Academy for Educational Development (AED) (at the time of writing)

"The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are one of the most ambitious global commitments ever to improving social conditions, particularly those affecting the most excluded and marginalized populations worldwide. As such, they are a blueprint to motivate, guide, inspire and hold accountable governments, donors and organizations. But where is communication?"

In this paper, Silvio Waisbord explores what he sees as a rather strange and surprising phenomenon: the absence of communication in the MDGs. The reasons for this exclusion may range from failure on the part of the 'communication' community to make a persuasive argument to convince power-holders to take communication goals seriously, to decision-makers' lack of sensitisation to the merits of communication goals. The "why" is not Waisbord's focus here, however. He seeks, rather, to explore the way in which communication's absence from the Goals exacerbates its relegation to an auxiliary, instrumental role to achieve other objectives. In short, Waisbord is concerned that - when seen as simply a group of information dissemination tools - communication as a strategy for fostering development in the fullest sense is radically short-changed and misunderstood.

Waisbord is motivated by the observation that, when development goals are defined in terms of health, education, poverty-reduction, and gender indicators, medical and economic strategies move to the centre of the discussion - with alternative understandings of and approaches to development (such as participatory strategies) being relegated to the sidelines. Considering the challenge that this presents to the 'communication' community to "prove its merits", Waisbord goes on to discuss some of the misperceptions of what communication is, seeking to sharpen the lens on what it can offer to development.

Specifically, the author suggests that communication is primarily conceived of as a group of information dissemination tools: press releases, brochures, posters, websites, and message design. When understood in that sense, communication is broadly seen as helping to contribute to the MDGs, though not in a fundamental, sustainable way, Waisbord thinks. For instance, development programmes frequently draw on communication approaches to bring attention to specific issues as highlighted in the MDGs, as well as to aim for specific policies suggested in the list. Yet, according to Waisbord, one-shot advocacy efforts centred on information premises can quickly and quietly disappear from the public eye. He argues that "successful communication is more than the production of a series of brochures to influence policy decisions. It requires multiple forms of communication work, including collaboration between medical experts and lay talent, a diversity of media forums, the mobilization of celebrities and 'anonymous' champions, the empowerment of people living with AIDS, the strengthening of community networks, and so on."

As suggested by that example, and other cases that Waisbord highlights here, 'messaging' can fail when factors other than lack of information - such as stigma or deep-seated social norms and cultural beliefs - strongly deter people from following the practices recommended in conventional information materials. That is, by reducing the meanings of communication to transmission of information, Waisbord warns, we miss a much richer conception - one that involves "the potential transformative power of the exchange of ideas, deliberation and negotiation over a myriad common and private affairs, and participation in public life." Initiatives to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM), Waisbord suggests, offer illustrations of the kind of rich analytic and programmatic contribution that communication can make by nurturing a sense of local ownership by getting people talking about sensitive cultural issues and dynamics - a strategy that goes far beyond instructing people through messages on posters to stop subjecting their daughters to the practice.

Waisbord concludes by stressing that "Sustainable development requires interventions that resonate with people's concerns, survival strategies, perceived risks, information needs, and cultural practices. Communication has much to contribute in this regard..." In short, "Moving from reality to ideal conditions and behaviours requires more than announcing the desirability of the MDGs."

WACC's Media Development 2006/3 and email from Philip Lee to The Communication Initiative on June 24 2009.