regards

James Mukwindidza
Director/Producer
Vuka Afrika Performing Arts Trust
Highfield Social Services,Harare,Zimbabwe

priorities

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What priority goals and themes would you propose as the focus of such a possible global mechanism to support you advancing your work?

Advocacy and creation of awareness on the need and value of C4D Targeting key stakeholders/ influencers such as programmes officer, proposal writers and Donors, Government, NGOs, Implementing partners, Without their buy in C4D is not factored in the proposals and approved budgets

Capacity building/Training of C4D specialists. (e.g. Developing a training module, national workshops targeting lecturers and learners). In my context Universities are  focused on journalism and PR curriculum with little or nothing on C4D,

What strategic approach should such a possible mechanism take to work towards those goals?

Engage academic institutions for short high value courses to re orient both students and lecturers.

Build partnerships and alliances

How would you recommend that such a mechanism be structured and organised?

Appoint national focal person who report to report to global focal person

Focal person to draw up engagement strategy plus workplan with key deliverables

Some of the focal person key result areas could be, to engage academic institutions,  organize a national conference or  organize meet up at individual institution level /presentations, Create a contact data base

Allocate resources  to carry out above activities

Caroline Hungwe

Just to add to what other have contributed.

What priority goals and themes would you propose as the focus of such a possible mechanism?

In my view some of the issues that the the social and behaviour change, communication and media for development field can focus on the followis as regards priority goals and themes:

• maximizing community capabilities and strengths in fostering and sustaining development and influence positive behavior change. C4D should should provide a platform and facilitate local participation in development dialogues and decision making process.
• Another area is the provision of public space for the representation of the voiceless and oppressed social groups

2.   What strategic approach should such a possible mechanism take to work towards those goals

• Provide an opportunity for development ideas to originate from the grassroots. There has to be inclusion of the indigenous knowledge systems in deliberative dialogue. Capitalise on the use of indigenous modes of communication

3.   How would you recommend that such a mechanism be structured and organized?

• There should be a technical forum that would be tasked to be sharing knowledge on new development trends on communication
• There should be communication forums at the lower/level as well that would be tasked to facilitate communication for development at that level

Joshua Chirwa

Development Broadcasting Unit (DBU)

Malawi

Advancing Communication and Media for Development - Consultation - East and Southern Africa

Mine is a very simplistic line of thinking and response.

Priority goals and themes

- Every household reached with personally relevant C4D: Getting economic and socially self replicating and sustaining C4D in every household.

- Every household informed with relevant C4D: Giving the households C4D that allows for informed decision making

- Every households development decision identified and respected: Taking informed decision making to household action. Every household should become its members social saftey net.   

Strategic approach

- Reach the house hold with culturally appropriate C4D. (The beneficiaries are niether backward nor ignorant. Share, do not teach. Development is not technological advancement. The cellphone, pad and computer are not always the answer)

- You will reach the masses on their terms and not yours: Acedemic approaches only benefit the academics. The questions should be "what can the beneficiary do with what they have physically, financially, academically and socially at their disposal". "How can we ALL make cultural change possible in a world of traditional intollerance and neo-colonialism"

How would you recommend that such a mechanism be structured and organised?

- Community level facilitation teams made of (long term/lifetime) locals integrated into both cultural/traditional and government structures

        - Allow the communities to undergo a facilitated review of themselves in a way in which both the facilitator and the community share and take away best practices. If only one way is seen as the correct way then we assume that th community has no right/reason to be alive and that they are here and now by mistake or a quirk of nature.

      - Do not force households to join the rat race when they are running their own race. C4D should never be allowed to become communication for consumerism, profit and greed. Questions should be like "how can my household avoid illness with what we have"? as opposed to "how do I get enough money to buy the water purifying agent and refills from country x"? 

Raymond Mwanza - NZP+ - Zambia

Please Respond and contribute at this link

Advancing Communication and Media for Development - Consultation - East and Southern Africa

Some thoughts on these questions

What priority goals and themes would you propose as the focus of such a possible global mechanism to support you advancing your work?

