The Drum Beat – Issue 589 – Children, Equity, and Development
July 4 2011
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This issue includes:
* Reaching HARD-TO-REACH CHILDREN.
* Become a Communication Initiative ASSOCIATE.
* PROMOTING EQUITY through communication innovations.
* CHILD PARTICIPATION for equity.
* Where to go for MORE on children, equity & development.
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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/global/user/register
Access this issue online at http://www.comminit.com/drum_beat_589.html
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This issue of The Drum Beat introduces you to The CI’s new Children, Equity, and Development theme site, a collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund:http://www.comminit.com/children/ Here, you can find all information about children’s equity issues in the context of communication and media development action. Below are just a few examples.
UNICEF defines an equity-based approach as one that focuses on the needs of the world’s most disadvantaged and vulnerable children, defining this approach as offering «the best hope and most cost-effective path to reaching the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.» For more on UNICEF’s equity approach, see:
«Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity (No. 9)»
http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_55740.html
We welcome and crave all of your communication-related information, experiences, thinking, resources, and so on related to the theme of children, equity, and development. Please email your submissions to drumbeat@comminit.com We look forward to hearing from you!
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REACHING THE HARD TO REACH
1. Anticipating the Future: Children and Young People’s Voices in Haiti’s Post Disaster Needs Assessment
This March 2010 document from Plan International presents key findings from a consultation process initiated by Plan, in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with close to 1,000 children and youth throughout Haiti, to hear their ideas related to priorities for the country’s reconstruction after the January 12 2010 earthquake. Because they are among the most vulnerable groups affected by disaster and had already mobilised to take on strong leadership roles to support their communities, children and youth were interviewed by local facilitators experienced in working with them. According to the testimony of those interviewed, priorities include education, protection, and inclusion and gender equality.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/322041
2. Kuziva Mbuya Huudzwa and Luthando: Children’s Rights Radio
Children First, in conjunction with Population Services International (PSI) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has produced two radio dramas on children’s rights in Zimbabwe. The dramas aired on the national broadcaster Radio Zimbabwe over 26 weeks. In order to increase the reach of the drama, programme organisers established listening groups in 53 schools and community-based organisations in order to engage an estimated 55,000 students. The organisers state that special emphasis is given to orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC), but the dramas are also relevant for OVC caregivers, child protection committees, teachers and school development committees, and children all over Zimbabwe.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/307839
3. Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media (SCREAM)
From the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), this social mobilisation initiative aims to fight child labour around the world. Through creative teaching methods, SCREAM aims to sensitise young people to child labour, so they can speak out on behalf of child labourers. For this purpose, SCREAM has developed an education pack that aims to assist young people with activities to help generate understanding and awareness of child labour in their communities.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/133915
4. Gobe da Haske (Tomorrow Will Be a Brighter Day)
Launched by Population Media Center (PMC) in Niger, this radio serial drama was designed to address the issue of child trafficking by informing parents and community members about the practice of child trafficking and about preventive measures they can take to ensure the health and safety of their children. The drama revolves around a central character, a young boy named Kokari, who grows up in extreme poverty and decides to leave home without his parents’ consent in search of a better life.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/270336
5. Count Every Child: The Right to Birth Registration
by Claire Cody
This December 2009 report documents the process and outcomes of Plan’s work with children, parents, communities, partners, and governments throughout the 5-year Universal Birth Registration (UBR) campaign. As Plan explains, although a child’s right to an identity is set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1991), millions of children every year are not registered at birth. Without proof of citizenship through registration, children struggle to realise other rights under the Convention. «The most significant changes and successes have included the paradigm shift towards improved legislation, and the greater levels of participation, partnership and commitment from states, local councils and organisations towards birth registration.»
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/308148
6. The Rights of Children with Disabilities in Viet Nam: Bringing Viet Nam’s Laws into Compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
by Eric Rosenthal
This December 2009 report, commissioned by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the government of Vietnam, aims to assist the government to bring its laws and policies into conformity with the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which Vietnam signed on October 22 2007. In addition to changing its laws, however, the CRPD requires that the Vietnamese government bring about changes in policy and practice to end discrimination against children with disabilities in Vietnamese society, as well as to enforce the rights guaranteed to persons with disabilities. These necessary changes in policy, law, and enforcement are outlined in this report – e.g., «Vietnamese legislation should reflect the core principles of the CRPD, which include the right of all persons with disabilities to ‘full and effective participation in society’ – To make this possible, service systems must be reformed so that children with disabilities are able !
to live and grow up with their families in the community….»
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/316319
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Help Sustain The CI
Become a Communication Initiative Associate
http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/members
The CI Associates are organisations and individuals who recognise the added value of The Communication Initiative toward their work priorities – which may be focused on a development issue, geographic location, and/or population group – and have chosen to provide financial support to this initiative. There are a range of possible payment levels from USD 100 to USD 5,000. The package includes a number of free classifieds listings. A list of present Associates can be seen online at http://www.comminit.com/ci_associates/members – if you are not there now, please join them!
