The Drum Beat 358 - Communication and Change News and Issues
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1.Spousal Communication and Family Planning Adoption: Effects of a Radio Drama Serial in Nepal
by Mona Sharan & Thomas W. Valente
Published in International Family Planning and Perspectives in 2002, this article presents the findings from a 5-year panel study in Nepal that assessed the influence of a mass media intervention on spousal communication about family planning, and the impacts of spousal communication on family planning adoption. The study is built on existing research findings that showed that the amount of communication on family planning issues between partners is positively associated with contraceptive use. The study makes a contribution to this research area by shedding light on the direction of the relationships between spousal communication, mass media campaigns, and behaviour adoption.
2."When Will We Ever Learn: Improving Lives through Impact Evaluation": Policy Recommendations from the CGD Evaluation Gap Working Group
This is a transcription of a May 31 2006 event hosted by Center for Global Development (CGD). This event attempted to address an identified problem: those in the development business and decision makers in developing countries who care about improving health, education and other social outcomes do not have the information they require to really make good decisions about how to spend money. Participants noted a separation of researchers, managers, and policy makers that leads to a disconnect in terms of carrying out evaluations and having the resources to prove impact. They identified and described attributes of a good evaluation as well as the benefits of and framework for collaboration.
3.An Assessment of the Alternative Rites Approach for Encouraging Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya
by Jane Njeri Chege, Ian Askew & Jennifer Liku
Maendeleo Ya Wanawake (MYWO), with technical assistance from the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), has been implementing an Alternative Rite of passage programme as part of its efforts to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in 5 districts in Kenya. This study addressed the factors that influence some families and individuals to adopt the Alternative Rite while others, exposed to the same messages discouraging FGM, decide not to. It also evaluated the effect of the training component of the Alternative Rite on the girls who participated.
4.Telesecundaria: Students and the Meanings They Attribute to Elements of the Pedagogical Model
by Rafael Quiroz Estrada (translated by Trena Brown)
This report details a research study of the paedagogical model implemented in Mexico called telesecundaria. The model includes 20-minute televised lessons, either on live television or recorded video, followed by 40-minute teacher-facilitated discussions. The author of this study concludes that "although the pedagogical model of telesecundaria schools can still be improved, when it functions consistently it permits scholastic achievement equivalent to that of other types of secondary schools, in addition to generating student confidence about learning and a feeling of identity with the school."
5.Dissemination vs. Dialogue: A False Dichotomy
by Arvind Singhal, Ph.D.
Singhal argues that dissemination of information and dialogue can complement each other to bring about sustainable social change. According to Singhal, while complementary, these processes of dissemination and dialogue are not identical. Dissemination is "an intentional process of information transmission from a source to one or many individuals...dissemination involves telling: The message doesn't change, and there is limited, if any, role for feedback." Dialogue "involves mutuality and reciprocity in information exchange between two or more individuals. In this sense, dialogue involves not only a channel of information exchange but also is embodied in the relationship between participants." Many, according to Singhal, have polarised these two processes, often privileging one - typically, dialogue - over the other (despite the fact that "dialogue can be tyrannical, and dissemination can be just"). To Singhal, this dichotomous thinking is problematic.
6.Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India
by Abhijit Banerjee, Shawn Cole, Esther Duflo & Leigh Linden
This report presents the results of 2 overlapping 2-year randomised evaluations conducted in Mumbai and Vadodara, India, designed to assess ways to improve the quality of education in urban slums. The 2 remedial education programmes were developed by Pratham, a network of Indian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in Mumbai. As part of the first programme, Pratham hires young local women ("balsakhi", or child's friend) who have the equivalent of a high school degree from the local slum communities in which the schools are located; these women provide remedial education to children in standard 3 and 4. In the second programme, children in grade 4 participate in computer-assisted learning (CAL) featuring games to reinforce mathematic competencies. "...[R]esults show that it is possible to dramatically increase the quality of education in urban India, a very important result since less than a third of Indian school children can read when they leave school. However, this is not likely to be achieved by simply increasing resources without changing the way teaching is conducted."
7.Farmer Field Schools and the Future of Agricultural Extension in Africa
by Brent M. Simpson & Michelle Owens
This study provides an overview of the introduction of the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach to Africa. Case study materials highlight some of the successes achieved and difficulties encountered, drawing on field data from Ghana and Mali to highlight some key lessons, including:
- Those FFS efforts that were responsive to local concerns were much more successful.
- FFS was effective in facilitating farmers' acquisition of systems-level knowledge (e.g., understanding in ecology), which in turn motivated many farmers to carry out experiments on their own after their attendance.
- FFS helped a significant number of its graduates to engage in formal and informal communication with non-FFS farmers as well as with FFS farmers, extending the benefits of FFS beyond its institutional boundary.
