School of Social Science, University of Adelaide

"This paper asserts that information and communication are located at the very core of poverty alleviation processes, from processes of community participation and empowerment, to raising broad awareness of public health issues, to providing humanitarian information during times of conflict, to promoting good governance and accountability, to complex debt relief processes or the promotion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)."

Published by the Information and Communication for Development (ICD) team of the United Kingdom (UK)'s Department for International Development (DFID), this 32-page paper provides a summary of the scope of radio's involvement - and its potential and actual impact - in fulfilling the broader goals and targets of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. While acknowledging that a rich variety of ICD initiatives have used diverse tools - such as face-to-face or interpersonal communication, community-level communication (e.g., theatre or role-playing), mass-mediated communication, computer-based modes of information retrieval and exchange, and telecommunications via land line or mobile channels - to support achievement of the MDGs, this paper focuses explicitly on radio, which "constitutes a communications mainstay for millions of poor people in the South."

To begin, the document explores the ways in which radio can play - and has played - a role in raising public awareness and support for the MDGs, which the author suggests is "critical to their achievement". Additional chapters detail how radio has been used in specific contexts and ways around the world to sustain livelihoods (agriculture and enterprise), help people claim a voice and be heard (human rights and equality), support better health and education, and prevent/mitigate conflict and natural disasters. The paper's core premise is that ICD initiatives are central to upholding the rights of economically poor people to receive and share information - and thus lie at the core of poverty reduction efforts.

A key purpose of this paper is on the role of overseas development aid (ODA) in sustaining and supporting radio-based communication initiatives. To that end, throughout his review of the "broad range of radio-based sectoral activity undertaken in support of...the MDGs", the author offers specific suggestions for the DFID in sustaining and supporting radio as a communication tool to address poverty and other development issues around the world. For instance:

• Stimulating a vibrant media environment could involve supporting civil society and non-governmental organisations to advocate for media deregulation and plurality at community and national level, as well as in making community radio licence applications. DFID could also continue to help build media environments in which there is a clear separation of state and national media and which are based on regulatory frameworks that emphasise the rights and responsibilities of journalists and broadcasters.
• Increasing the equality of access to radio and supporting the realisation of rights could involve enhancing the ability of economically poor people to own or access radio technology and invest in cheap and sustainable energy sources (e.g., solar). DFID could also strengthen investigative journalism and radio-based advocacy work within community and national broadcasters. Finally, supporting radio initiatives that improve women's access, such as through listening groups or training for women broadcasters, is suggested.
• Strengthening radio's health and educational content could involve providing direct training for public radio staff in "pro-poor content creation" and by supporting non-governmental organisation (NGOs) which are developing content independently of the sector. DFID could also consider focusing on radio-based educational opportunities for children excluded from formal learning, as well as content related to child mortality, maternal health, and communicable diseases.
• Promoting sustainable livelihoods could involve modernising and strengthening national broadcasters' approaches to farm broadcasting, and deepening radio content related to sustainable environmental management, small enterprise and transition economies, and so on.
• Supporting radio's role in conflict and disaster prevention and mitigation could involve providing training to public, commercial, and community broadcasters in conflict prevention, mitigation, and inter-ethnic dialogue and reporting. DFID could also strengthen humanitarian information by supporting emergency broadcasting interventions and the provision of radio to the vulnerable/displaced, as well as helping develop disaster preparedness and mitigation broadcasting.
• Enhancing our knowledge of radio's role in the realisation of the MDGs could involve strengthening work in monitoring and evaluation (M&E) through the development of simple M&E resource guides, such as simple-to-use social research tools for community radio practitioners. DFID could also help partner governments (national public media) and the independent ICD sector in developing formative research and impact evaluation strategies.

In conclusion, the author suggests that "technological and informational empowerment underpins the ability of poor communities to realise their own voice. Therefore, access to radio and support for the development of useful and useable content remains critical. When combined, these two capacity building thrusts can help poor people realise a voice, and realising a voice has long been identified as fundamental to effective community participation in development."