The Drum Beat 316 - Communication and Change News and Issues
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1.Africa Animated! - East Africa
This is a series of cartoon productions in which young people from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda are trained in multimedia animation techniques and then produce their own cartoons. Building skills in information and communication technology (ICT) is a key element of this project. The curriculum not only focuses on technical skills building but also includes "cultural retrieval" exercises taught by African storytellers and artists. This process is designed to allow the trainees to move beyond established forms of animation, reflect on their heritage, and develop their own original style in animation. In this context, film is used as a medium to enable youth to communicate with their peers and other viewers in entertaining and informative ways. Short animated films are crafted to "edutain" while reflecting African cultures, languages, and life experiences.
Contact Femi Babawande [email protected] OR Alonso Aznar [email protected]
2.Telenovelas - PMC Brazil - Brazil
Population Media Center, Inc. (PMC), is working with Comunicarte, a non-governmental organisation based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to incorporate scenes dealing with social content into prime-time television programmes on TV Globo. Partnership is a key strategy for developing the programme themes. Staff members from PMC and Comunicarte meet regularly with writers from TV Globo's programmes to suggest and discuss themes and storylines. In 2004, the PMC/Comunicarte partnership's influence led TV Globo's telenovelas to integrate 1,172 scenes dealing with reproductive health, small family size, gender relations, and related social and health issues. Based on this collaboration, Comunicarte/PMC-Brazil have developed a manual on social merchandising. In addition, Comunicarte and PMC staff monitors Brazilian news media coverage of population issues and provides reports that are used in 3 publications from ANDI (Agency for the Rights of Children).
Contact Melissa Barrett [email protected]
3.Telecentre.org - Global
Set to launch in November 2005, telecentre.org is a public/private partnership programme housed at Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This project intends to support activities that benefit grassroots telecentres as well as to deliver services and resources that connect and nurture the telecentre movement globally. On-the-ground activities will be driven by local and regional telecentre leaders, with global events and online information-sharing services facilitated by telecentre.org staff. The idea is to use communication to help the people who make telecentres "work" to collaborate in solving problems, sharing resources, and - in general - supporting each other. Telecentre.org will also undertake research, social marketing, and awareness raising designed to help policy makers, funders and others understand the development potential of telecentres.
Contact Mark Surman [email protected] OR [email protected]
4.Things We Do For Love - Ghana
This is a Ghanaian television serial drama, for young people, that seeks to depict the pressures and problems of adolescence. The programme makes an effort to create a platform from which parents and guardians can begin discussing reproductive health issues with their adolescent children. Entertainment is used as a tool in this televised drama, which explores issues ranging from teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), to condom use and rape. The programme dramatises both negative and positive lifestyles and the behaviour of adolescents and parents in an effort to stimulate discussions among viewers from both audiences.
Contact Emmanuel Fiagbey [email protected] OR Ian Tweedie [email protected] OR Marc Boulay [email protected]
5.StopSPID - Russia
StopSPID (StopAIDS) is the public education campaign of the Russian Media Partnership to Combat HIV/AIDS, a project of the Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA). The campaign uses the true-life stories of two young Russians, Sasha and Alec, both residents of St. Petersburg, who have lent details of their lives and personal stories from their childhood and adolescence to the campaign in order to show that HIV/AIDS can affect anyone, just as it did them. All of the advertisements are branded with the StopSPID logo and website, which provides detailed information for those wanting to know more about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent infection. All StopSPID Public Service Advertisements (PSAs) are available rights-free to any media.
Contact Natalya Katsap [email protected] OR TPAA [email protected]
6.Peace Library - Sri Lanka
The Peace Library is an online Sri Lankan peace support resource, developed by Info Share. Partnering with international and local content providers, the Peace Library aims to be a source of information for anyone interested in conflict transformation, development, and human security. The Library is currently undergoing further development and the new resource will have a broad range of content including news articles, white papers, documents, grant guides, donor information, reports, and research papers related to the Sri Lankan peace process in particular, and conflict transformation and peacebuilding in general. Many of the resources will be downloadable on demand.
Contact Sanjana Hattotuwa [email protected] OR Tina Senanayake [email protected] OR [email protected]
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In 2015, people will look back and say that the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) were a major reason for reduced poverty levels.
[For context, please see The Drum Beat 315
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7.Knowledge of Men and Women about Reproductive Tract Infections and AIDS in a Rural Area of North India: Impact of a Community-based Intervention
by Dr. Arun Kumar Aggarwal & Mona Duggal
This is an impact study of a community-level health-education intervention for reproductive tract infections/sexually transmitted diseases (RTIs/STDs) that was carried out in three villages of the Haryana state in north India. The intervention, implemented by the Community Medicine Department of Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, was aimed at increasing awareness among men and women of reproductive age about the prevention and treatment of RTIs and HIV/AIDS. The authors' conclusion is that a multi-pronged health-education strategy through home visits, RTI case management and counselling, and organisation of regular weekly clinics, periodic camps, and health education talks could increase the level of awareness about RTIs/STDs among both men and women. No single intervention will be as effective as an approach that spans multiple message mediums.