Advocacy needs an exciting and human faced medium to really engage and promote change and we can not ignore live theatre that can uniquely provide a human face to statistics and provide solutions from the real experts  eg. those who are affected by bad policy and tired governance.  Legislative Theatre makes this happen.

What strategic approach should such a possible mechanism take to work towards those goals?

“Legislative Theatre” invented and pioneered by August Boal is a mechanism of the people, for the people and by the people yet it can be at the heart of any governments policy and law making process. Governments that ignore the needs of great sections of their people can only function badly and this process can seriously improve good governance.

How would you recommend that such a mechanism be structured and organised?

It is not only the domain of actors and artists to solely promote this innovative way of creating human cantered solutions through laws and policy. Increasingly people in many countries are beginning to question their politicians about their remote positions, their corruption or their disregard for the people who are feeling left behind. Governments have a need to survive so they will NEED to structure in opportunities for more people to participate in their own development and do that at the top of the chain. Using Legislative Theatre addresses many of these problems for both people and governments.

Advantages of this system are many

•           We put a human face on policy,

•           We have the ability to play it out into alternative futures, say 5 or 10 or 20 years into the future

•           The law or policy is closer to the people it will effect

•           The people have a real stake in determining their own futures

•           People are closer to power and understanding the political process.

•           Politicians get a closer understanding of how issues effect real peoples lives

•           The participants have had their say in an accessible way.

•           The process has been scrutinized and truly engaged with.

•           Laws are robust and more future proof

•           This format is less likely than other participative political processes of being hijacked by political extremes or agendas

 Shall we do this ?

Bill Hamblett

Small World Theatre

Responding to an earlier comment on advocacy. It is an integrat part of C4D essential for achieving political influence, social change and cultural transformation.  

However, its potential and value as an essential element of development programming is yet to be fully harnessed, maximized and appropriated. As an expression, advocacy has been used, misused, abused or overused for different reasons in different settings in development work. It has also been criticised on various grounds. Some critics describe it as ‘development sophistry’ while other calls it ‘a good word gone badly’. Some of the negative connotations of advocacy have prompted some commentators to ‘advocate’ for advocacy to reclaim itself. Thus, from both conceptual and practical perspectives, there is a need for a better understanding and appreciation of the fundamental principles of advocacy to inform its practice.

Adebayo Fayoyin

Re: Advancing Communication and Media for Development - East and Southern Africa

In my view we should acknowledge that local communities already have modes of communication. The C4D should therefore adapt to such modes of communication. In this case the project officers can only ensure that communities are effectively dialoguing amongst themselves and with service providers on development related issues using elements of C4D. This will ensure sustainability even when projects phase out.

Joshua Chirwa

Development Broadcasting Unit (DBU)

Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)

I had an interestibg communication from someone in Gainsville Florida USA asking about legislative theatre and unfortunately I have lost the contact e mail address and sorry to say their name from my inbox

If you are that person or someone else interested in participatory politics using theatre and  would like to get my take on legislative Theatre please email me at Info@smallworld.org.uk

Bill Hamblett

Advancing Communication and Media for Development - Consultation - East and Southern Africa

During my work in the region I have noted some organizations are communicating to themselves (partners/donors/Govt) in meetings. Communication of critical challenges e.g. child marriage, human or wildlife trafficking is done through twitter messages, programe launch or update news story, pictures with beneficiaries wearing Tshirts, short process video documentaries featuring high profile stakeholders etc… and ticking M and E boxes event or awareness communication done.  Much as the donors will be pleased with visibility, the question remains how this has benefitted the beneficiaries. Programme coordinators are not balancing their fundraising needs and project beneficiaries communication needs. 

One of the challenges could be emanating from project proposal stage, where communication activities are not clearly articulated, and more importantly financiers who approve and fund projects which ignore the critical component of C4D despite evidence such strategies would have impact to activities they are investing in. As such I think there is need to sensitize Funders/Donors on the impact of C4D. 

