6113 The Communication Initiative, The Drum Beat – Issue 569 – Communication and Change News and Issues

The Drum Beat – Issue 569 – Communication and Change News and Issues
November 29 2010

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This issue includes:

* EXPERIENCES: helping babies breathe, building bridges, talking AIDS.
* 16 Days of ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE: Nov 25-Dec 10
* WORLD AIDS DAY: December 1 2010.
* VOTE in our poll on HIV media exposure risks.
* STRATEGIC THINKING: inclusive social change, communication advocacy.
* New updates from the C-CHANGE Programme.
* Create a CUSTOMISED NEWS FEED to your website.
* MATERIALS: for peacebuilding, for parliamentarians, for researchers.

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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_569.html

Drum Beat Subscribers: 47,314
Page Views across The CI website, since Jan 1 2010: 3,535,245

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

1.      Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) – Global
…an evidence-based educational programme launched in June 2010 to teach neonatal resuscitation techniques in resource-limited areas. Culturally sensitive learning materials use pictures to illustrate the steps a birth attendant must take within 1 minute after birth to evaluate the baby and stimulate breathing…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/321559/303

2.      Cyprus 2015 – Cyprus
…launched in May 2009, this initiative aims to explore the opinions, views and thoughts of the public, in both Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, and to develop them into policy proposals…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/323315/348

3.      Village Environmental Assistance Project (VEAP) – Egypt
…aimed to extend access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation in Upper Egypt and completed in August 2005, this project included a communication awareness campaign that trained Egyptians through the use of booklets, posters, calendars, and puppet shows…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/129850/306

4.      Crowdrise – United States
…a crowd-sourcing community of volunteers and fundraisers has developed this online initiative focused on volunteering and raising money for charity. It uses an approach to stimulate philanthropy that is meant to be lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek, and irreverent…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/316271/348

5.      Learn from My Story – Uganda
…an August 2007 participatory workshop for Ugandan women who have experienced obstetric fistula ended with a screening of the participants’ stories, which are featured on a compilation DVD with additional short video excerpts from interviews with ACQUIRE fistula counsellors and providers. Together, these tools are being used as part of ongoing training about fistula treatment and care…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/287187/38

6.      Talking HIV & AIDS to Youth! – Samoa
…conducted from January through December 2009, and developed by a group of Samoa AIDS Foundation (SAF) peer educators who are also members of the theatrical group «Poula», this outreach programme is designed to engage out-of-school youth where they gather, through entertainment, events, and printed materials…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/302748/347

7.      Jigi ma Tignè (Hope Is Allowed) Radio Drama – Mali
…produced and broadcast since April 2009, this 74-episode serial radio drama deals with a variety of issues, including family planning, HIV/AIDS, women’s empowerment, female genital mutilation/cutting, and disability…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/307893/347

8.      CooperaTiVa – Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia / Montenegro
…uses the «reality television» genre for an initiative designed to build bridges between divided Balkan communities. In the 8–part series, 2 inter-ethnic teams of Serb and Albanian youth from Kosovo and Serbia competed in «cooperation challenges,» as they vied for the final prize…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/302881/348

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16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE

2101 Theme: Structures of Violence: Defining the Intersections of Militarism and Violence Against Women

16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence is a global initiative that seeks to: raise awareness at the local, national, and international levels regarding violence against women, strengthen local work, link local and global activism, provide a forum for dialogue and strategy-sharing, pressure governments to implement the commitments they have made in national and international legal instruments, and demonstrate the solidarity of activists around the world.

The dates, November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and December 10, International Human Rights Day, were chosen in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights.

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/118580/36

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WORLD AIDS DAY
December 1 2010
Focus on Universal Access/Human Rights
See http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=08d7431e10553f49c69b01fe3e56c437

The CI’s DB Click: HIV/AIDS will be issued Tuesday, November 30th, with a focus on Universal Access/Human Rights. To subscribe, send an email to AIDS@comminit.com with «Subscribe» as the subject.

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Please VOTE in our POLL on HIV Media Exposure Risks
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/310787/347

What reception or risks do HIV-positive people in your community face when their status is exposed in the media?

Reception/risk of…:
* repercussions of physical danger.
* banishment.
* loss of family support.
* increased personal access to treatment.
* increased community and peer support.
* none of the above.

VOTE and COMMENT – http://www.comminit.com/en/node/310787/347

A selection of comments received:

«Its true that in Africa still many of us discriminate someone after being exposed to media. We still believe that eating, shaking and even play games with positive people can increase the risk to HIV which is not true. We need to provide enough education to our fellow people so as to reduce this bad belief.»