- FFS in general failed to make a contribution to the creation of "learning communities" that bring together farmers, extension agents, researchers, and others.
8.When Donor Support Ends: The Fate of Social Marketing Products and the Markets They Help Create
by Sohail Agha, Mai Do & Francoise Armand
This report assesses the performance of social marketing interventions under the manufacturer's model, a model that the authors suggest has the potential to achieve sustainability (defined as continuing contraceptive availability after the withdrawal of donor support) in 4 middle-income countries. Fifteen rounds of data from nationally representative surveys implemented in Morocco, the Dominican Republic, Peru, and Turkey between 1986 and 2003 are analysed to determine changes in the commercial sector's share of oral contraceptives and condoms before and after the withdrawal of donor support.
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20 years on - do we communicate better?...let us know what you think - take our POLL!
Overall the world communicates better now than it did 20 years ago. [If you agree, please elaborate. If you disagree, please indicate why.]
Do you agree or disagree?
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9.Barriers to Male Participation in Family Planning in West Timor
by Bayu Setiawan
The author of this paper asserts that many countries have addressed women when it comes to family planning programmes, in the process excluding men. Setiawan describes a patriarchal system where traditional marriages give men more power over women. He concludes with several recommendations; among them: not only is it important to encourage male involvement in reproductive and family planning programmes, but equally important is the commitment to developing broader social policies that call for a combined gender perspective in sexual health services.
10.Public Participation in Decision-making Regarding GMOs in Developing Countries: How to Effectively Involve Rural People
Email Conference Summary Document
This summary document resulted from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) email conference of the same name that was conducted in early 2005. According to the document, there was broad agreement that citizens, including rural people, should be involved in decision-making when it is likely to impact on them, but opinions on the degree and nature of the suggested participation differed. It was felt that effective participation depended on access to unbiased and comprehensive information on the nature and consequences of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Once available, the information would have to be communicated effectively through such channels as extension services, radio, and use of local languages.
11.What Does Art Matter? Contemporary Art & Development in Sarajevo: 1996-2005
by Susan Kennard
This article explores the question of whether art has the ability to contribute to development and change, particularly in countries in transition. The research focused on emerging and established contemporary artists who are recognised for the quality of their creative practice in Sarajevo. In March 2005, the author interviewed 14 Sarajevo-based artists, curators and administrators. Those interviews served to identify points of connection between artistic practice, civil society and development initiatives, as well as essential conditions of difference. According to the article, the results of the text analysis of the interviews support the argument that contemporary art practice in Sarajevo can be a protocol of communication, a tool of social reconstruction, and an informal apparatus of development. The results of the field study in Sarajevo indicate that contemporary artists engage in dual processes of personal practice alongside the creation of a conceptual dialogue with the public.
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The World Congress
on Communication for Development (WCCD)
Co-organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), The World Bank and The Communication Initiative, the WCCD will take place in Rome, Italy on October 25-27 2006.
Click here for details.
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12. Communication of Innovations: A Journey with Ev Rogers
by Arvind Singhal & James W. Dearing (eds.)
This collection of 10 original essays honours the intellectual legacy of Prof Everett M Rogers (1931-2004), a scholar of diffusion of innovations, communication networks, and social change. Colleagues and contemporaries write on topics that not only piqued Rogers' curiosity, but to which he made seminal and lasting contributions.
13.Women and Elections: Guide to Promoting the Participation of Women in Elections
This handbook is intended as a quick reference guide for organisations working to promote the participation of women in the electoral process in post-conflict countries. The handbook describes opportunities for expanding women's involvement at each of the key stages of the electoral process, and includes a set of general recommendations.
14.Behavior Change Perspectives and Communication Guidelines on Six Child Survival Interventions
by Renata Seidel
This document was designed for those who want to incorporate behaviour change and communication strategies in their child survival programmes, as well as those who already plan and carry out such activities. Examining critical behavioural determinants for major audiences in different children's health areas, it discusses what has already been learned about "what works," innovations that have been tried at smaller scales, and perspectives about gaps and promising areas for new communication strategies.
15.New Weave of Power, People & Politics: The Action Guide for Advocacy and Citizen Participation
by Lisa VeneKlasen & Valerie Miller
This guide presents advice, tools, exercises, resources and real-world examples aimed at promoting citizen participation. The authors explore both theoretical questions of citizenship and empowerment and the practical steps required to build citizen-centred advocacy within the existing political framework. The guide is broken into 3 sections that follow the chronological stages of advocacy programmes, from understanding the issues, to planning for advocacy and finally to action.
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Seeking Avian Influenza Communication Information
The Communication Initiative is seeking information on initiatives using communication to address Avian Influenza at the global, national, and local levels. This information will be added to The CI's listing of projects, strategies, resources and events focused on Avian Influenza communication - click here for that listing.
Please send any information you may have to
Deborah Heimann [email protected]
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