To sign up, contact Victoria Martin vmartin@comminit.com
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PROMOTING EQUITY THROUGH INNOVATION IN COMMUNICATION
7. Voices from the Ground – Brazil, India, Jamaica, Mali, Pakistan
From Panos London, this blog follows the lives of 5 people working and living in developing countries, tracking their experiences in relation to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example: Dr. Tracy Evans-Gilbert is head of the paediatric HIV programme at the Cornwall Regional Hospital, Montego Bay (Jamaica)’s main public hospital. Part of her job is to trace HIV-infected children who are not receiving treatment and babies with unknown status born to HIV-infected women. And in Brazil, Dagmar Rivieri Garroux, known as Tia Dag (Auntie Dag), runs Casa do Zezinho, a school in one of south Sao Paulo’s favelas. By offering social, cultural, and artistic activities for children, Tia Dag and the teachers aim to prevent them from joining Sao Paulo’s criminal gangs.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/327534
8. Ulama Agents for Social Change: Muslim Scholars Speak for Mothers Rights
by Atif Ikram Butt, Suruchi Sood, Shailaja Maru, Margaret Edwards, and Fayyaz Ahmad Khan
This January 2010 study identifies ulama, Muslim legal scholars, as an important communication channel in Pakistan for promoting positive behaviours through message delivery at their mosques and seminaries. In the Islamic religion, ulama are often consulted by their community members for a range of issues, including those that relate to issues of health and well-being, making them an important link to men on the subject of women’s health, including mother, newborn, and child health (MNCH).
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/327613
9. Social Mobilisation and Communication to Prevent Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV
Developed by the Centre for AIDS Development, Research and Evaluation (CADRE) on behalf of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) South Africa, this November 2010 study was conducted to support the development of a national campaign entitled «Social Mobilisation and Communication Strategy for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission [PMTCT] of HIV». As the literature review revealed, it is not sufficient to communicate about PMTCT issues only at the individual level – that is, with pregnant women; there is also a need to influence the various stakeholders at other levels through which the women interact in order to facilitate changes in behaviour. This calls for deeper investigation into: national policies on PMTCT, attitudes, and practices in local cultures; socio-economic and cultural contexts; and the roles played by women’s families and male partners.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/9280286
10. PRIX JEUNESSE WATCHwords Winter 2010
This newsletter from the PRIX JEUNESSE Foundation describes the Foundation’s Suitcase project, which is an offshoot of its bi-annual festival promoting quality in children’s and youth television worldwide. One article is «Pacific Islands Eager to Improve Children’s Media», by Barbara Kolucki and Tomas Jensen; here is an excerpt: «…The August 16-20 workshop in Suva, Fiji, included a wide range of 60 people from Fiji, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Vanuatu…Including young, deaf adults was pioneering….when these creative and resilient young people shared their life stories, taught a bit of sign language, and contributed their wisdom and ideas, it resulted in ideas for books, radio and television spots either about or naturally including disability…»
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/9281585
11. Opportunities and Challenges in Promoting Policy- and Practice-Relevant Knowledge on Child Rights
by Caroline Harper, Nicola Jones, and Carlotta Tincati
This July 2010 paper analyses the linkages between knowledge and policy on child rights issues in order to supplement current understanding of these dynamics in the sector. It was prepared as a background paper for the conference «Children’s Rights at a Crossroads», which was organised in Ethiopia, 2009. Communication-related issues emerge in the discussion of knowledge management. The document focuses discussion on and provides examples of «networks, institutions and databases established to promote better information and knowledge sharing on child rights, and provide a brief overview of their relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of knowledge management.»
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/323821
12. National Communication Framework and Plan for Infant and Young Child Feeding in Bangladesh
From the Institute of Public Health Nutrition (IPHN), Directorate General of Health Services – Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, this October 2010 report details Bangaldesh’s national infant and young child feeding (IYCF) strategy, which aims to reduce the number of infant deaths caused by under-nutrition by addressing barriers regarding knowledge and practices on IYCF. In order to achieve desired behavioural and social change objectives, the IYCF framework and plan uses a mix of 3 key approaches: (i) advocacy (ensures that the perspectives, concerns and voices of women and men from all segments of the population including marginalised groups, are heard and reflected in upstream policy dialogue, decision making and interventions; (ii) communication for social change; and (iii) behaviour change communication (BCC).
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/9281558
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CHILD PARTICIPATION FOR EQUITY
13. Child Rights and Climate Change Adaptation: Voices from Kenya and Cambodia
by Emily Polack
This February 2010 report from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Plan International illustrates the exposure children experience due to the changing climate, and the ways in which they see their rights being violated by a lack of climate change adaptation that accounts for children. It focuses on the potential for national adaptation planning to be made in the best interests of the child, and how a rights-based perspective on climate change adaptation must transform national adaptation planning, a response resting particularly with national governments.
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/321344
14. Children’s Right to Be Heard in Global Climate Change Negotiations
by Daniel Walden, Nick Hall, and Kelly Hawrylyshyn
This December 2009 document from Plan International focuses on climate change and the possibilities of child-centred community action and contribution to national and international consultations. «Granted the opportunity to learn, to be informed, and to take part, children can be very effective agents for change. From local level community based disaster risk reduction interventions, to global level engagement in climate change decision-making, children all over the world are now showing their interest, capacity and valuable role in strengthening resilience to climate risks. Plan is determined to work towards a world where genuine children’s participation is the norm, not a novelty – including participation in climate change decisions.»
http://www.comminit.com/children/node/328089
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For MORE on children, equity, and development, see:
The Children, Equity, and Development theme site
http://www.comminit.com/children/
The Drum Beat 517 – Child Rights Communication
http://www.comminit.com/global/drum_beat_517.html
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This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.
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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.
Blog de Octavio Islas 