The Soul Beat 202 - Communication and Change News and Issues
In this issue of The Soul Beat:
- PROGRAMME EXPERIENCES on theatre against female circumcision and football for TB/HIV education...
- EVALUATION of a mobile cinema project in DRC...
- STRATEGIC THINKING on burial societies for HIV care and on fighting corruption...
- RESOURCES for communicating in crises and for tax advocacy...
- TRAININGS in communication skills and human rights approaches..
- AWARDS for reporters and youth...
This is a general issue of The Soul Beat e-newsletter which contains a selection of summaries from the Soul Beat Africa website. It includes programme experiences, evaluations, strategic thinking documents, resource materials, and awards and trainings which cover a range of communication for development issues related to health and HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence, democracy and governance, radio for development, and information and communication technologies.
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1. Promoting Elections, Accountability and Civic Engagement in Chad (PEACE) Program
Fifty years after winning independence, Chad faced a number of challenges in its progress toward peaceful, credible, free and fair elections. To help overcome these challenges, local organisations – with the support of Counterpart International and partners – initiated the PEACE programme in 2010. The programme assisted Chadian electoral institutions, civil society and media organisations to increase transparency, accountability and outreach to citizens.
2. Brisons le Silence (Break the Silence)
In March 2012, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Cote d'Ivoire, launched Brisons le Silence, a nationwide social marketing campaign to combat violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, in Cote d’Ivoire. The campaign uses social norms marketing to encourage the reporting of conjugal and partner violence, as well as the support of survivors. The campaign is designed to promote equitable gender norms and positive attitudes toward women.
3. S.A.F.E Female Circumcision Programme
Since 2008, S.A.F.E, a Kenyan non-governmental organisation, has been working to challenge and redesign ancient Maasai traditions relating to female circumcision (FGC). The goal of the programme is to drive change that the society will accept rather than imposing external views and attitudes to an unwilling community. Through street theatre, training sessions, and workshops conducted by previously circumcised women, the programme is designed to educate the masses on the negative effects that this tradition has on Kenyan women.
4. Adolescent Girls' Advocacy & Leadership Initiative (AGALI)
Launched in 2009, the Adolescent Girls Advocacy and Leadership Initiative (AGALI), implemented by the Public Health Institute, is working to strengthen advocacy efforts and leadership capacity of individuals and organisations to improve the economic circumstances and educational opportunities for adolescent girls and young women in Latin America and Africa. AGALI works though grants, fellowships, and capacity workshops to empower leaders to advocate for the rights of marginalised girls and young women in Guatemala, Honduras, Malawi, Liberia, and Ethiopia.
5. Kick TB Campaign
Launched in December 2009, Kick TB is a South African-based international awareness campaign designed to unite people in the fight against tuberculosis and HIV, focusing on young, school-going children. The South African National Department of Health in partnership with the Desmond Tutu TB Centre at the Stellenbosch University launched the campaign under the banner "Let's play, let's learn, let's save lives!" The campaign uses football as a means to reach out to school children, and uses activation teams visiting schools throughout the country who give each child an illustrated, match quality soccer ball with TB/HIV awareness messages.
6. Phalombe Malaria Communities Project
Initiated in 2009, this project by Concern Universal in collaboration with the Phalombe District Council uses radio programmes, posters, flyers, and malaria ambassadors to reach mothers and caregivers with information about malaria prevention and treatment. The project also works through Village Health Committees (VHCs), who conduct community awareness on malaria through home visits and net demonstrations.
Africa needs a continental media network for journalists working on issues related to democracy, governance and human rights.
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7. Informing Refugees and Returnees on Gender Based Violence
This evaluation report shares experiences and lessons learned by Search for Common Ground in using mobile cinema and radio programming to provide a space for discussion, as well as raise awareness and strengthen prevention, around gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the report, published in 2011, years of conflict in the DRC have given rise to misogynistic attitudes that have made the country one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman, with high levels of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV). Focus group discussions and listener feedback showed that mobile cinema screening and radio programming implemented by SFCG has helped to initiate a free and open forum for dialogue around SGBV.
8. Using Participatory Research and Action to Address the HIV-related Vulnerabilities of Adolescent Girls in Tanzania
By Jennifer McCleary-Sills, Zayid Douglas, Richard Mabala
The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Taasisi ya Maendeleo Shirikishi Arusha (TAMASHA), in collaboration with Pact Tanzania, developed a participatory research and action project (Vitu Newala) that aimed to both understand and respond to girls’ HIV-related vulnerabilities. The project was conducted in Newala, Guinea. This report from 2011 describes the research processes contributing to the project: study design, the formative research, the intervention design, peer education programme development, and the project assessment.
