The Drum Beat – 622 – Communication and Change News and Issues
| From The Communication Initiative Network – where communication and media are central to social and economic development. |
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| TRENDS | |
| 1. Digital Freedom of Expression in Uzbekistan: An Example of Social Control and Censorship in the 21st Century by Sarah Kendzior, PhD |
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| This paper examines the relationship between political activism and internet freedom in Uzbekistan. It argues that, while the internet is a critical tool for political expression, its utility as a tool for activism is challenged both by threats from the government and by fear and apathy among Uzbek internet users. [New America Foundation, Jul. 2012] | |
| 2. The Fragile State of Media Freedom in Latin America by Karin Deutsch Karlekar |
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| This blog entry describes a range of negative developments over the past decade that «have left media freedom on the defensive in much of Central and South America.» It highlights some data shared in the Freedom of the Press 2012 report, concluding with the argument that «[s]ustained advocacy by local and international monitors to highlight violations is essential, as are the ongoing efforts to encourage positive legal reforms on freedom of information…» [Freedom House, Jun. 2012] | |
| 3. eLearning Africa 2012 Report | |
| Africans are using new technologies to enhance education and training across the continent; the majority of respondents use information and communication technology (ICT) in classroom teaching and learning. [Jun. 2012] | |
| 4. Mapping Digital Media: Citizen Journalism and the Internet by Nadine Jurrat |
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| This paper summarises discussions about citizen journalism: its various forms and coming of age; its role in international news; the opportunities for a more democratic practice of journalism; the significance for mass media outlets as they struggle for survival; and the risks that unedited citizens’ contributions may pose for audiences, mainstream media, and citizen journalists themselves. [Open Society Media Program, Apr. 2011] | |
| 5. «Voices 2.0» – Revolutionizing Participation within Development Cooperation by Patrick Kalas |
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| A community-based prevention initiative, FPP set out to empower key populations (KPs), defined as those at high risk for HIV infection and transmission, in the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in India by improving advocacy within these groups, changing policies that affect these groups, and increasing community awareness. Examples of activities include: capacity building for peer education and other outreach strategies; using KP-specific cultural- and gender-sensitive information, education, and communication (IEC) materials and strategies delivered through multiple channels, including folk arts and folk media; and promotion and skills building for negotiating safer sex and using condoms and lubricants. [International HIV/AIDS Alliance] | |
| 6. Survey of ICT and Education in the Caribbean: Volume 1 – Regional Trends and Analysis; Volume 2 – Country Reports | |
| This publication comprises 16 country reports, primarily Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), that provide an overview of the current activities and developments related to information and communication technology (ICT) use in education in each country. [Information for Development Programme (infoDev), Jan. 2009] | |
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| CALL FOR BLOGS: The CI’s Communication, Media, Policy Blog Site |
| We welcome your blog entries for this forum on analysis, ideas, and debates on development policy from communication and media perspectives. For a look at a recent analysis, read Mary Myers’ blog «Supporting media: what works and why?: I’ve just finished writing a synthesis report about how media can be supported in countries where media freedoms and rights are constrained. It was commissioned by BBC Media Action who asked me to bring together the findings of five case studies covering Bangladesh, Cambodia, Syria, South Sudan and Uganda, commissioned from five other writers…» |
| We also suggest this sampling: Warren Feek’s blog «Really High Level Post MDG Engagement: There is no bigger international development policy making process, debate and decision over the coming 3 to 5 years than what replaces the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) from 2015 on…» or Oscar Abello’s blog«Development is like music: I am starting to think development is like music. Economics. Political science. Anthropology. Sociology. History. Project management. Communications. Accounting. These aren’t just disciplines relevant to development. They’re instruments. The greater the diversity of instruments, the greater the vibrancy of what’s produced…» |
| Send your blog to Julie Levy: jlevy@comminit.com |
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| EXPERIENCES | |
| 7. O Icheke (Break the Chain) Campaign | |
| This national, multi-year behaviour change communication (BCC) campaign focuses on multiple concurrent partnerships (MCP) and addresses the factors that contribute to MCP in Botswana. The popular local musician «Vs» is the brand ambassador of the campaign whose debut album «O Icheke» contains lyrics that address cultural norms, MCP, and cross-generational sex.[National Prevention Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), Population Services International (PSI) Botswana, African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnerships (ACHAP), Ministry of Health (MOH), and National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA)] | |
| 8. Global Programme for Electoral Cycle Support (GPECS) | |
| Working at the global, regional, and country levels, GPECS seeks to enhance the credibility, transparency, effectiveness, and sustainability of electoral institutions and processes, with a particular emphasis on capacity development, south-south exchanges, inclusive participation, and women’s empowerment. [United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)] | |
| 9. Seeds Theatre | |
