Nic Woods Development Communication and Civil Society Adviser DFID’s ICD Team March 14th 2005 Media and Development
Mar 28, 2015
Nic WoodsDevelopment Communication
and Civil Society AdviserDFID’s ICD Team
March 14th 2005
Media and Development
• Media Assistance & Dev’t Communication
• Changing Environment: 1994-2004
• Communication and Nation Building
• Communication, Empowerment and Poverty
• Media and Conflict
• MDGs & Impact through Communication
• Summary of Challenges
Introduction
• “A reliable news media enables well informed citizen decision making that contributes to democratisation”
• The Enabling Environment: Developing Professional journalism, independent regulatory frameworks and supporting media law and policy
• Dual public / private broadcasting / the role of civil society as a watchdog for social accountability
• Audio / visual / face to face participation / theatre / comics / puppetry / song etc
• Development Communication is bottom up
Media Assistance & Dev’t Communication
• Global technologies & coverage increases media profile dramatically – impact of news / impact of learning / impact
• Only for those with access : cultural appropriacy / language / technological sophistication / electricity etc
• Old + New
– Interactive media enables participation of audience
– Personal communication technologies enhance this on a one to one & one to many basis i.e.: mobile phones + radio
• Increasingly important is the role of media as a change agent in political behaviour, “political and social will” through advocacy & demand driven public opinion
• Media and conflict - / local // national // international
Changing Environment
1994-2004
“ A necessary condition for sustainable development occurs when a just, tolerant and inclusive state is responsive to informed demand from citizens. Communication is a keystone of the relationship between citizen and state.”
“There is more to governance than how the government conducts itself. It is about the whole realm in which the state operates, including areas like parliament, the judiciary, the media and other organisations of society which remain in place when a government changes.”
“ The media has a pivotal role in brokering public dialogue through increasing the knowledge of the citizen and providing space for debate and learning.”
Communication and Nation Building
World Communication, Empowerment and Poverty Reduction
World Bank’s 4 Key Elements of Empowerment
• Access to information
• Inclusion and participation
• Accountability
• Local organisational capacity
All rely on flows of communication
• Different types:
– Media & humanitarian assistance
• Non conflict related disasters : disease
• Rapid onset disasters : environmental
– Media and conflict reduction
• Latent conflict : political, religious, economic or ethnic tensions
• Open conflict: violent conflict, light weapons, blurring of combatants & civilians
• Post conflict: once peace achieved, peace building, enhanced reconciliation & reconstruction
Media and Conflict
• Communications disrupted during conflicts and other emergencies // low end technologies like radio are often the only way to reach large #s
• Those in greatest need demand most on traditional means – ie: radio. The challenge is to facilitate making programmes to reflect target audience needs
• Different forms of humanitarian emergency can require very different kinds of media intervention – e.g S. Leonne youth soldiers: theatre / video / comics / art
Key Points of Media & Conflict
• Civil society are critical & most often the major players when states are unwilling or unable to deliver services
Examples: IRIN in Angola / Radio Okapi in DRC
• Media based initiatives can best be achieved by partnerships between donors, civil society humanitarian agencies and local / int’l media practitioners
Examples: Afghanistan / DRC / Sudan
Key Points of Media & Conflict … cont
Communication for Poor Peoples Benefit
Communication Channel
for Poverty Alleviation
Enabling Environment
Liberalised Media Access / Ownership
Use - by People (poor)
- by Gov (local, edu, health, - by Civil Society
Change in Livelihoods
Policy MakersDEMAND
Millenium Development Goals
1.Get rid of extreme poverty & hunger
2. Make sure that all children receive primary education
3. Promote sexual equality & give women more power
4. Reduce child death rates
5. Improve the health of mothers
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other communicable diseases
7. Make sure that the environment is protected
8. Develop a global partnership for development
Botswana.
Community radio for school children.
© Giacomo Pirozzi / Panos Pictures
MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortality
• Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate amongst Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015
• South Africa - Soul Buddyz - Children's TV, Radio and School materials
•http://www.comminit,com/evaluations/idkdv2002/sld-2382.html
Burkina Faso.
Live debate on football and witchcraft on
Radio Vive le Paysan, based at Sapone,
40km south of the capital Ouagadougou.
This debate is the equivalent of a phone-in except that no-one has a phone so participants cycle in from the surrounding area and gather in the studio. Some, hearing the broadcast at home, turn up during the programme wanting to take part in the debate. The station gives a voice to the surrounding villages, broadcasts are in the local language.
© Crispin Hughes / Panos Pictures
• Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
Jordan - Together for a Happy Family Campaign – Mass Media Campaign
http://www.comminit.com/evaluations/idkdv2003/sld-2357.html
MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health
Douentza, MALI.
Dogon women listening to the radio as
they work.
© Rhodri Jones / Panos Pictures
Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major
diseasesSenegal - Evaluation of “Improving the Reproductive Health of Youth
in Senegal” –- Mass Media Campaignhttp://www.comminit.com/evaluations/id2004/sld-2425.html
Cameroon - Evaluation - “Among Youth” – Mass Education Campaign
http://www.comminit.com/evaluations/id2004/sld-2420.html
MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Zimbabwe.
Villagers gathered around listening to the
radio outside a hut adorned with an
AIDS emblem.
© Chris Sattlberger / Panos Pictures
• Freedom of Expression
• Recognising the rights of the citizens
• Financial Sustainability
• Capacity Building for all types of use of communication for democracy
• Partnership with service providers and civil society = active role in policy change processes
• Potential of communication technologies
• M&E techniques and tools
• Impact to provide evidence
• Funding: Public / Private
Key Challenges
Media and Communication for Development is complex and often overlooked.
Communication is the lifeblood of transparent, informed and open societies as it enables debate, successful reforms and accountability of the state to the citizen.
Empowerment from poverty requires knowledge and learning from appropriate, accessible means of communication.
Without communication, openness is not possible and citizens voice is silenced.
Conclusions