"The 52-page report summarised here is the result of the three-year partnership between UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and the Communication for Social Change Consortium in piloting the C4E approach in five least-developed countries: Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. The report present
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s key learning from the information and communication needs assessments conducted in these five countries, funded by a grant from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). The implementation of the C4E approach consisted of: (i) information and communication assessments to identify the information and communication needs and identify gaps in meeting those needs; (ii) review of the media context based on the existing research at the national level; (iii) programme interventions informed by the findings of the assessment to ensure economically poor and marginalised groups' participation in decision-making processes. Experiences and lessons from testing the C4E approach in Madagascar and Mozambique in 2007-2008 enabled further refining of the C4E approach and informed the information and communication assessments carried out in Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. As a result, the concept of C4E also widened: from an initial conception as part of UNDP's Access to Information work primarily geared to meeting the information and communication needs of the people through specific media strategies - to an approach that promotes inclusive participation, empowerment of economically poor and marginalised people, and accountability of the state to its citizens. These aspects of C4E, thus, make it an integral part of broader democratic governance and development work." (Summary at the "Communication Initiative" website)
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"There are various risks at the local level. On one hand, Nepal lies on a seismically active zone and has a fragile geological structure and, on the other hand, proper policies, government access to rural and remote places, and public awareness and knowledge are lacking. There is an urgent need for
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all sectors to address disaster related issues. Awareness campaigns should be conducted for the initiation of comprehensive disaster risk management. The mass media has to raise its voice on the frequency and intensity of disasters, vulnerabilities, risks, rights, and responsibilities and shape mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) programmes into development efforts. The disaster management (DM) cycle should be considered while news and information are collected. Voices of affected communities need to be captured and experts consulted. Information should be provided capturing the voices of communities, experts, civil societies, and government authorities. To make information more accessible, programmes should be catchy, attractive, and entertaining. When does a particular disaster occur? What possible impact can it have? Which community and economic class is eff ected? What are the causes? Such questions and issues have to be considered while preparing reports and terminologies have to be accurate. Media personnel can also focus on disaster preparedness and possible disaster risk reduction measures." (Executive summary)
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"There are many examples in Nepal of radio programs helping in peace building. A few of these examples are included in this book. The personal stories of the radio producers are as interesting and inspiring as the examples of positive impacts their radio programs had in their societies. Success stor
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ies like these boost our confidence with working in peace building." (Publisher's Note, page 1)
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"This guidebook offers instructions for strengthening the organisation of community radio stations, in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. The all-embracing essentials of community radio station management, ie, governance and programme/financial/technical management, are discussed i
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n detail. Aspects of these organisational tasks are human resource plans, resource mobilisation, fundraising, accounting, maintenance of equipment and the determination of a clear broadcasting policy. But not only advice for practical matters is given: The publication further discusses the underlying mission, vision and goals of organisations, which are viewed as not sufficiently thought through by many community radio stations, yet crucial for their survival. The guidebooks' step-by-step lists, tables and forms, in part taken from existing community radio stations like Radio Sagarmatha in Nepal, are particularly useful, as they show how theoretical and abstract manuals can be turned into practice." (commbox)
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"This article uses the example of a mobile mixed-media platform – a converted three-wheeled autorickshaw – in Sri Lanka in order to explore whether and how content-creation activities can enable marginalised communities to have a voice. It draws upon research into participatory content-creation
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activities conducted in 15 locations across India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The main findings are: the need to pay attention to context when thinking about what might be locally appropriate, relevant, and beneficial in terms of participatory content creation; the benefits that can be gained from creatively reaching out to and engaging marginalised groups and encouraging a diversity of voices; the usefulness of locally produced content for generating local debate around local issues; and the benefits of encouraging participation at all stages of content creation, so that content is locally meaningful and might lead to positive social change." (Abstract)
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"Martin Chautari (MC) has been researching various aspects of Nepali media for almost a decade now. In this study, MC’s focus is on one of the major components of the media sector in Nepal, namely, media training, a subject which has so far been neglected by academics and other researchers. In thi
