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Getting the message across : the mass media and the response to AIDS

JOINT UNITED NATIONS PROGRAMME ON HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS)
December 2005

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The mass media have the potential to provide a platform for discussion, communication and education on HIV and AIDS, giving a voice to people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), challenging stigma and discrimination, lobbying policy makers and building partnerships and capacity through sharing and transferring skills and expertise. However, mass media can also disseminate misleading messages, while HIV/AIDS communication competes with other topics for broadcasting time and audiences. This report presents three case studies of effective and creative use of the media in South Africa: Soul City and Soul Buddyz adopt an 'edutainment' approach, aiming both to educate and entertain; the Community Health Media Trust produces a series of programmes addressing issues concerning people with HIV/AIDS; Takalani makes television and radio programmes, to encourage small children to develop self-esteem, offer positive models and destigmatise PLWHA. Detailing the lessons learned from these experiences, the report looks at how target audiences are chosen, how partnerships are formed, how topics and ideas are developed and what ethical issues arise

Counting on communication : the Uganda Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Project

VERZOSA, Cecilia
April 2005

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This publication presents the activities and lessons learned from a project which sought to halve malnutrition among preschool children, raise primary school enrollment, reduce dropout and repetition rates, improve psycho-social and cognitive development, and increase the number of mothers practicing appropriate childcare. A strategic communication programme was designed to help mothers and other caregivers adopt new behaviours needed to achieve project outcomes. It helped the project team identify necessary changes in behaviour, knowledge or attitude for all target audiences; frame project-related issues relevant to different stakeholders, such as parliamentarians, mothers, community leaders, educators, and local government administrators; craft persuasive messages according to their needs, concerns and perceptions; and use the most appropriate communication channels. The communication strategy included a: national advocacy effort aimed at parliamentarians, health and education ministry officials, district and community leaders; multi-media campaign that emphasized three behaviour change interventions; training programme for health workers and pre-school teachers on their role; and monitoring and evaluation component to ensure that materials were disseminated via cost-effective channels of communication and that messages reached target audiences. Lessons learned emphasize the value of developing a comprehensive communication strategy during project design.

Promoting rights-based approaches : experiences and ideas from Asia and the Pacific

THEIS, Joachim
2004

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This book is a collection of experiences with rights-based approaches from Asia and the Pacific. Part One looks at rights-based programming, and provides a general overview of rights-based approaches and their history. This is followed by a review of experiences of different rights-based organisations. Part Two translates human rights principles and standards into practical ideas for education and HIV/AIDS programming and for organisational development and management. Part Three presents four examples of rights-based programmes: promoting children’s participation in Vietnam, the Child Friendly District initiative in Ho Chi Minh City, confronting discrimination in South Asia and strengthening accountability for children’s rights through mass media. Part Four presents experiences and experiments with tools for rights-based analysis, planning, monitoring and evaluation. There is also a section on web resources on rights-based approaches, which lists some of the major organisations that are promoting rights-based approaches to development and relief work

Communication and natural resource management : experience/theory

FEEK, Warren
MORRIS, Chris
et al
2003

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This book has been written as a tool for people involved or interested in communication and natural resource management who seek a better understanding of how different theories and strategic change principles relate to actual practise. It relates a variety of theories and change principles in simplified, almost schematic form, to a series of real initiatives in the field through interactive 'experiences'. Each 'experience' is organised around a theme, a learning objective, a description of an actual natural resource management and communication initiative, and one or two theoretical lenses through which to analyse the initiative. The idea is not to 'discover' the right approach but rather to create an interactive space that enables you to reflect on what might work in your own context and also on how different contexts may require different approaches, principles and theoretical frameworks. People working in development fields other than natural resource management will also find this book very useful

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