The Drum Beat 780 - When People Engage

• 1.The Community Life Competence Process (CLCP) and SALT
  CLCP is a community-based behaviour change approach designed to encourage communities to take ownership of their development challenges. Ownership: goes beyond consultation, engagement, and empowerment; drives action that will not be dependent on external stimulus; entails people asking for the resources and expertise they need to execute their own plans; involves a community appreciating the strengths it already has; and is based on the notion that a community can take sustainable action only when its members recognise, through dialogue, that they have a shared interest in a better future. The SALT acronym describes the model facilitators use when they accompany communities through CLCP.
   
• 2.Communication, Social Movements, and Collective Action: Special Section, Journal of Communication
  by Rafael Obregón, Ed. and Thomas Tufte, Ed.The articles in this special section of the Journal of Communication focus on how communication for development and social change (CDSC) principles are embedded within social movement research and practice. [Oct 2017]
   
• 3.Space to Be Heard: Mobilizing the Power of People to Reshape Civic Space
  by Inga Ferber, Barbara Oosters, Jo Rowlands, and Araddhya MehttaCivic space is defined as space "for citizens to associate, organize and act on issues of interest to them in the space outside the family, the state and the market." This Oxfam briefing note outlines 4 key changes necessary to reclaim and create civic space, ending with some key principles and an open invitation. [Jul 2018]
   
• 4.Influencing Policy and Civic Space: A Meta-Review of Oxfam's Policy Influence, Citizen Voice and Good Governance Effectiveness Reviews
  by Daniel Shephard, Anne Ellersiek, Johannes Meuer, and Christian RupiettaThis meta-review identifies 4 unique pathways that Oxfam contends contribute to the successful expansion of civic space and 2 pathways to successful policy change. Projects used Oxfam's Right to be Heard framework as they worked to transform power relations. [Apr 2018]
   
• 5.Engaging Citizens for Better Development Results: An Independent Evaluation
  "Citizen engagement" is a 2-way relationship that implies the existence of a tangible response to citizens' feedback. Case studies conducted for this evaluation of citizen engagement mechanisms used at the World Bank Group confirm the literature finding that "thick" approaches - those combining multiple tools to enable collective action and public sector responsiveness - are more promising than "thin" approaches that, for instance, do not include support to increase government's capacity to respond. [May 2018]
   
• 6.Understanding Activism: How International NGOs, Foundations and Others Can Provide Better Support to Social Movements
  by May Miller-DawkinsThis report from Rhize explores how activists in 10 countries experienced support from outsiders in countries where civic rights - to speak, assemble, organise, and receive financial and other support from overseas - are restricted. The aim is to provide insight into practices that can be adopted across civil society to ensure more effective support to nonviolent movements at the forefront of securing inclusive, participatory democracies. [Jul 2017]
   

• See also these past Drum Beats:
  * The Drum Beat 738 - Unpacking the Concept of Civic Space
  * The Drum Beat 767 - Social Shakes, Part I
  

• 7.Social Media and Elections
  by Andrew PuddephattPublished by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an invitation to debate, this paper analyses the potential impact of social media on the conduct and outcome of elections. Acknowledging the potential of these media to strengthen political participation and knowledge sharing, especially among those who might not otherwise have a voice, the paper also explores the more harmful effects, particularly in the Latin American context. [Sep 2019]
   
• 8.Childhood, Democracy and Freedom of Expression
  by Emilio García MéndezThis essay from the UNESCO Office in Montevideo is an invitation to critically revisit the right to freedom of expression of boys, girls, and adolescents. It was written in the context of our information and communication technology (ICT)-infused world, in which child and adolescent YouTubers, Instagram enthusiasts, and bloggers go online to let their peers and the adult world know what they wish and think, like and dislike. This includes expression via minority views and counter-current discourse forms. Yet, "Internet access without an adequate educational complement produces an empty tool that does not contribute to bridging inequality gaps..." [Oct 2019]
   
• 9.Increasing Citizen Voice and Government Responsiveness: What Does Success Really Look Like, and Who Decides?
  Based on findings from research supported by Making All Voices Count, this report explores varying visions of success for ICT for governance projects and their implications in 3 fields where ICTs are being used, at least in theory, to encourage and channel citizen voice into government and governance processes, and to improve government responsiveness. These 3 fields are: participatory policy- and strategy-making, participatory budgeting, and citizen feedback to improve service delivery.
   
• 10.Bridging the Gap: Rebuilding Citizen Trust in the Media
  by Anya Schiffrin, Beatrice Santa-Wood, Susanna De Martino, Ellen Hume, and Nicole PopeThe start-up Hivisasa is one organisation profiled in this publication, commissioned by the Open Society Foundation and Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Based in Nairobi, Hivisasa aims to connect writers to readers while providing coverage of neglected local Kenyan news. It runs social media accounts attached to the counties it serves, as a clearinghouse for reader comment on hyper-local stories. Trust is attributed to using a wide group of citizen journalists, engaging with local issues and audiences, and taking no political stance. [Nov 2017]
   

• See also these online resources:
  * Reveal: Tools to Support Community Transformation
  From Tearfund: "Reveal tools can be used to support a church and community mobilisation (CCM) process or to support other community development work."
  * 2018 Reimagining Democracy
  From CIVICUS, this web resource assembles multiple ways of collecting civil society views, including commissioned perspectives, open submissions, interviews, creative expressions, and reports from democracy dialogues.
  

