The Drum Beat – Issue 513 – Regional Communication
October 12 2009
This issue includes:
* EVALUATING the promise of regional communication.
* How has The CI changed your work? CI STORIES.
* COLLABORATING for regional risk management.
* Your regional lens? POLL on social norm change and HIV/AIDS.
* ICTs bridging divides.
* Regional highlights from past e-NEWSLETTERS.
* Research for regional RIGHTS.
* Join fellow CI network members in our CI ASSOCIATES process!
From The Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development.
Subscribe to The Drum Beat: http://www.comminit.com/en/user/register
Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_513.html
Drum Beat Subscribers: 44,628
CI Portal User Sessions, past 12 months: 3,030,625
This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on regional initiatives and thinking – the «how» and the «why» of regional communication, with selections designed to illustrate and inspire thinking around the meanings and potential of regional cooperation. How do countries find commonalities and respect differences as they work together across boundaries? Below is just a small snapshot of CI summaries that show the shape of regional efforts to address a range of development issues with a variety of communication tools and strategies.
ASSESSING THE PROMISE OF REGIONAL COOPERATION
1. The Development Potential of Regional Programs: An Evaluation of World Bank Support of Multicountry Operations
This January 2007 report assesses the performance of the World Bank in its overseas development assistance support for regional development programmes worldwide over the fiscal years 1995-2005. The evaluation indicates that a majority of the 19 regional programmes evaluated have been (or appear likely to be) effective in achieving most of their development objectives. However, the regional relationships pose specific communication challenges. The evaluators explain that designing regional programmes so that they assign benefits and costs equitably among participating countries and effectively coordinate country and regional activities during implementation is key.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/267457
2. The Influence of HIV and AIDS Radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs): A Pan-Regional Experience
by Gary Mundy and Tracy Wyman
This August 2006 report examines exposure to HIV and AIDS PSAs (or «spots») broadcast on radio across Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. Amongst the learnings to emerge: Pan-regional interventions are likely to be dealing with very different audience needs. Thus, it is unlikely that PSAs will have uniform effects across participating countries. Also, there are challenges in developing a pan-regional radio campaign: PSA production had to account for audience differences in language, religion, media consumption, and cultural sensitivities, as well as and differing HIV and AIDS information needs across the intended countries and language groups.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/279591/347
3. Soul City Institute Regional Programme 2002 – 2007 Impact Evaluation Summary
This is a May 2008 evaluation of the Soul City Regional Programme (SCRP), an HIV/AIDS communication project which involves 8 southern African countries. The Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication identified local partners in each country who then, with support from Soul City, set up their own health communication programme. Overall, the 5-year evaluation of the SCRP shows substantial reach and impact of local media interventions. According to the report, a striking finding was a clear shift in HIV testing in all countries, with exposure to Soul City partner interventions associated with testing in all settings. Similarly, in all 8 countries the media interventions were clearly associated with knowledge about antiretroviral treatment (ART). In all 8 countries, stigma reduction associated with one or more of the media interventions was measured.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/280976/347
4. Keeping Avian Flu from Taking Flight
by David Brinn
This February 2006 article discusses the importance of regional cooperation and coordination in dealing with outbreaks of avian influenza. It chronicles Dr. Bina Rubinovitch, an Israeli expert in infectious diseases who was part of a team sent by the World Health Organization (WHO) to Turkey to assist with combating and controlling the spread of avian flu. The team was part of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), a collaboration of existing institutions and networks that pool technical and human resources to keep the international community aware and alert to the threat of outbreaks. The success of the GOARN team was largely attributed to the importance that was placed on regional cooperation, information sharing, and communication.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/219220/293
See also:
* Together We Can – Caribbean, Central America, Latin America, South America
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269617/347
SHARE YOUR CI STORY!
Through CI Stories, we are seeking stories of how members of The CI Network have used The CI to support their work, connect with others in the network, and/or highlight their work with demonstrated positive impact on their organisation or work.
* Have you had discussions with colleagues based on information you found through The CI?
* Have you found materials or contacts to support a new project through The CI?
* Have you distributed CI information to your communities in order to help inform them of what other communities are doing around similar issues?
View stories submitted by others here: http://www.comminit.com/en/cistories
Please tell us your story. Go to http://www.comminit.com/en/node/add/cistories (NOTE: you must be a registered, logged in user to submit a story).
