Communication for Development

 Communication for Development 

 Movements in Development Communication

     Compiled and edited by Dr AV Rotor

 Farmer with his carabao, symbol of Philippine agriculture, UPLB

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Red Ribbon Clubs Spread Prevention Message

" CHANDRAPUR, India, 1 December 2011- Rushali is undaunted and clearly proud of her volunteer position with the village’s Red Ribbon Club. Her group is working to prevent the spread of HIV, AIDS and oth "

Rushali Gajabhaye,18, (left) is part of the UNICEF funded Red Ribbon Club (RRC) program in Chandrapur District, Maharashtra. RRC's are voluntary village level forums for young people to spread information on safe sex practises to prevent HIV and AIDS.

- See more at: http://unicef.in/Story/217/Red-Ribbon-Clubs-Spread-Prevention-Message#sthash.dcZ02syB.dpuf

Purposive communication intended for a specific target audience that allows for the translation of information into action resulting in a higher quality of life.

The improvement of a community using information and technology and the community's ability to maintain the created ideal state without compromising its environment and resources. 

It is the voluntary involvement of a group of people in a development activity with full knowledge of its purpose that will allow them to grow individually and as a community.

The process of eliciting positive change (social, political, economic, moral, environmental, etc) through an effective exchange of pertinent information in order to induce people to action.

Development communication extends to include: information dissemination on developmental schemes/projects, communication for eliciting positive change, interactivity, feedback on developmental issues, feedback/reverse communication for eliciting change. On development side, sustainability issues need to be given proper importance vis-a-vis economic development.

The practice of systematically applying the processes, strategies, and principles of communication to bring about positive social change.

The term "Development Communication" was first coined in 1972 by Nora C. Quebral, who defines the field as "the art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger unfolding of individual potential."

Some approaches include:

• information dissemination and education,

• behavior change,

• social marketing,

• social mobilization,

• media advocacy,

• communication for social change, and

• participatory development communication.

Different schools of development communication have arisen in different places.

1. The "Bretton Woods school of development communication" arose with the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan after WW2, and the establishment of the Bretton Woods system and of the WB and IMF in 1944. Due to his pioneering influence in the field, Everett Rogers has often been termed the "father of development communication."

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Originally, the paradigm involved production and planting of development in indigenous and uncivilized societies. This western approach to development communication was criticized early on, especially by Latin American researchers because it tended to locate the problem in the underdeveloped nation rather than its unequal relations with powerful economies. There was also an assumption that Western models of industrial capitalism are appropriate for all parts of the world. Many projects for development communication failed to address the real underlying problems in poor countries such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits and fair market prices.

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The World Bank currently defines development communication as the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities. Institutions associated with the Bretton Woods school include:

• UNESCO

• United Nations (FAO),

• the Rockefeller Foundation,

• the Dept of International Development of the United Kingdom, and

• the Ford Foundation.

2. Latin America

The Latin American School of Development traces its history back further than the Bretton Woods school, emerging in the 1940s with the efforts of Colombia's Radio Sutatenza and Bolivia's Radios Minera. These stations were the first to use participatory and educational rural radio approaches to empowering the marginalized. In effect, they have since served as the earliest models for participatory broadcasting efforts around the world.

3. India

The history of organized development communication in India can be traced to rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. As is logical, the broadcasts used indigenous languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada.

Independent India's earliest organized experiments in development communication started with Community Development projects initiated by the union government in 1950's.

Radio played an equally important role in reaching messages to the masses. Universities and other educational institutions - especially the agricultural universities, through their extension networks - and international organizations under the UN umbrella carried the dev-comm experiments further.

4. Africa

The African school of development communication sprang from the continent's post-colonial and communist movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Development communication in Anglophone Africa saw the use of Radio and theatre for community education, adult literacy, health and agricultural education.

5. University of the Philippines Los Baños

UPLB Laguna

The systematic study and practice of Development Communication in the Philippines began in the 1970s with the pioneering work of Nora C Quebral who, in 1972 became the first to come up with the term "Development Communication." In at least some circles within the field, it is Quebral who is recognized as the "Mother" of Development Communication.