Caroline

Independent C4D Consultant Zimbabwe

Dear All, 

I will be echoing previous commenters if i said that this conversation is long overdue. As a young straight out of an African student, it was hard to find a African Univeristy in Southern Africa that offered communication for development as a full course and not as an elective. I faced this challenge when i was first applying for University in 2010 for a 2011 January academic year. This led me to having to do a double major course from the University of Namibia. My undergraduate first major was in Media Studies and my second major was in Geography and Environmental Studies just so i could have some sort of wholistic view of some sort of C4D. It is to be noted that my selection of my two majors where mostly welcomed with perplaxing remarks from friends and fellow classmates when they often questioned what i would end up working as. This would sometimes concern me but i would always see that as an opportunity to educate them on firstly environmental communication and also on communication for development.  

After complementing my undergraduate studies in 2014, I wanted to pursue C4D at post graduate level but again there was no University in Southern Africa that offered it. As a result, I went for a Master in Environmental Education from Rhodes University in South Africa. Now, being well read and being the author of my own research i decided to shape my study in such a way that it would give me experience in the field of C4D and at the same time in community learning. As a result, my research was around networked learning and expansion into a radio programming on rainwater harvesting in promoting food security among rural small holder farmers and homestead food growers. Despite using education theoretical frameworks i tried by all means to further use a participatory communication approach through using a stimulated radio listening club model as my tool. This was done so that i could deliberately read more on communication for development and have some sort of experience in it. I have since finished my masters' and i will be graduating with a distinction in my thesis from Rhodes University in South Africa next month.

My point is that, due to the lack of C4D courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level in Southern African Universities is causing students to become more creative in their course selection combination just so they can attain what they wish to pursue as a career. It really takes a lot for one to actually think and chase after their dreams. Many give up and only a few find means to pursue what they long for. So, having C4D courses wouldn't be a bad idea. 

Chisala

Thanks Cleofe, Thanks Tom and everyone who has posted hitherto: This is an excellent debate. Whilst we are talking about the quantity of university spaces where C4D is being taught, I want to focus on the quality of these training opportunities. Here are my few cents.

1.     The learning and training needs of C4D are changing significantly especially in practice; To borrow Silvio waisbord’s terminology, there is a ‘gap in theory and practice’ – a kind of lack of appreciation of how the changes in practice demand changes in the way we teach the discipline. In fact, my own struggles in theory and practice lead me to argue that C4D is more of an epistemological perspective in studying and doing development than it is a discipline.

2.     It is mostly communication, journalism or media departments offering these C4D training programmes - save for the East Anglia and Reading Masters programmes which are offered within development studies-related programmes. As Quebral observes, to produce a C4D expert, a student must understand development as a subject/discipline: How does one communicate about an issue they have no understanding of? We cannot avoid partnership with development studies because a critical examination of their offerings shows that they are covering C4D issues and topics even if they do not define them as such.

3.     Is C4D really a distinct field? After coming back from practice, I am having serious doubts. We should be moving towards training development experts who should employ media and communication skills (over and above other skills, such as leadership etc) as pathways towards bringing communities on board development processes. There is some widely held problematic thinking that C4D is something distinct from what is already going on in development practice. We hear of moves to start developing specific C4D indicators. In development practice, it is clear that sectors (health, agriculture etc) are already employing C4D (they just don't call it so) - and instead of trying to develop a distinct brand, we need to consolidate what is already taking place on the ground.

4.     To teach C4D requires that curricula be development programme-based if the content has to be relevant. There is no excuse nowadays because even in the global north, challenging development questions have remained unanswered – poverty, marginalization, homelessness, unemployment etc – and there are institutions and government departments that offer C4D training an opportunity for project-based learning. We cannot claim to be producing C4D experts if all students learn are theories and concepts.

5.     Pedagogy of C4D is a significant factor too. How do we teach students in ways that enable them acquire skills for living and engaging with people? The teaching of C4D requires a different kind of teacher, not just the “smart textbook professor” to borrow bell hooks (1994) term, but one who challenges students to become tolerant, to become empathetic, and humane.

Otherwise, Alfonso Gumucio Dagron and Clemencia Rodriguez  published a wonderful article on the same, “Time to call things by their name”

More recently, I reviewed approaches in some C4D training programmes in universities

Linje

Linje Manyozo

RMIT University

Melbourne, Australia

Hi All / Hi Warren!

Curious on the status of this initative. Anywhere I should look?

Cheers & Thanks,

 Aaron