8.Dietary Supplement Safety Information in Magazines Popular among Older Readers
by Ruth Kava, Kathleen A. Meister, Elizabeth M. Whelan, Alicia M. Lukachko & Christina Mirabile
Published in Volume 7, Number 1 of the Journal of Health Communication, this 11-page report presents an analysis of dietary supplement safety information in articles published between 1994 and 1998 in 10 major magazines popular among older readers in the United States. The authors examined 254 magazine articles and found that "...people who use dietary supplements have to piece together information from a variety of sources in order to learn the facts that they need to use these products safely. It would be unwise for people to rely on articles in magazines as their sole guide to supplement safety..."
9.Review of the UNDP South East Asia HIV & Development Programme: Evaluation of the Website of the Programme: Performance and Impact
by Jacques du Guerny
This study is an evaluation and review of the UNDP South East Asia HIV (SEAHIV) website. The author begins by examining the context, mission and purpose. The performance of the website is then assessed, focusing on the posting of documents and their downloading. And finally, the impact of the website is examined.
10.Cabinet Approves New National Map Policy: Separate Series of Maps for Defence & Public
This Ministry of Science & Technology press release describes India's new National Map Policy, and the rationale behind that system. The new policy calls for two series of maps: Defence Series Maps (DSMs) will be for exclusive use by the defence forces and authorised government departments; Open Series Maps (OSMs) will available in digital or analog formats from the Survey of India to agencies for specific end uses. Users will be able to add value additions to existing OSMs which can then be shared back to the Survey of India. Private agencies who are registered and accredited will also be able to carry out surveys using the Public Domain Datum.
11.Tracking the Vaccinations
by Bob Caylor
In this editorial, Bob Caylor argues the benefits of Indiana (USA)'s online vaccine tracking system, the "Children and Hoosiers Immunization Registry Program". Many children move frequently, he points out, and without a centralised system parents can lose track of these records. Accurate records of childhood vaccinations will, according to Caylor, both prevent unvaccinated children from entering school and prevent waste of vaccines on children who have already been immunised.
12.Linking PMTCT to Family-Based Antiretroviral Treatment and Care: A Behavior Change Perspective
by Mona Moore
This 41-page discussion paper elaborates a behaviour change framework that moves beyond prevention of mother to child HIV transmission (PMTCT), to extend a behavioural approach into the first year of life for HIV-positive mothers and HIV-exposed infants. In an effort to increase awareness of the potential benefits of behaviour-based approaches among those who plan and implement family-based antiretroviral (ART) programmes, author Mona Moore summarises key learnings from the literature on communication-centred interventions designed to both prevent HIV transmission and to provide care, treatment, and support to HIV-positive mothers and infants. Ms. Moore would appreciate comments and input, as she sees this as a "working paper" - email [email protected]
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NEW - ConunDRUM
Little Big Communication
Warren Feek explores how context and local knowledge may have big
implications for development progress.
Click here to access "Little Big Communication"
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DISCUSSION FORUMS
13.Keep the Promise: Start Making Sense!
Launched in August of 2005, this discussion is intended as a forum for debate of major HIV/AIDS policy-related events and milestones during 2005-2006.
14.e-Network of Academia in Social Sciences (e-NASS)
An e-network which aims to further inter-, trans- and multi-disciplinary dialogue within the academic social sciences community.
15.Open Course Content for Higher Education
To be held from October 24 to December 10 2005, this online discussion is intended as a forum for interested individuals to explore the concept of open course content, its context, current initiatives, and issues and implications of its use.
16.Water for Life: Making it Happen
This report focuses on the changes that simple improvements in water and sanitation services can make to people's lifestyles, health and economic prospects. It includes case studies of efforts focused on changing hygiene behaviours, household water treatment, legislation and support of small-scale entrepreneurs.
17.Journal for Political Theory and Research on Globalisation, Development and Gender Issues
This bilingual publication is both an online journal and a print publication, which will be published twice yearly beginning in fall 2005. The journal focuses on globalisation, development and gender issues and is published in English and Serbian by the Serbia and Montenegro based Women's Centre for Democracy and Human Rights.
18.Power, Rights and Poverty: Concepts & Connections
by Ruth Alsop (Ed.)
This book contains a series of short papers focused on enhancing understanding of the relationships between power, rights, and poverty reduction. The book offers both an exploration of the concepts of "rights" and "power" and a discussion of how these concepts may be applied in developmental and poverty-reduction work.
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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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