4699 The Communication Initiative, The Drum Beat – Issue 538 – Communication and Change News and Issues

The Drum Beat – Issue 538 – Communication and Change News and Issues
April 19 2010

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This issue includes:

* Selected STRATEGIC THINKING summaries.
* Check out the latest CI ASSOCIATES.
* C4D EXPERIENCES from around the world.
* Weigh in: ICTs for empathy?
* EVALUATING communication for change.
* In need? CAPACITY BUILDING: social and behaviour change.

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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_538.html

Drum Beat Subscribers: 45,287
Page Views across The CI website, since Jan 1 2010: 1,197,911

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This issue of The Drum Beat features a small selection of recent summaries available on The Communication Initiative website from 3 of our knowledge sections – Strategic Thinking, Experiences, and Evaluations – which illustrate how communication and media are contributing to positive development action, around the world.

Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and materials information on communication for development at any time. Contact Deborah Heimann at dheimann@comminit.com

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STRATEGIC THINKING
http://www.comminit.com/en/thinking.html

1.      Will Ramón Finish Sixth Grade? Positive Deviance for Student Retention in Rural Argentina
by Lucía Durá and Arvind Singhal
Positive Deviance (PD) is an asset-based, problem-solving, community-driven approach designed to enable the community to discover successful behaviours and strategies and develop a plan of action to promote their adoption by all concerned. Published in January 2009, this report explores the application of PD in elementary schools in Misiones, Argentina. «As poor subsistence farmers, parents were not used to being asked for their opinion. Yet…[t]hey worked intuitively, discussing their own experiences in overcoming hardships to keep their children in school and identifying ways that their neighbors had been able to do the same; thus began the process of self-discovery.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/307535

2.      Empowerment and Involvement of Tuberculosis Patients in Tuberculosis Control
by Jean Macq
From the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Stop TB Partnership, this February 2007 report explores strategies for empowering and involving patients with tuberculosis (TB) in the management of their disease. It presents the results of a review of the available literature with the intention of identifying possible trends and conclusions and suggesting ways of informing policymakers and further research. It details lessons learned and gives tables of studies that describe TB patient empowerment interventions; tables of programme evaluations of interventions that aim to strengthen adherence to treatment, strengthen involvement through groups and clubs, institute more patient-centred treatment; and a table of tools and methods for assessing the effects of interventions in patients’ lives.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/266449/38

3.      Knowledge to Policy: Making the Most of Development Research
by Fred Carden
This April 2009 report examines the consequences of 23 research projects funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Key findings and case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America are presented in order to investigate the effects of research in the field of international development. It sets out to show how research can contribute to better governance in at least 3 ways: by encouraging open inquiry and debate; by empowering people with the knowledge to hold governments accountable; and by enlarging the array of policy options and solutions available to the policy process. It discusses a range of issues that determine how much effect research studies have on the bureaus, legislatures, and administration of governments in developing countries.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/300425/348

4.      Is ‘Doing Your Bit’ Enough?
by Richard Docwra
In this September 2007 document, Richard Docwra questions whether the strategy commonly used to seek behavioural change on environmental issues – asking people to make a few small changes to their lives – is flawed. he advocates for strengthening the approach to seeking small behaviour changes by adding information about the relative impact of small changes and by making these steps part of a long-term strategy that would include a clear long-term vision of what an individual’s life will look like if the changes are successful.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/272065/306

5.      Poetic Engagement with Afghanistan, Caucasus and Iran: An Unexplored Strategic Opportunity?
by Anthony Judge
This February 2009 paper explores the role of poetry in the midst of chaos, highlighting the strategic challenge of engaging with another through poetry, where the aesthetic values may be radically different. Author Anthony Judge asks: why is poetry valued in cultures with which effective engagement has been frustrated over many years, and what are the fruitful rules of engagement within that framework? Judge makes the case for enabling skills that combine improvisation, interaction, debate responsive to radically divisive socio-political and ideological issues, and cultural sensitivity.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/294753

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CI ASSOCIATES
http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/members

Our thanks to the following NEW CI Associates

* Coady International Institute
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/313546

* Building Capacities for Better Health in Africa (BCH AFRICA) Cameroon
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/313058

Their support goes directly to the services we provide to The CI Network through the website, The Drum Beat, and all of our interactive platforms.

