The Communication Initiative Network

The solution to rising hunger rates [see: Maxwell D, Webb P, Coates J, Wirth J. 2008. Rethinking Food Security in Humanitarian Response. Paper Presented to the Food Security Forum; April 16–18, Rome] is...?

I guess, the solution is well detailed within the strategies for susteinable developement. It must include, the promotion of urban and rural cultures and the building of susteinable farms in the gethos, so that we can use every inch of land. I propose the teachin of growing and culturing food in schools for low income people. and exchange of work on farms for hydroponic pants that can grow in balconys and roofs.

family planning

I can only give my opinion on this matter; I believe that part of the problems related to food shortages can only be addressed when looked at on multiple levels and addressing these levels at the same time: 1) People should be educated in provindg sustainable reliable vegtable gardens for themselves, that will be able to provide for there basic need of essential fruits and vegtables that is required in the daily diet. 2) Prices for the cost of seed's and plants for having your own gardens should be lowered in order to make it more accesable to people. 3) Genetic modifaction and Hybrid fruits and vegtables seeds should over a period of time be phased out. 4) The existing surplus of product that will now be available by farmers because individuals will be growing food for themselves can be used to address that current energy crises and fuel shortage, so this could and will be able to create Bio Fuels and green energy, maybe even amalgmate the farmers and growers to form a conglomoate of green fuel suppliers, and give them the opportunity to offer there product also on the global market as an alternative to the GAS Crisis. 5) If we can address these urgent matters, I believe that some form of balance can be restored to our communities, and we will find that the economics will alance itself out. WHY! People get more satisfaction when they grow things for themselves Farmers wont have to worry about expensive pesticides and all other additives when growing grops for BIO FUEL not human Consumption. Greener fuels, cleaner air and healther enviroment, less ailments and illness related to cardio vascular disorders. Please note this is merely my point of view and opinion, but I believe it will work. lloyd@swordofthespirit.co.za

First of all; there has to be a balance struck between the need to eliminate hunger and attain a cleaner environment. The rising hunger rates have been brought about by the need for biofuel in order to have a cleaner environment. This has led to the cost of food skyrocketing and scarce due to the need for biofuel production. All nations must come together under the umbrella united nations to find a solution of obtain cleaner environment by investing in new technologies to develop cleaner fuels than using biofuel. Already some car companies like Toyota have developed hybrid cars that uses hydrogen cells which have cleaner emissions. And so alot of investment in this research for cleaner fuels will eliminate the problem. Biofuel is good but should not come at the expense of the poor masses who depend on food for their livelihoods.

Developed countries should not place limits on their agricultural productions/output! Extra food produced can be distributed to nations under food stress. Syed TSH 1 May 2008.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The comments below refer to the previous web form: "YOUR VIEW: If you had one billion dollars to "invest" in poverty reduction what would be your priorities for that investment? Why?"

Iwould invest in Education and Farming because the community without education breeds poverty and iliteracy.The community without food promotes povert,hunger,diseases and prostitution.

I would invest in women, through women education, capacity building, microfinance. It is believed when you train a woman you train the nation and also when a woman is educated the better the upbring of the children. Also women are the poorest as observed from my 30years of community health practice. Women are often denied inheritance and have poor earning power

The starting could be on capacity bulging, community development Then the major expenditure would be on agriculture Cooperative committees work on provision of job opportunities Free education particularly techniqual educations Eradication of diseases affecting the poor populations

Health,Education, agriculture

Girl Education Because, There is saying in India that one girl child can make two families happy one it's paternal and after marrieage her groom's home Jaydev Babariya jaydevb@hotmail.com

I will invest 25% of it a loan/grant scheme from and micro industries in the developing countires of the world, these will be industries that will have 100% local raw material base and 100% local market thus developing the economy of these countries. I will invest 25% in an education fund that will provide scholarships for children that will hitherto not be able to get education. 25% will further go into rural clean water projects through the provision of boreholes in villages, it will also cater for malaria eradication projects by funding for the provision of research grant into developing vaccines 25% will be dedicated to partner projects with other humanitarian agencies,NGOs and Corporate CSR groups, this will evelove a business that will both provide basic needs of local inhabitants as well as sustain its own continuation as a business....