«My community (I mean in the village) has generally accepted the existence of HIV/Aids, although aspects of denial still exist, hence (1), (2) and (3) would not apply. By and large, this is a family tragedy and the family tries as much as possible to save the life of the affected member. But there is no evident effort at seeking treatment with reasons other than HIV/Aids being seen as the culprit.»

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

9.      Village Voice: Towards Inclusive Information Technologies
by Ben Garside
…an April 2009 document that discusses the sustainability of information and communication technology (ICT) use in developing countries and examines several ways in which development agencies use ICT to boost the reliability and availability of information, lower transaction costs, and provide more transparent and participatory access to institutions and media…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/302199/307

10.     Communicating with Decision Makers
by Silvia Balit
…an April 2010 article that shares personal reflections on obstacles to moving communication for development up the international development agenda and contributes ideas for the development and implementation of an advocacy strategy…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/320620/36

11.     Implementing Community-based Policing in Kenya
…from February 2008, this report describes the experience and lessons learned from implementing a democratic style of policing in Kenya called community-based policing (CBP) that brings together the police, civil society, and communities to find local solutions to community safety concerns…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/312899/348

12.     Inviting – Not Requiring – Social Change
by Karen Greiner and Arvind Singhal
…a January 2010 essay exploring the concept of «invitational social change» – strategic communication interventions that galvanise individuals to be agents of their own development…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/310941/36

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ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM C-CHANGE

The Gender Scales Compendium (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=aba8ac836727be719df375c4060b53ea) is a tool to assess gender-related attitudes and beliefs and evaluate the success of interventions incorporating gender approaches. The compendium comprises 8 scales that measure beliefs, attitudes, and practices relating to issues such as couples communication, decision-making about sex, gender-based violence, and acceptance of inferior roles for women and girls.

In Kenya (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=4661d2b52e613de4f47da61eeac3e8ce), C-Change and partners developed the Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) Communication Toolkit for Nyanza Province where HIV prevalence is 15%. This toolkit emphasises safe healing and the importance of continued HIV prevention practices and includes billboards, posters, video, flip charts, radio spots, fact sheets for community and other leaders, dialogue cards, and a handbook for community mobilisers. Download athttp://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=bcec7cc28f235659914fae7bc34dde59

C-Change has also launched C-Hub, an online resource of communication materials for development. C-Hub showcases the products and processes of effective health campaigns. Visit C-Hub (http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?m=4447ee4636c6ac59a1117349750b34fd) to view and download communication materials; contact C-Hub at c-hub@aed.org for assistance uploading your project’s materials.

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Become Your Own Real-time News Publisher

Contract The CI – we work with the leading international provider of this service – to use sophisticated technology which gathers, analyses, and organises the world’s media, giving you complete editorial control over the news sources and presentation of this content on your site. Lower your costs for content creation while increasing your user discovery and engagement with relevant news, photos, and twitter and video feeds.

See some examples in the CI frame for Malaria – http://ci.daylife.com/topic/Malaria and the World Bank – http://ci.daylife.com/topic/World_Bank Contact wfeek@comminit.com for more details.

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MATERIALS
http://www.comminit.com/en/materials.html

13.     Strategic Communication for Peacebuilding – a Training Guide
How to Use Strategic Communication on Development Objectives as a Tool for Peacebuilding
by Oscar Bloh
…published by published by Radio for Peacebuilding Africa in January 2010, this guide uses adult learning principles of self-direction, participation, experiential learning that fills a need, time for reflection and feedback, and an environment of respect and safety for knowledge exchange…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/314264/348

14.     How-to-Cards: Resources for Parliamentarians
…produced by Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Services (SAfAIDS) in October 2009, this series of «How-to-Cards» is an advocacy resource for parliamentarians to support them with practical HIV and AIDS information. For use as a reference tool during parliamentary debates when engaging with constituency stakeholders…
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/307982/347

15.     Digital Research Tools (DiRT) Wiki
…brings together snapshot reviews of software that can «help researchers – professors, students, think-tankers, teachers, librarians, corporate intelligence gatherers, and other inquisitive folks – do their work better…»
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/302346/307

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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

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The Editor of The Drum Beat is Kier Olsen DeVries.

Please send additional project, evaluation, strategic thinking, and materials information on communication for development at any time. Send to drumbeat@comminit.com

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.