COMMON CRISES, SHARED ENVIRONMENTS
5. Early Detection, Reporting and Surveillance for Avian Influenza in Africa (EDRSAIA) – East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa
Launched in October 2007, EDRSAIA focuses on building capacity for active highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) surveillance in 3 regions of Africa. The project’s participatory strategy involves talking to villagers in local communities, with the goal of helping to establish livestock disease prevalence, symptoms, recent outbreaks, and also the impacts of different animal diseases from their perspectives. This research is designed to create integrated regional disease investigation teams capable of carrying out active field investigations for HPAI and other emerging infectious diseases. Participatory disease surveillance manuals focused on HPAI intended for practitioners and trainers are being created to help sustain the capacity-building effort.
Contact: Saskia Hendrickx s.hendrickx@cgiar.org OR Jeff Mariner j.mariner@cgiar.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269374/293
6. Nile Basin Society (NBS) – Burundi, Congo (DRC), Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda
NBS is grounded in a commitment to involving civil society stakeholders in Nile Basin countries in regional efforts to increase global and local awareness of the Nile Basin water crisis, and to develop and communicate a widely shared vision of a desirable, sustainable water future between Nile riparian countries. NBS works to help local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) capitalise on information and communication technology (ICT) to increase interaction between NGOs in different Nile Basin countries. They work to provide information about appropriate technologies in communications, water management, irrigation, and agriculture and the companies that can supply them. They provide success stories in agricultural/water management that can be replicated elsewhere within the Basin.
Contact: Nabil M. El-Khodari webmaster@nilebasin.com
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/116985/306
7. Improving Media Coverage of Climate Change in South America – Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela
In April 2009, the BBC World Service Trust launched an initiative to improve media coverage of climate change in 6 countries across South America. In recognition of the fact that an educated media corps is empowered to raise awareness of climate change, organisers developed a series of seminars for government officials, politicians, and journalists. The initiative is also designed to encourage government officials to make the issue a priority and to highlight the importance of the 15th Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Copenhagen, Denmark, December 7-18 2009). To that end, the project is engaged in advocacy through work with government ministries in the 6 countries.
Contact: Javier Farje javier.farje@bbc.co.uk
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/297468/2754
See also:
* Soul City Regional Health Communication Programme – Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/135025/347
* Climate Information and Prediction Services (CLIPS) Ham Radio Project – Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/115990/306
Please VOTE!
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/287727/347
From your regional context and perspective, which should be the priority focus for social norm change related to HIV/AIDS prevention?
A focus on…:
* Male Circumcision
* One Sexual Partner
* Condom Use
* Knowledge of One’s HIV Status
* Stigma
* Rights
VOTE and COMMENT at http://www.comminit.com/en/node/287727/347
RESULTS thus far (October 8 2009):
A focus on…
28%: Condom Use
23%: One Sexual Partner
21%: Knowledge of One’s HIV Status
15%: Stigma
9%: Rights
4%: Male Circumcision
MEDIA AND ICT LINKAGES
8. Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) – South Asia, South East and East Asia, South Pacific
AMIC is an NGO actively engaged in communication documentation, research, training, publishing, and press development in the Asia-Pacific region. It helps provide a forum for exchange of views and opinions among communication scholars and practitioners in the region. AMIC also encourages the development of institutional capabilities to conduct appropriate research programmes through networking, exchange of research fellows, and joint research activities. AMIC’s key event is the flagship annual conference, hosted in rotation by countries across the Asia-Pacific region.
Contact: enquiries@amic.org.sg
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/117270/2754
9. South Pacific Islands Communication: Regional Perspectives, Local Issues
by Evengelia Papoutsaki (ed.) and Usha Sundar Harris (ed.)
This July 2008 collection of papers from the South Pacific Islands Communication Forum (SPICF) «aims to create better understanding of what affects the communication and information flow in smaller nations and how these impact on national development, governance and the creation of more cohesive societies. The value of such a book lies in the comparison it enables between different regions and countries at different levels of development.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/283967/2754
10. Southern African Development Community (SADC) Regional Media Development Project – Angola, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
This Institute for the Advancement of Journalism (IAJ) programme aims to ensure that the media in the southern Africa region plays its rightful role in the democratisation processes in the region. The project is building partnerships and establishing training programmes in an effort to ensure that media practitioners in Southern Africa provide relevant, accurate, and balanced coverage/information to the public. Previously, journalists from outside South Africa had to travel to Johannesburg, South Africa, for IAJ courses, but this project aims to ensure that programmes are organised in other SADC countries as well.