Then we need good infrastructure to reach the neglected rural population who are the main contributors in the national income, agriculture being the backbone of our economy

i will organize an international competition for all those who have a spirit of research and have ideas or projects that possible to speed achieving the MDGs,then select the best projects through an international juries, then provide the necessary financial support for these projects

Agriculture, Education, Industry

ASSESS THE WEALTH OF THE POOR (HUMAN AND NATURAL) AND WITH THE POOR DESIGN PROGRAMMES TO ADDRESS THEIR NEEDS THROUGH: . EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT . SKILL TRAINING FOR THE POOR . IMPROVING GOOD HEALTH THE POOR IS POOR IN THE SIGHT OF THE OUTSIDER BUT WHEN THE WEALTH OF THE POOR IS TAPPED, 50% OF HIS/HER POVERTY IS REDUCED. THE OTHER 50% CAN BE THEN ADDRESSED THROUGH BOTTOM-TOP APPROACH WITH THE POOR AS KEY ACTORS

I would set up training facilities for youths in various communities so they can learn skills and empower them to sustain themselves. My second priority would be to offer scholarships to poor children so they can have basic education and learn to train others. The third priority is to equip hospitals for better treatment and free treatment for women and children. The last priority is to give loans o farmers to buy mechanical equipment and fertilizer to boost their food production.

Education of the children, young people and their EDUCATORS.

Knowledge is the best tool against all problems, including poverty! 

early child care and development , nutrition HIV/prevention , education

Nutrition, rights of women, and young people to make better SRH choices , community revolving funds and income generation projects household and community level

I WOULD CONSIDER EDUCATING THE POOR COS IT WILL HELP IN FUTURE

TO IMPROVE ON GOOD HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SERVICES AND INFRASTRUCTURE ESPECIALLY AT THE RURAL SETTLLEMENT. THIS ARE THE MOST AFFECTED PEOPLE.

Also, helping to improve the ergonomy of this site could be another thing to do, though it's good to let people express themselves.

Developing local initiatives like "A Computer and a Cell Phone For Every Village", so to empower people. Education and Sciences are also top priorities.

Poverty is a broad term that has alot of other factors around it i think i would invest in attitude change of people 'thinking reegineering'of the so called poverty striken people so they can address the root causes.

Water Access, Clean Toilets..why? Because if people were to be less affected by diseases, they can improve productivity and employ themselves. Where will the jobs come from? In the act of providing clean water and toilet access!

-capacity building: to train facilitators at every parish level throughout the country -at parish level carry out seminars and workshops in project analysis, project selection, project management, financial management, marketing -provide support to communities in implementing projects -build vocational secondary schools in each region of the country to empower the youth and children with the same skills to ensure continuity of development with future generations -put in place Community Development Centres at parish level, where the community can gather for discussiona, workshops, seminars, interaction, internet and other social meetings

My focus will be mainly on two things: proper housing with full services (water and sanitation) and educational programs that promote enterpreneral skills from a young age.

The priority will be according to abraham maslows heirachy of needs or the peculiarity of that commmmunity will determine what my priorities will be.

ANTI CORRUPTION.CORRUPTION HAS CONSTITUTED OVER 99 PERCENT OF POVERTY RATE RECORDED IN AFRICA.

HEALTH & NUTRITION- poor communities need people who are able to support themselves, to develop their physical and intellectual capacities EDUCATION - healthy people will have greater chances of learning new ways to get out of poverty

Security first, Education second. You can't learn to read and write without knowing that you are first safe.

I would invest all that money in preventing the collapse of civilization due to a severe Pandemic of H5N1

Integrated Early Childhood Care and Development programs: because without those neither a child, a population or a country (from micro to macro) cannot possibly reach its full potential.

My Priorities for that investment would be in education and capacity building for women in Nigeria. Education because knowledge is power and once a women is empowered she is able able to cater for her family not depending too much on the resources from her husband or male members of the community. Capacity building will also empower the woman with skills that could help reduce her dependency and empower her to be self sufficient. This will go a long way in addressing the issue of gender inequality in my community. Thank you. Helen Ekpo, Project Director Centre for Health Development and Capacity Building, Abuja Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria.

I first invest in education. Education makes somedody to recognize him/herself why is poor. And what can he do to get out of poverty.

