This issue of The Soul Beat contains summaries of programme experiences, strategic thinking documents, evaluations, materials, events and awards related to communication for development in Africa. This edition covers issues related to health and HIV/AIDS, natural resource management (NRM), gender, media for development, and information and communication technologies (ICTs).
This is the final issue of The Soul Beat newsletter for 2008. As we end this year, we wish all of you peace, prosperity, and joy, and we look forward to supporting your work in 2009.
If you would like your organisation's communication work or research and resource documents to be featured on the Soul Beat Africa website and in The Soul Beat newsletters, please contact soulbeat@comminit.com
To subscribe to The Soul Beat, click here or send an email to soulbeat@comminit.com with a subject of "subscribe".
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SOUL BEAT AFRICA IS SEEKING INFORMATION
Soul Beat Africa welcomes communication-related information on all topics, but would especially like to request information on the following topics: disability, elections, sexual minorities, language and communication, human trafficking, social mobilisation, cancer, alcohol and drug abuse, Multiple Concurrent Partnerships (MCP) in HIV Prevention, and puppetry and drama for social change.
Send your information to soulbeat@comminit.com
If there are topics you would like to hear more about, please also let us know by writing to soulbeat@comminit.com
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PROGRAMME EXPERIENCES
1. In Kidi Ya Chanza (When the Drumbeat Changes You Must Change Your Dance-Steps) - Nigeria
This radio drama, developed by the African Radio Drama Association (ARDA), is designed to assist smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria to adapt to climate change. It aims to provide information on new methods, alternatives, and options to encourage improved farmer adaptation to the effects of climate change. It also intends to increase awareness of the important role of women in agriculture, and encourage youth participation in agriculture.
Contact africanradiodrama@yahoo.com
2. E-Knowledge for Women in Southern Africa (EKOWISA) - Zimbabwe
This regional non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Zimbabwe aims to generate, analyse, translate, repackage, and disseminate locally relevant information and knowledge in order to promote better livelihoods for women. By promoting the effective and efficient use of information communication technologies (ICTs), the organisation seeks to promote gender equality through knowledge creation, supporting women entrepreneurs, advocating for inclusive policy-making, and building ICT skills.
Click here to contact the organisation.
3. Untold: Stories in a Time of HIV and AIDS - Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Untold is a series of 9 short films from 9 Southern African countries which form part of a cross border regional collaboration led by the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication. It is an effort to act together as a region to help deal with the HIV epidemic in southern Africa. Over an 18-month period producers, scriptwriters, and directors from each of the 9 countries were trained in filmmaking and the edutainment process. The Untold series deals with a range of issues including HIV testing, teacher-learner relationship abuses, friendship, loyalty, fidelity, gender-based violence, growing up and making choices, living with HIV, and AIDS orphans.
Contact nkweneo3@yahoo.com OR hope@phela.org.ls OR ssikwese@pakachere.org OR d.namburete@nweti.org.mz OR desertsoul1@redcross.org.na OR fortunate@lusweti.org.sz OR soulcity@soulcity.org.za OR graces@zccp.org.zm OR caroline@action.co.zw OR action@action.co.zw
4. Handspeak – Zimbabwe
This is a television series produced by and for deaf people in Zimbabwe. The 13-part magazine programme, initiated by CHIPAWO Media in 2005, was designed mainly for deaf audiences, but utilised sub-titles so that hearing audiences could also watch the show and learn about the deaf community. The programme was designed to provide information to deaf people, change the way deaf people are perceived by society, and highlight some of the problems and challenges deaf Zimbabweans face - thereby encouraging positive change.
Contact chipawo@mango.zw
5. Imagine Afrika TV Show - Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda
This is an African reality television programme initiated by the African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS. The 13-part production follows 12 young African achievers, chosen from more than 10,000 nominees from across Africa, in a series of challenges tackling some of the problems affecting local communities across the continent. The show aims to promote the African Broadcast Media Partnership’s vision of an HIV-free generation.
Click here to contact the organisation.
EVALUATIONS
6. Soul City Regional Programme 2002 – 2007 - Impact Evaluation Summary
This is an evaluation of the Soul City Regional Programme (SCRP), an HIV/AIDS communication project which involves 8 southern African countries and combined the adaptation of local communication materials with a largescale capacity building programme. The 8 countries produced a total of 20 booklets in the 5-year period from 2002 to 2007 and approximately 20 million copies of these were distributed in the region. In addition, the SCRP produced a total of 11 radio drama series and 14 television documentaries/talk shows. The aim of this evaluation is to investigate the impact of the local communication interventions in each country on individuals and communities.
7. The Influence of HIV and AIDS Radio Public Service Announcements (PSAs): A Pan-Regional Experience
by Gary Mundy and Tracy Wyman
This report examines exposure to HIV and AIDS Public Service Announcements (PSAs or spots) broadcast on radio across Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. The report is based on research undertaken to evaluate the impact of an HIV and AIDS campaign initiated by BBC World Service Trust with support from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Viacom. The research indicated that there is potential for PSAs to have an impact on self-reported attitudes and knowledge around HIV and AIDS. The research also shows that there is an association between levels of exposure to radio PSAs on HIV and AIDS, and the proportion of respondents self-reporting changes in attitudes and in knowledge around the benefits of testing.
