EXPERIENCES

1. "Dialogue" on Radio May - Cyprus

Radio May, a radio channel launched in January 2004 with the aim of contributing to the peace process, implemented a weekly radio programme in North Cyprus. "Dialogue" seeks to inform Turkish Cypriot listeners about the social, cultural, and political life in the South, while informing Greek Cypriots about life in the North. Specifically, it summarises and evaluates the previous week's political developments in the South and the North, in part by drawing on the mass media (newspapers' political positions, main articles in past week's media, etc). "Dialogue" presents cultural events in both the South and the North during the past week and the coming week. It analyses political parties, daily life, and economic realities. In addition to radio, this project draws on the Internet to facilitate connections and draw divergent groups together.

Contact Hasan Kahvecioglu hasankahvecioglu@yahoo.com / admin@radyomayis.com OR Pat Scheid pat.scheid@hasna.org

2. Wills & Inheritance Laws Programme - Zimbabwe

A project from International Video Fair that teaches women about the Zimbabwean Wills and Inheritance laws through the use of video, support materials and discussion. It is aimed at giving women knowledge and details about laws that protect them in the case of the death of their spouse. In the first half hour of each session, visiting educators talk about inheritance laws and explain how to write a will. A 30-minute support video screening follows this. In co-operation with NGOs, supporting pamphlets on basic laws have been produced in English and the two major vernacular languages, Shona and Ndebele, on issues such as wills, domestic violence, women and rape, marriage and maintenance.

Contact Itai Muchemwa ivf@mango.zw OR Charity Maruta aiasvf@mango.zw

3. HIV Visibility Campaign - New South Wales, Australia

In 2002, People Living With HIV/AIDS [PLWHA] New South Wales launched a campaign to challenge prejudice, isolation, and discriminatory attitudes by presenting a public face of what it is like to live with HIV. The first phase of the campaign ran during the Gay Games and World AIDS Day. A billboard was installed at Town Hall Station and a series of postcards was produced. Photographs of actual HIV-positive people who do not show any of the expected signs of AIDS - they look healthy - invite viewers to recognise themselves as members of a potential or actual HIV-positive community. PLWHA New South Wales then developed resources and facilitated workshops and forums in an effort to bring various communities (gay and lesbian, HIV-positive, and the larger community) together to reflect on changing realities and educational strategies related to HIV/AIDS.

Contact Kathy Triffitt healthpromotion@plwha.org.au

4. Radio Zohra - Kunduz, Afghanistan

This independent women's community radio station in Kunduz, Afghanistan was officially inaugurated on International Women's Day (March 8) 2004. Radio Zohra's programming focuses on women's affairs, health, education, children, parenting, leadership, and community issues. In light of the upcoming national election in 2004, the station will also educate women about the political and electoral process and the significance of women's participation as voters and decision-makers. The purpose of Radio Zohra is "to give women a greater voice and to link and educate women around Afghanistan".

Contact Najia Khodayar Tel.: 079-56-87-33 OR Jane McElhone jmcelhone@sympatico.ca OR Sanjar Qiam sanjar@internews.org

5. Community Storefronts Marketplace - Canada

In June 1998, an e-commerce pilot website was launched through the efforts of Industry Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Strategic Profits Inc., and Open Market!. In May 1999, Community Storefronts became a commercialised e-commerce portal, offering e-solutions for small- and medium-sized companies, large corporations, government and educational institutions, and not-for-profit and charity organisations. Following a training process, these organisations were empowered to raise money for their particular cause, or sell their wares, online. The overall aim of the project was to facilitate the development of e-commerce in Canada's rural regions.

Contact Catherine Clarke Pagliaro cc@csfm.com

6. Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) - Global

AGORA is based on the premise that strengthening capacity for knowledge generation and dissemination can contribute to improved health, nutrition, and education on the part of the world's poor. Launched in October 2003 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), AGORA is an effort to provide free or low-cost Internet access to over 400 major scientific journals in agriculture and related biological, environmental, and social sciences. The AGORA website is available to researchers, policy-makers, educators, students, technical workers, and extension specialists in public institutions in developing countries worldwide. Users can browse, search, and access the full text of online scholarly journals, which are selected for their relevance to developing countries' needs.