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s study, we focus on various aspects of the current practices of media training in Nepal: institutions involved in media training, training curricula, trainers, trainees, as well as the financial aspects of the training business. Though the research was largely concentrated in the Kathmandu valley (the capital of Nepal) where a majority of the media training providers are located, field research was also carried out in six other urban centers—namely, Nepalgunj and Dhangadi in western Nepal, Butwal and Pokhara in central Nepal, and Dharan and Biratnagar in eastern Nepal (see appendix 3 for a map of Nepal where the field research sites are shown). Hence major cities for media training in all the five development regions of the country were covered in this study. To assess the quality and availability of the media trainings, our research team visited most of the institutions involved in media training in Nepal and interviewed 166 persons in total (see appendices 1 and 2 for lists of the institutions and individuals) between September and November 2009." (Preface, page vi-vii)
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"Nepal's community radio sector has flourished since it liberalized the airwaves for the first time in 1997. Drawing on an established tradition in other areas of the developing world, Nepal embraced community radio for its potential to overcome propagandistic and exclusive national media systems, t
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o bring news and information to remote areas, and to educate people about human rights, equality, health, family planning and sustainable agricultural practices. This thesis has two major objectives: first, to explore how marginalized social groups use radio as a tool of empowerment. It focuses upon the case of Radio Jagaran, a community-based radio station in Butwal, Nepal that uses participatory media to advocate for social justice on behalf of those who are otherwise excluded and discriminated against. Second, it problematizes the ways in which the funding requirements established by the international NGO donor community appear to be re-focusing the programming agendas of grassroots media organizations such as Radio Jagaran. It attempts to highlight the potential implications of donor-led community media projects by drawing attention to the ways 'truths' and 'realities' of poverty, human rights violations and related issues are constructed by CR stations through negotiating what they perceive to be INGO priorities and objectives." (Abstract)
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"The biennial Digital Review of Asia Pacific is a comprehensive guide to the state-of-practice and trends in information and communication technologies for development (ICTD) in Asia Pacific. This fourth edition (2009-2010) features 30 economies and four subregional groupings. The chapters provide u
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pdated information on ICT infrastructure, industries, content and services, key initiatives, enabling policies, regulation, education and capacity building, open source and R&D initiatives, as well as key ICTD challenges in each of the economies covered." (Publisher description)
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"We examine the sustainability of Community radio (CR) as a tool towards achieving the overall development in the South Asian region. A cross-country comparison of CR in areas including people’s participation, regulatory scenarios, human resource development, technology usage trends, financial pra
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ctices etc. shows a wide variety of CR applications and challenges. An indepth analysis of financial data and practices of several Nepalese CR stations (rural, urban, and semi-urban) alongside regulatory and anecdotal references from India and Bangladesh shows potential viability through advertising and other mechanisms. Even with an advertisement cap of 5 minutes per hour, every station shows the potential of achieving financial sustainability by selling a fraction of the allotted ad time (7%-46%). Our model shows that the monthly operating expenditure of types of stations turns out to be more significant than the annualized capital expenditure. In our analysis (and borne out in the real world), of the three considered stations, the semi-urban station has the highest cost per listener. Stochastic cost modeling of real world CR data show the trend of increased cost for content development is a trade-off for expanding the listener base and transmission time. We conclude with a proposed set of policy and operating recommendations to enable CR to play a significant role in overall South Asian development." (Abstract)
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"Citizens’ Voice and Accountability (CV&A) work has emerged as a priority in the international development agenda from the 1990s onwards. In their CV&A work, donors recognise the importance of context: it shapes relation to that context. However, context awareness has not proven sufficient to enab
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le donors to grapple with key challenges posed by the interaction between formal and informal institutions, the prevalence of the latter over the former in many instances, and underlying power relations and dynamics. Some examples of positive impact of CV&A interventions have emerged from the interventions analysed for this study. This is mostly at the level of positive citizen awareness, empowering certain marginalised groups, and encouraging state officials. However, within the sample analysed, such impact/effects have remained limited and isolated, and have so far proven difficult to scale up. A critical factor leading to the observed limited nature of results is related to the fact that donor expectations as to what such work can achieve are too high, and are based on misguided assumptions around the nature of voice and accountability, and the linkages between the two. There is a tension between the long-term processes of transforming state-society relations and donors’ needs/desires to produce quick results. Scaling up sustainability are also issues not currently sufficiently addressed within intervention design and implementation." (Executive summary, page v)
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"This report investigates the impact media and ICTs can have on the lives of the poor, based on the experiences of nine donors and NGOs forming part of the "Building Communication Opportunities (BCO)" alliance. It suggests that radio will have the most influence on social and political change where
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it is widely accessible, trusted by listeners, and open to inclusive participation. ICTs can help make markets work for the poor, but the surrounding circumstances are highly influential in determining in how far they make a difference. Communication networks appear to be particularly effective in building communities of activists where they enable the pooling of resources and expertise and leverage wider influence on decision-makers. However, the report concludes that evidence of the impact of ICTs is still weak. More debate is needed about how ICTs are best deployed. This requires learning how people really use the tools, as well as a more effective assessment of past and current experiences." (CAMECO Update 1-2009)
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