Aspects of development communication which the CDC has extensively explored include Development Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Development Journalism, Educational Communication, Science Communication, Strategic Communication, and Health Communication.

6. Cybernetics approach

Another area of exploration for the CDC at UPLB is the aspect of development communication relating to the information sciences, the decision sciences, and the field of knowledge management. In 1993, as part of the then Institute of Development Communication’s Faculty papers series, Alexander Flor wrote a paper on environmental communication that, among other things, proposed a definition of Development Communication expanded from the perspective of cybernatics and general systems theory:

If information counters entropy and societal breakdown is a type of entropy, then there must be a specific type of information that counters societal entropy. The exchange of such information – be it at the individual, group, or societal level – is called development communication.

7. The Participatory Development Communication school

Focusing the involvement of the community in development efforts, the evolution of the Participatory Development Communication School involved collaboration between First World and Third World development communication organizations.

UNICEF Communication for Development 

• Communication for Development (C4D) is one of the most empowering ways of improving health, nutrition and other key social outcomes for children and their families.
• In UNICEF, C4D is defined as a systematic, planned and evidence-based strategic process to promote positive and measurable individual behaviour and social change that is an integral part of development programmes, policy advocacy and humanitarian work.
• C4D ensures dialogue and consultation with, and participation of children, their families and communities. In other words, C4D privileges local contexts and relies on a mix of communication tools, channels and approaches.

Vision

UNICEF C4D envisions a world in which people come together as equals and dialogue so that all children, families and communities have access to the information, skills, technologies and processes they need to generate solutions; are empowered to make informed choices, reach their full potential; and participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives and realize their rights.

Mission

C4D in UNICEF collaborates with partners to harness the power of communication and social networks to make a positive difference in the lives of children, their families and communities. C4D promotes the use of a judicious mix of participatory communication strategies and approaches in order to increase the impact of development programmes, accelerate achievement of global and development goals and enhance the ability of families and communities to achieve results for children and realize their rights.

UNICEF C4D Principles

These core principles guide how C4D practitioners in the organization work with communities, development partners and programme staff. These principles are based on the human rights based approach to programming, particularly on the rights to information, communication and participation as enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 12, 13 and 17).

They include: 

• Facilitating enabling environments that create spaces for plurality of voices, promote narratives of communities, encourage listening, dialogue and debate and the active and meaningful participation of children and women; 
• Reflecting the principles of inclusion, self-determination, participation and respect by ensuring that marginalized and vulnerable groups (including indigenous populations and people with disabilities) are prioritized and given visibility and voice; 
• Linking community perspectives and voices with sub-national and national policy dialogue; 
• Starting early and addressing the whole child — including the cognitive, emotional, social and spiritual aspects in addition to survival and physical development; 
• Ensuring that children are considered as agents of change and as a primary audience, starting from the early childhood years; 
• Building the self-esteem and confidence of care providers and children.

References: 

1.Quebral, Nora C. (1973/72). "What Do We Mean by ‘Development Communication’". International Development Review 15 (2): 25–28.References

2. Quebral, Nora (23 November 2001). "Development Communication in a Borderless World". Paper presented at the national conference-workshop on the undergraduate development communication curriculum, "New Dimensions, Bold Decisions". Continuing Education Center, UP Los Baños: Department of Science Communication, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños. pp. 15–28.

3.Manyoso. Linje (March 2006). "Manifesto for Development Communication: Nora C. Quebral and the Los Baños School of Development Communication". Asian Journal of Communication 16 (1): 79–99. doi:10.1080/01292980500467632

ategy for Social Change , Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0805833501.

4.Avrind Singhal, Everett M. Rogers (1999). Entertainment-education: A Communication Str 5.Flor, Alexander (1993) (Monograph). Upstream and Downstream Interventions in Environmental Communication. Institute of Development Communication.

6.Thussu, Daya Kishan 2000). International Communication: Continuity and Change. London: Arnold.~