prepared for the VIII International Communication for Development Roundtable, Managua, Nicaragua

It is two years since the last meeting of the Communication for Development Roundtable, two years in which the field of communication has evolved profoundly. This paper seeks to provide a summary of some of the key events, trends and developments in this field. It does not purport to be comprehensive or exhaustive, but to give a flavour, as succinctly as possible, of just some of the major developments and trends in this field. It is designed to provide information and to prompt discussion.(1) It is divided into two parts, the first of which focuses on debates on HIV/AIDS communication, the second on wider trends in communications over the last two years.

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(1) Declaration of interest: The analysis presented here has been put together by the Panos Institute and should not be taken to represent the views of any of the other cosponsors of this meeting. While we have attempted to be descriptive of the debates outlined here, rather than put forward any particular argument, Panos has been directly engaged in many of the of the issues and debates explained in this document, and it should be read in that context.