Contact: info@iaj.org.za
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/133200/348
11. Kids Waves – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
Kids Waves is a weekly radio programme produced by children for children and their communities. The programme concept is adapted to the local conditions and languages of 10 West African countries and is designed to raise awareness among children and adults about children’s rights and their responsibilities around those rights. Each radio show revolves around a theme linked to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and is broadcast on 110 radio stations across the region. Each week, producers travel from village to village to train 12 children to produce and host radio shows. The 30-minute radio shows are recorded live – a strategy for giving parents, community leaders, and local authorities the opportunity to discuss issues that are relevant and interesting to children.
Contact: childrenmedia@plan-international.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/272374/303
See also:
* Pan-African Research Agenda on the Pedagogical Integration of ICTs – Africa
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/297742/307
* Youth Networking, Education and Communications Channels Across the Circumpolar Region: A Preliminary Exploration
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/265222/307
See also these past issues of The Drum Beat and The Soul Beat, which highlight regional action:
The Drum Beat 283 – Tsunami Communication Responses
http://www.comminit.com/en/drum_beat_283.html
The Soul Beat 87 – Communication for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/soul-beat-87.html
REGIONAL ACTION AND ADVOCACY
12. Active Citizenship and Gendered Social Entitlements (ACGEN) – Egypt, Lebanon, Palestinian Territory
This regional action-research project explores the relationship between the state, NGOs, and active citizens in bridging the gender gap in health, education, and welfare. As the first step in its effort to build local and regional cooperation and partnership among scholars, development practitioners, NGOs, grassroots groups, and other actors across Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine, ACGEN established a research network to act as the core reference group for this project: the Machreq Research Network for Active Citizenship (MARNAC). Regional workshops and local workshops have been held. The findings are being used to design a regional advocacy campaign aimed at raising public awareness of active citizenship and gendered social entitlements. Then, a comprehensive programme will be undertaken to build the capacity of local NGOs to promote the concept and practice of women’s active citizenship.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/133470/348
13. Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania (PATRIR) – Eastern Europe
PATRIR links scholars, grassroots activists, and peace researchers throughout Romania, South-Eastern Europe, and internationally. By combining research with active peace work and peaceful conflict resolution, PATRIR cooperates with researchers, students, individuals, governments, and civil society groups to address the structural transformations and challenges facing the countries of Eastern Europe. Its research institute, training centre, and centre for peace action are designed to strengthen cooperation between Romanian organisations, to spark regional cooperation throughout Eastern Europe, and to forge linkages with similar peace and development organisations working in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Western Europe, and North America.
Contact: info@patrir.ro
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/116320
14. Regional Networking as Transnational Feminism: African Experiences
by Aili Mari Tripp
This article, from 2005, offers an overview of the influence of transnational advocacy on African states to increase female political representation. The article argues that the most important transnational dialogues influencing domestic movements and national policy within Africa are regional discussions and regional diffusions of ideas, norms, practices and strategies. It aims to demonstrate how important continental and sub-regional influences are for domestic politics, serving as a critical conduct for changing international norms.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/221020
15. The Right to Information in Latin America: A Comparative Legal Survey
by Toby Mendel
This book, published in 2009, is written to help clarify some of the tensions and challenges of drafting or promoting legislation guaranteeing the right to information. Working from a Latin American regional, comparative perspective, it illustrates the approaches taken to enacting right to information legislation in 11 countries in the region.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/299821/348
16. Enhancing Gender Equality in the Media in Eastern Africa: A Regional Study by Eastern Africa Journalists Association (EAJA)
by Tervil Okoko Tom
This January 2008 EAJA study looks at gender equality in the media in East Africa. The report explores issues related to the violation of rights of women journalists, opportunities for training, levels of education, the work environment, media coverage of gender issues, portrayal of women, and whether women are equally represented in decision-making levels and in leadership positions. Amongst the recommendations made in the report: EAJA should formulate a comprehensive regional gender-sensitive policy framework which mainstreams gender into its structures, programmes, and processes.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/279441/2754
See also:
* HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Advocacy Resource Manual
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269567/347
BECOME A CI ASSOCIATE
The CI Partners seek the engagement of your office as a CI Associate in order to preserve, sustain, and advance this growing knowledge sharing and strategic development process.
Please consider within your organisation the possibility of supporting The CI’s work through the CI Associates process. For details and to sign up, please see http://www.comminit.com/en/ci_associates/ Also, please see Warren Feek’s note in The Drum Beat 501 –http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_501.html – Thank you.
This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.
The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – ANDI, BBC World Service Trust, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Calandria, CFSC Consortium, CIDA, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano, Ford Foundation, Healthlink Worldwide, Inter-American Development Bank, International Institute for Communication and Development, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, PAHO, The Panos Institute, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, WHO, W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com
Blog de Octavio Islas 