Please consider joining these and other CI Associates who are helping preserve, sustain, and advance this growing knowledge sharing and social networking process. Many levels of participation are open!

For a full list of current CI Associates, please see http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/members

For details and to sign up, please see http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/register Thank you.

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EXPERIENCES
http://www.comminit.com/en/experiences.html

6.      Women Wake Up (WOWAP) – Tanzania
WOWAP is an NGO fighting against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Tanzania. The organisation trains community-based leaders or change agents who encourage dialogue within communities and mobilise support from religious leaders, teachers, and ward and village government officials to fight for the elimination of FGM. After 6 months of project life, it appeared that the project had successfully mobilised a number of people as anti-FGM advocates, encouraged trainees to abandon their own support of FGM, and sensitised the community about the harmful effects of FGM.
Contact: http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=a55b04922b4cda5cb659e92f0e348e02
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/134650/38

7.      Kilna Bil Hayy [All of Us in the Neighborhood] – Lebanon
Created by Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Lebanon, this dramatic children’s television series, in Arabic, is the first step in a larger initiative to educate the youth of Lebanon in conflict resolution and, ultimately, to shift the culture toward non-adversarial approaches to problem-solving. The 13-part series tells the stories of 6 children – Armenian, Christian, Druze, Palestinian, Shia, Sunni – living together in an apartment building who work together to solve problems. SFCG is offering DVDs and other material, such as curricular resources, connected to the series to make the lessons come alive.
Contact: Leena El-Ali lel-ali@sfcg.org OR search@sfcg.org OR Jean Kassis patelya2001@hotmail.com
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/302891

8.      Pan-African Research Agenda on the Pedagogical Integration of ICTs – Africa
This 4-year project seeks to better understand how the paedagogical integration of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can enhance the quality of teaching and learning in Africa. The Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA) and the University of Montreal (Canada) are collecting new school-scale data, creating opportunities for knowledge sharing, and providing learning opportunities for research teams in 13 sub-Saharan African countries. PanAf hopes to give a voice to African researchers, development practitioners, school leaders, educators, and learners, and to enable them to share their knowledge globally.
Contact: panaf@rocare.org OR Dramane Darave ddarave@rocare.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/297742/307

9.      Fundar, Center for Analysis and Research [Centro de Análisis e Investigación] – Mexico
Fundar is a pluralist, independent, horizontal institution that has conducted numerous investigations and activities – both alone and in collaboration with other civil, social, or academic organisations – in and effort to promote a solid democracy by promoting budget transparency. Fundar pursues strategic actions such as: producing information and evidence on rural policies; distributing accessible information to groups and individuals interested in subsidy distribution policies; helping combat the structure of resource concentration; analysing programme design; and impacting on the design of rural projects.
Contact: fundar@fundar.org.mx
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/311236/348

10.     Center for Studies and Applied Sciences in Gender, Family, Women and Adolescents (CSAGA) – Vietnam
This non-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) prioritises the use of art and creativity to orient individuals and community to work together to prevent domestic violence, human trafficking, and corporal and psychological punishment of children. Forms of arts CSAGA has used include role play, short stories, body play, puppet play, body games, etc. One theme running through many of these efforts is the centrality of child/youth participation. The organisation also seeks to effect change through the improvement of knowledge and skill on self-protection and community helping of women and children.
Contact: nguyenlanvnu6@gmail.com
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/284335

11.     Breakaway: A Global Electronic Game to Address Violence against Women – Global
This episodic, interactive electronic game and social networking application, delivered globally via web and mobile technology, aims to engage, educate, and change attitudes of boys aged 8-15 years around the subject of violence against women. Employing the global popularity of football (soccer), the game design links the winning benefits of respect on the playing field to respectful behaviour towards girls and women in the player’s social sphere. The game features 3 major modes of play: narrative events, tactical football, and skill-building training mini-games.
Contact: Ann DeMarle demarle@champlain.edu OR William N. Ryerson
ryerson@populationmedia.org
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/279381/307

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Please VOTE in our ICT4D Poll:
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/309183/307

Should ICT be used to enhance the development of empathy in young children? If yes, how? If no, why not?