Contact agora@fao.org

7. Intervention Study on Adolescent Health & Development - Tigri, Delhi, India

As part of a collaborative project with the International Center for Research on Women, the India-based Swaasthya conducted sexual behaviour research among unmarried adolescents in Tigri, Delhi. In response to the findings, an intervention study was undertaken in an effort to develop, implement, and evaluate a pilot community-based programme to improve adolescents' life skills and sexual health. Specifically, a set of 7 Skills Building Modules was designed to build girls' self-confidence and to increase their capacity to deal with various social and health-related situations. Improving reproductive health knowledge was also a focus (trained Swaasthya field workers disseminated information; indigenously made videos aired on local television). Finally, organisers worked to create a girls' support network and to increase understanding between mothers and daughters by forming women's and adolescent community groups that met monthly.

Contact Dr. Geeta Sodhi swaasthya@satyam.net.in OR Dr. Rohini Pande rpande@icrw.org OR Sunayana Walia swalia@icrwindia.org

STRATEGIC THINKING

8. Communication Indicators for District Level Activities to Reduce Dropout (4 Examples)

by Judy Graeff

In June 2003, UNICEF and GAVI (The Global Alliance for Vaccines & Immunization) held regional workshops in Istanbul, Johannesburg, and Bangkok to address key issues in communication for immunisation. One of those presentations focused on the use of "drop out reduction" in Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) programmes. In this practical session, participants developed and tested monitoring tools and used sample data to process communication indicators. These indicators were introduced to measure the following: improvement in the IPC skills of health workers; community involvement in tracking drop-outs; community linkages with outreach services; and feedback on communication support to the district EPI programme.

9. ICT & Ensuring Environmental Sustainability

by John Daly

This paper explores how changes in information and communication technologies (ICTs) affect environmental sustainability. The author points out that literature on ICT and the environment "focuses most frequently on the applications of the technology in environmental monitoring and within environmental projects." He expresses concern that, if taken too far, this "reductionism...will result in radical underestimates of the effects of ICT on the environment." He endorses efforts to understand the effects of the ICT revolution on trends of urban growth, thereby examining the "indirect, causal paths" that link ICT with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

10. The Kevin Costner Syndrome

by Dr. Everold Hosein

According to this author, what is needed in the area of Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis (MAT) is "new, invigorated social mobilisation and communication strategies rigorously focused on specific, discreet behavioural outcomes..." He is critical of the assumption that if MAT programmes provide health services, people will automatically go to clinics for the offered cure. "This may work in the movies...But, folks, in public health this has not worked for 50 years and it will not work for the next 50. Fantastic medical-technical solutions and superb services do not sell themselves. If the Kevin Costner Syndrome persists, so too will MAT."

MATERIALS

11. Building Better Health: A Handbook of Behavioral Change

by Dr. C. David Jenkins

This handbook provides hands-on disease prevention practices and behavioral science principles for health workers, community health promoters, nurses, and family physicians. Its 5 sections detail theoretical and practical aspects of health promotion.

12. Does it Matter That We Don't Agree on the Definition of Poverty? A Comparison of 4 Approaches

by Caterina Ruggeri Laderchi, Ruhi Saith & Frances Stewart

"While there is worldwide agreement on poverty reduction as an overriding goal of development policy, there is little agreement on the definition of poverty. The paper reviews four approaches to the definition and measurement of poverty - the monetary, capability, social exclusion and participatory approaches."

13. Women Empowerment Through Information Technology

by Usha Sharma

This book attempts to demonstrate that ICT technologies are powerful tools for women to use to overcome discrimination, to achieve full equality and well-being, and to participate in decisions that impact the quality of their lives and the future of their communities. It is written for policy makers and development leaders to use as a reference tool to help to help mainstream gender issues in areas of technology development.

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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