BASIC Education, Skill Development, and clean streets/environment.

I beleive in social welfare and the responsibility of the government. I would start the food ration cards scheme in Pakistan, plant fruit trees all over Pakistan. On a different front, I would get India not to threaten us and reduce military spending at home as well as stop our head of state's trip abroad.

I will spend the billion dollars on building a safe environment for children in a town I visited five years ago, where kids do not have the privilege to go to school, seeking medical tx, or able to eat one meal a day. I will make sure that not only we assist the children through elementery and secondary school but help them to attend vocational or college or higher education. And also educate the the community in what the do best in that region of farm land. Proper technique in farming, with small business loan to the paysans should help this part of the globe at least provide for their family in a long run. I am sure I would not be able to save the whole word hungry and diying children, but I will surely save a few. A clinic with some health providers will be a must in tha locality. So if I could provide education, food shelter, and medical care, a lot of life could be saved

Education and healthcare. Eduaction is absolutely necessary for poverty reduction.Not only knowledged based but also centered around critical thinking, tolerance and citizenship. Health is also critical as one cannot perform their best in any setting wheter at work, at play or at school if they are malnourished. It is so sad that the vast amount of resouces that are available today that a huge number of the population is still without access to basic healthcare.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The comments below refer to the previous web form Issue: "REVIEW: Which communication and media for development initiative most impressed you in 2007? Why?".

fast track communication is most effective in the underserved communities. Community learn as quickly and implement in the life also.

Televisiona and Internet

Graphics and Short Video films, becuase it says so many things with minimal words

ONE IN MY COUNTRY INVOLVING HIRONDELLE FOUNDATION 7 THE FORUAH BAY COLLEGE UNIVERSITY

Communication with Internet is the best method I ever seen. We can contact each other in a sec. via e-mail, VOIP. Low cost, easy use, reliable & free resource. VOIP is the most important thing for next generation. Though FCC should take care for this.

YouTube by a large margin. Who would predict a year before that the Queen of England and the presidential candidates would fall for something like that? Developing countries still have limited access to broadband, but I have seen many videos from Indian and Africa and there is a lot more to come. This is a NEW tool enterily and we should examine it like that.

I started this group in Facebook to show intrest to affordable, low-cost. low-energy, eco-friendly housing and to hope better co-operation to tackle the problem of poor and indeadecuate housing. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6999503189 Come along to make the Change for better to take place!

Radio is the most powerful medium. It is the poor persons and rich persons friend.

The one that impressed me most is not listed above -- it's Radio Zohra, the women's radio station in Kunduz, Afghanistan. They have two call-in shows for women (although widely listened to by men): one for domestic issues and one for health issues. Both shows give a true picture of the very simple problems that plague rural people that can easily be addressed through access to information. For the tougher problems, it brings women closer to each other knowing that others are in a similar situation. Radio is the most accessible media for women in rural areas. And now Radio Zohra is wildly popular -- men listen to it in the shops; it brings people together in knowing that they are not alone in their problems. For the women, it's a safe environment for them to speak out and has empowered women and girls tremendously.

When the communication initiatives are not overly informative for my area of work, they are still interesting in and of themselves- so i say they are generally great. Working in trafficking i persons, the topical initiative on TIP was particularly useful and impressive given the amount of information to select from.

briefly personal identification. i am andrew, student of President University, batch 2005, major in Public Relations. based on the question above, i choose television as a media and also as one of the tools of communication that gives a lot of impacts to many people in Indonesia. many people in indonesia shortage of education; therofore, some of them are blind on verbal things. television is a tool in which not only transmitted sound but also transmitted motion picture. in this case, poeple who aren't really understand with words, they don't really pay attention to the written words. they just listen and see the motion picture. then, they understand what it is being told in advertiment, for example.

modern and high technology short pass through reach it all of children. poverty people children can not yet it.

Soul City communication research on Multiple and Concurrent Partners. The quality of research, profiling and subsequent message design workshops were very participatory at Regional level- a daunting task.

The awareness raising effect that taxi drivers can create in the prevention of HIV and AIDS.

The Health and Happiness Initiative in Amazonia, Brasil -from establishing an extensive village to village wireless network to a series of ongoing local debates on key issues - all locally started and run - very impressive stuff