• 11.Media, Participation and Healing: Community-Led Content to Overcome the Trauma of Conflict
  by Valentina BaúThis article reviews 4 media projects carried out in Sierra Leone in the aftermath of the 1991-2002 civil war. "[E]nabling community members to be the drivers of local peacebuilding processes using their knowledge, experience, communication and media skills can be a more effective avenue for groups to uncover a healing practice that comes from within rather than without, and which can ultimately transform trauma." [Apr 2018]
   
• 12.Combatting Corruption through Participatory Video
  by Gareth BenestThis guide was developed by InsightShare and Transparency International to assist participatory video practitioners to undertake corruption-focused projects and to encourage its uptake within the anti-corruption movement worldwide. It includes examples of how participatory video has been used to fight injustice in different contexts across Africa and Asia. [Mar 2019]
   
• 13.Assessing Impact, Evaluating Adaptability: A Decade of Radio La Benevolencija in Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC
  by Lauren KogenRadio La Benevolencija (RLB)'s core activities in Africa's Great Lakes Region include: edutainment radio dramas, weekly factual/journalistic radio and television programmes, and practical experiences for the audience created by implementing grassroots activities (e.g., listener groups and trainings of group members who can spread RLB's messages in their community by acting as role models and by passing on knowledge). One finding: Audience members have gained better understandings of the cycle of violence and methods used by politicians to manipulate audiences. [May 2014]
   
• 14.Alianza de Mujeres Tejedoras de Vida del Putumayo - Women Weavers of Life
  Mothers who were widowed in Colombia's armed conflict began to work as weavers to survive so that the social fabric of their villages would not crumble. In 2017, they participated in a British Council project, resulting in "Eco Radio Putumayo", a transmedia strategy project for the technical training of Putumayo women designed to provide a gradual path towards a technical and technological route for the region, post conflict. Based on the Radio Sutatenza model of the 1950s in Colombia, the training programme revolves around 3 main components: nature tourism, basic English for tourism, and formulation of community initiatives.
   
• 15.Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict
  "The more successful cases [examined in this report from the United Nations and World Bank] mobilized a coalition of domestic actors to influence incentives toward peace, bringing in the comparative advantages of civil society, including women's groups, the faith community, and the private sector to manage tensions. Decisive leadership provided incentives for peaceful contestation, not least by mobilizing narratives and appealing to norms and values that support peaceful resolution." [2018]
   
• See also:
  Participatory Communication, Theatre and Peace: Performance as a Tool for Change at the End of Conflict
  

• 16.What Do Participatory Approaches Have to Offer the Measurement of Empowerment of Women and Girls?
  by Julie Newton, Anouka van Eerdewijk, and Franz WongThis KIT Royal Tropical Institute paper considers how the "voice" of women and girls can feature more prominently in existing methods to quantify characteristics of women's and girls' empowerment from both political and technical standpoints. It highlights the value of participatory approaches to achieve this, presenting various examples. [Jan 2019]
   
• 17.Endline Study of the Nzotheka Project Implemented by Theatre for a Change
  by Tariq Omarshah and Andres NavarreteImplemented in Malawi by Theatre for a Change (TfaC), the Nzotheka Project aimed to empower women in sex work (WiSW), girls who have been sexually exploited, and girls at risk of sexual exploitation to assert their rights and better their lives. One finding: WiSW performers in interactive theatre and/or legislative theatre events report feeling better acknowledged by chiefs and other local stakeholders and more supported in joining local community policing committees, their participation in which can reduce some forms of violence. [Jul 2019]
   
• See also:
  A Safe Place to Shine: Creating Opportunities and Raising Voices of Adolescent Girls in Humanitarian Settings
  Women Weavers of Mampuján
  

• 18."Voice of the Voiceless": Learning from SORADI's Project to Strengthen Accountability in Hargeisa
  by Emma GrantAs part of the pilot project to strengthen accountability through citizen participation within the local council in Hargeisa, Somalia, stakeholder mapping to identify champions helped shape dialogues on reform, community fora, capacity building with local officials, and youth awareness raising. Key learnings on capacity building and advocacy are offered. [May 2018]
   
• 19.Poverty, Voice and Advocacy: A Haitian Study
  by Anton Simanowitz and Martin GreeleyThis Making All Voices Count paper examines the work of the Haitian non-profit organisation Fonkoze to give voice and promote downwards accountability to people, especially women who have experienced ultra-poverty, by enabling them to articulate their views via: national voice in an international policy agenda, and citizen voice in the national policy process. [Jan 2018]
   
• 20.The Effect of Civic Leadership Training on Citizen Engagement and Government Responsiveness: Experimental Evidence from the Philippines
  by Lily L. Tsai, Nina McMurry, and Swetha RajeswaranThis Making All Voices study provides evidence that civic training for community leaders has the potential to empower the economically poor to raise their voice and actively engage in local governance. The researchers suggest critical aspects for other development initiatives aimed at empowering marginalised groups. [Jan 2018]
   
• See also:
  How Can Evidence Bolster Citizen Action? Learning and Adapting for Accountable Public Health in Guatemala
  

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