| By using traditional performing arts as a strategy for education in Papua New Guinea (PNG), this group utilises the potential of young unemployed women and men and, at the same time, works to raise awareness on the causes and consequences of domestic violence, sexual harassment in the workplace, and bullying in schools, as well as HIV awareness and health and social issues. | |
| 10. Radio Atipiri | |
| From its launch, Bolivia’s Radio Atipiri has worked to assure gender equity in the right to communicate and to promote women’s voices in the public sphere. The founders, male and female, are committed to giving voice to those who have least representation and receive least services from the conventional media outlets: the indigenous women of the Bolivian Altiplano. [Center for Education and Communication for Indigenous Communities and Peoples (CECOPI)] | |
| 11. Living in a Finite Environment (LIFE) | |
| LIFE provides assistance to comprehensive, community-based natural resource management (NRM) programmes in Namibia through the provision of technical support, training, grants, and regional coordination and information dissemination to government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and communities. [World Wildlife Fund (WWF), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)] | |
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| CALL FOR PROPOSALS: Stop TB Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS) |
| The Stop TB Partnership has announced a call for proposals – with a deadline of September 30 – for the fifth round of the Challenge Facility for Civil Society (CFCS), a small grant mechanism for grassroots-level community work on tuberculosis (TB). The special focus of the applications should be on activities that build the capacity of civil society to advocate for services and contribute to the creation of a network of advocates prepared to speak out and raise consciousness about challenges in reaching affected communities with TB care. Successful applicants will receive grants between US$5,000 and US$20,000. |
| Click here to find: more information, how to apply (click on «How to apply for the Challenge Facility» on the right-hand side), and/or whom to contact in case of difficulties with submitting an application prior to September 30 2012. |
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| MATERIALS | |
| 12. Preparing Teachers for Family Engagement | |
| This issue of the Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE)’s Newsletter explores new skills and knowledge teachers can develop to effectively engage families in the twenty-first century. The issue seeks to respond in particular to teachers’ desire to be better prepared to relate to diverse students and families. [Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), Mar. 2011] | |
| 13. Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses: A Guide for Victims and NGOs on Recourse Mechanisms by Véronique Van Der Plancke, Valérie Van Goethem, Geneviève Paul, and Elin Wrzoncki |
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| The purpose of this guide is to help victims of corporate-related human rights and environmental abuses to obtain justice and reparations, as well as to put a stop to corporate impunity. [International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Mar. 2012] | |
| 14. Participatory Monitoring, Evaluation, Reflection and Learning (PMERL) Manual by Jessica Ayers, Simon Anderson, Sibongile Pradhan, and Tine Rossing |
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| This manual supports a methodology that can help measure, monitor, and evaluate changes in local adaptive capacity within vulnerable communities for better decision-making on community-based adaptation (CBA) to climate change. [CARE and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Jun. 2012] | |
| 15. Killing the Cranes: A Reporter’s Journey Through Three Decades of War in Afghanistan by Edward Girardet |
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| This book was written to provide insights into why the West’s current involvement in Afghanistan has not only rekindled a new insurgency but has put in place «a recovery process that has shown scant success,» according to the author. [Chelsea Green Publishing, Jul. 2012] | |
| 16. Writing a Communication Strategy for Development Programmes by Judith A. Graeff, ed. |
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| This tool is designed to guide the writing of a communication strategy for a programme or a project – a strategy that supports a programme to achieve its development goals, especially its social and behavioural objectives. «[A]ll the steps in strategy development, from doing the analyses and the planning to monitoring activities and outcomes, should always involve an appropriate mix of programme participants and development partners…» [United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Jan. 2008] | |
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| Become a Communication Initiative Associate |
| 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 US$100 to US$5,000. The package includes a number of free classifieds listings. A list of present Associates can be seen here – if you are not there now, please join them! To sign up, contact Victoria Martin vmartin@comminit.com |
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| 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 – The Drum Beat is the email and web network of The Communication Initiative Partnership – Partners: ANDI, BBC Media Action, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Breakthrough, Calandria, DFID, FAO, Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI), Inter-American Development Bank, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs, MISA, Oxfam Novib, PAHO, The Panos Institute, Puntos de Encuentro, The Rockefeller Foundation, SAfAIDS, Sesame Workshop, Soul City, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, The Wellcome Trust, World Health Organization (WHO), W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
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.
Chair of the Partners Group: Garth Japhet, Founder, Soul City garth@heartlines.org.za
Executive Director: Warren Feek wfeek@comminit.com
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.
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