* YES. It can show them stories of the lives of other children through video and blogs.
* YES. It can provide «hero» stories of those working for change, particularly in the lives of children.
* YES. It can connect them with other children through adult-arranged social networking, live chats, or «email penpals».
* NO. Young children should not be encouraged to understand others through ICT because it is not developmentally appropriate for them as a tool.
* NO. Young children should not be encouraged by adults to understand others until they present questions of their own based on face-to-face contact with others.
* OTHER. Explain in the comments box.

VOTE and COMMENT at http://www.comminit.com/en/node/309183/307

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RESULTS thus far (April 16 2010):

32%: YES. It can show them stories of the lives of other children through video and blogs.
19%: YES. It can provide «hero» stories of those working for change, particularly in the lives of children.
22%: YES. It can connect them with other children through adult-arranged social networking, live chats, or «email penpals».
14%: NO. Young children should not be encouraged to understand others through ICT because it is not developmentally appropriate for them as a tool.
5%: NO. Young children should not be encouraged by adults to understand others until they present questions of their own based on face-to-face contact with others.
8%: OTHER. Comments available.

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EVALUATIONS
http://www.comminit.com/en/evaluations.html

12.     Creating Healthy Families in Nepal: Sustaining Family Planning Practices Among Marginalized Groups
Published by the CORE Group, this March 2009 case study documents the sustainable activities and interventions of a 3-year initiative that was carried out in an effort to help women and couples from disadvantaged groups in Nepal realise their reproductive intentions. One conclusion was that the participatory learning and action/radio listening groups (PLA/RLG) technique proved to be «an effective approach for sustaining community dialogue about family planning and spreading family planning knowledge. Through family dialogue and peer support, discussion around family planning issues continues in these marginalized communities, along with overall improved health care seeking behavior.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/288856/2674

13.     A 10-Year Systematic Review of HIV/AIDS Mass Communication Campaigns: Have We Made Progress?
by Seth M. Noar, Philip Palmgreen, Melissa Chabot, Nicole Dobransky, and Rick S. Zimmerman
This study details a 10-year (1998-2007) systematic review of HIV/AIDS mass communication campaigns carried out around the world that focus on sexual behaviour, HIV testing, or both. Implications of these results for improved design, implementation, and evaluation of HIV/AIDS campaign efforts are discussed. For instance, «[a]t a minimum, researchers and practitioners in this area should begin a dialogue about more sophisticated approaches to evaluation of HIV/AIDS campaigns, and evaluations of national campaigns in other behavioral areas should be consulted…»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/290589/347

14.     Impact Data – Intercultural Radio Educative Project – Peru
Between January 2006 and March 2008, Minga Peru, with support from United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), implemented an Intercultural Radio Educative Project to fight against violence and HIV/AIDS in rural communities and schools of the Peruvian Amazon. «…[P]rimary and secondary data clearly shows that students have learned about their rights as individuals, about different forms of violence, and about taking preventive measures for not contracting HIV/AIDS.»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/295282/347

15.     Love Patrol Series 1: Evaluation Report
This January 2009 report shares details from an evaluation of Love Patrol, a 10-episode television soap opera produced by Wan Smolbag Theatre in an effort to raise the profile of understanding of HIV and other issues in the Pacific. Key findings include: the series is responsive to growing need for mediums addressing issues relating to sexual attitudes, knowledge, and associated risk behaviours in Pacific communities; the continuation of the series and resource guide ensures a consistent flow of information on reproduction, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV transmission and prevention; it is tailored to people in local contexts; it is entertaining and informative; it promotes advocacy, representation, and change; it fosters community dialogue and communication; and it promotes and encourages attitude, knowledge, and behavioural change.
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/290816/347

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SBCC SUPPORT AND STRENGTHENING

Looking for support or capacity building in your social and behaviour change efforts related to HIV/AIDS, family planning, and malaria? Check out C-Change Picks at http://www.comminit.com/en/cchangepicks.html where you can also access the C-Change Capacity Strengthening Online Resource Center (CSORC) at http://www.comminit.com/en/cchange_capacity.html

To subscribe to the C-Change Picks e-magazine and receive updates on case studies, evaluations, and resources that will support your programming and planning, send an email to cchange@comminit.com

To subscribe to the C-Change ORC e-magazine and receive updates on capacity strengthening tools and materials, send an email atcchangeorc@comminit.com

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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