8. Labour Community Radio Project: An Audience Research Evaluation of Local Community Radio Stations and the Weekly Labour Show
by Yuri Ramkissoon and Mukondi Nethavhakone
This evaluation report shares findings of research conducted to assess the Labour Community Radio Project (LCRP). The LCRP consisted of the production of a weekly one-hour labour show broadcast live on 38 community radio stations serving the economically poor and working class in South Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which community radio stations and the weekly labour shows are listened to, and whether they are relevant and meaningful to the listeners.
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VOTE IN THE COMMUNITY RADIO POLL:
How are community radio stations in Africa managing to sustain themselves.
- through support from the private sector
- through advertising
- through donor funding
- through funds from the community
- through government support
- a combination of the above
To vote and send comments go to
http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/community-radio and see the Top Right side of the page.
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STRATEGIC THINKING
9. Drama in HIV/AIDS Prevention: Some Strengths and Weaknesses: A Study in Botswana, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda
This research report shares findings of a study carried out in April and May 2003 in Botswana, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda to explore how theatre and drama has been used as a tool to respond to HIV/AIDS. The research set out to draw conclusions in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and to make recommendations about the integration of drama in development programmes, particularly in reference to programmes funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA).
10. Protecting the Next Generation: Learning from Adolescents to Prevent HIV and Unintended Pregnancy
This research report proposes that new programmes and policies designed to prevent HIV in Africa should focus on providing earlier and more comprehensive sexual health information and reinforcing national health care systems to better serve youth. Published by the Guttmacher Institute and institutional partners in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda, the report compiles policy and programme recommendations based on findings from national surveys of approximately 20,000 African adolescents, as well as focus group discussions, and in-depth interviews with hundreds of young people, parents, teachers, and health care providers.
11. Sorting Fact from Fiction: Improving Media Reporting on TB
This document is the seventh in a series of briefing documents for the media from Panos London's RELAY programme, which works with Southern print and broadcast journalists to communicate the findings of academic research in an accessible way. The briefing is premised on the claim that journalists can lead the way in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) by raising awareness, dispelling fear, challenging policymakers, and providing clear, factual research information. To that end, "Sorting Fact from Fiction" explores why scientific information is vital and provides tips and ideas for media professionals seeking to develop powerful stories with a human face.
12. Education Sector Responses to HIV and AIDS: Learning from Good Practices in Africa
This report produced by the Commonwealth Secretariat summarises key issues regarding HIV/AIDS and the education sector and is based on a review of published literature and the findings of a regional workshop organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). The workshop aimed to provide a forum for the sharing, presentation and review of HIV/AIDS good practice education sector responses in Africa.
MATERIALS
13. Working with the Media on Gender and Education: A Guide for Training and Planning
This guide is designed to help education and gender campaigners, and organisations and coalitions working on gender and education, implement more effective media advocacy strategies for gender equitable education. It was developed following two “Gender, Education and the Media” workshops which were held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2005 and in Dhaka, Bangladesh in March 2006.
14. Radios et NTIC en Afrique de l'Ouest : Connectivité et Usages (Radio and ICTs in West Africa: Connectivity and Uses)
This publication by the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) looks at how new information communication technologies (ICTs) and radio can be used in combination with each other. It presents the findings of research involving 220 radio stations in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
15. The Child Within: Connecting with Children Who Have Experienced Grief and Loss
This publication forms part of the "Called to Care" toolkit, a series of handbooks and mini manuals on issues related to HIV/AIDS, designed for use by church leaders, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa. The Child Within, the sixth book in the series, aims to promote resilience in children who have suffered grief and personal loss. The book is designed to be used to facilitate workshop sessions to help participants learn how to communicate more openly and effectively with children. According to the publishers, it does so by enabling adults who are child care-givers - parents, guardians, volunteers or professionals - to rediscover and appreciate their own "child within".
16. Male Circumcision & HIV Prevention in Eastern and Southern Africa: Communications Guidance
This document offers guidance to programme managers and policymakers on how to plan and manage communications to support the scale-up of male circumcision in Eastern and Southern Africa. According to the publication, misinformation about male circumcision and strong opinions, both for and against the procedure, present challenges that should be acknowledged and addressed in scale-up plans. A number of key issues require strong communication support to ensure clarity about the relationship between male circumcision and HIV prevention.
17. The Broadcasting Independence Handbook: Lessons from the South African Experience
This handbook, published by the Freedom of Expression Institute, focuses on the transformation from state to independent broadcasting in South Africa, and the lessons that can be drawn from this transformation for the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The handbook is designed to provide resources to civil society organisations seeking to: achieve independent broadcasting; explore the role of civil society activism; examine whether the national broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), has struck a balance between independence and accountability; and develop recommendations on how to strengthen the South African "model" of public broadcasting.
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VOTE IN THE EDUTAINMENT POLL:
Are University Drama Departments placing enough emphasis on theatre for development?
No
Yes
Unsure
To vote, go to http://www.comminit.com/en/africa/edutainment.html and see the Top Right side of the page.
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