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9. Community Participation at Local and Community Radio Stations - An Explorative Study in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific
By Julia Fröhlich, Daniel Däschle, Andrés Geerts, and A. Sofie Jannusch
This report, published in March 2012, presents the main findings of three regional surveys on participation at local and community radio stations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Pacific. The Catholic Media Council (CAMECO) studies examined the involvement of the radio stations' communities in programming, management, ownership, and funding in order to gain a deeper understanding of concrete practices and challenges of community and local radios.
10. Mobilizing Ethiopian Idirs: Capitalizing on Traditional Burial Societies to Serve the Living
by Adele Clark and Mitiku Telilla
This brief from 2010 shares the experience of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to mobilise Idirs, traditional Ethiopian burial societies, to become community change agents to care for and support orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), as well as reach communities with HIV prevention messages. According to the brief, the idirs are helping to dramatically reduce the expense of prevention, palliative care, and OVC programmes.
11. Good Practice in Strengthening Transparency, Participation, Accountability and Integrity
by Marie Chene
This resource, published by Transparency International in 2011, shares examples of development projects that have undertaken activities to strengthen the 4 key (interconnected, "deeply intertwined") principles of anti-corruption: Transparency, participation, accountability, and integrity.
12. Media and Telecoms Landscape Guides
infoasaid is producing a series of media and telecoms landscape guides on developing countries that are vulnerable to humanitarian crises. They are designed as a tool to help humanitarian agencies communicate effectively with crisis-affected communities. Each guide profiles the individual country that is at risk of natural disaster caused by climate change, extreme weather, and seismic activity and/or is exposed to the consequences of human conflict.
13. My Story My Life: Information Booklet and Discussion Guide for Young People
Developed by C-Change Nigeria in June 2012, this information booklet and discussion guide for young people is designed to allow in-school youths, learning about the health risks involved in pre-marital sex from Youth Peer Facilitators (YPF), to identify with the characters and improve their life skills. The issues highlighted in the booklet revolve around young people's ability to abstain or delay pre-marital sex in order to reduce their risk of HIV infection.
14. Tax Justice Advocacy Toolkit: A Toolkit for Civil Society
BY Sally Golding, Matti Kohonen, Katrin McGauran, David McNair, and Sophie Powell
The purpose of this toolkit, published in February 2012, is to introduce civil society to tax topics in a way that is accessible and understandable and strengthens its capacity to: understand and analyse the issues surrounding tax justice in a given country; develop advocacy strategies for tax justice; do tax research; plan and undertake different advocacy activities (for example, lobbying, campaigning, and media work); and learn from the experiences of others already doing tax advocacy.
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EVENTS AND TRAININGS
15. Communication Skills and Strategies (Sept 5-7 2012) Accra, Ghana
According to the organisers, the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), effective communication is vital for the success of personal interactions and for organisational communication. This 3-day course is designed to equip participants with communication skills dealing with working with the media, fundraising communication, developing press kits, influencing public policy, and formulating a strategic communication plan.
16. Human Rights-Based Approaches for Programming (Oct 22-26 2012) Arusha, Tanzania
According to MS-Training Centre for Development Cooperation (TCDC), by the end of this 12-day course participants will have acquired skills and knowledge about rights-based approaches and their implications for and use in designing, implementing, and monitoring projects and programmes. They will also be confident in using a rights based framework and a number of tools and techniques for people-driven development.
AWARDS
17. 2012 African Investigative Journalism Awards
Deadline: August 31 2012
The Forum for African Investigative Reporters (FAIR) is seeking entries to the 2012 African Investigative Journalism Awards, which recognises outstanding investigative reporting in Africa.
18. World Summit Youth Award 2012
Deadline: July 31 2012
The World Summit Youth Award (WSYA) is an international competition for youth-led projects that encourage the active participation of young people under 30 years of age in the emerging information society. It is intended to be a global 'youth for youth' initiative for selecting and promoting best practice in e-content and technological creativity, demonstrating young people's potential to create digital opportunities.
SOUL BEAT AFRICA THEME SITES
Soul Beat Africa theme sites are topic focused sub-sites within the overall Soul Beat Africa website (see top navigation bar). These include:
Democracy and Governance Theme site
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