Directory of Development Communication Resources in South Asia

This resource is designed to make visible - and therefore within reach - the pool of South Asia experts with experience in communication research, planning, strategy development, training, creative design, message and materials development, participatory communication processes, and monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of communication initiatives. The Directory was created by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Regional Office for South Asia (ROSA) as part of a continuing effort to enhance the capacity of country programmes to develop strategic communication components of programmes in maternal and child health and nutrition; water, sanitation, and hygiene; basic education; child protection; and HIV/AIDS. However, it is intended for anyone who is in need of people who specialise in the various uses of communication for behaviour change and development.

This first volume covers five South Asian countries, known to be disaster-prone: Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Future volumes will cover the other countries. It is designed for immediate use by UNICEF in updating and improving their respective Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans (EPRP) to enable more proactive behaviour change/programme communication preparedness as well as response.

The Directory is organised by country. Each entry features a write-up describing the institution's or person's history, primary activities, previous relationship to UNICEF, if any, and possible suggestions for future collaboration. Contact details - and, in some cases, pictures - are included. An accompanying CD-ROM includes complete training and consulting capabilities and a detailed listing of names and addresses of all staff, and their areas of expertise. A series of tables is appended which provides groups by intervention and by country.

This is a "living" directory, and readers are encouraged to contact UNICEF ROSA to add updated information on the present entries and to suggest names of other institutions and specialists not yet included. ROSA will share updated electronic versions of this Directory periodically through email, CD-ROM, and the UNICEF website.