"The SRP was piloted in Tanzania following the model of the Sara Communication Initiative (SCI). The main objective of SRP was to improve skills among school children, especially girls, on negotiation, communication skills and positive social behaviour. Activities to foster and support engagement of
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the key target audiences through Sara Radio Programme (SRP) are being piloted in Iringa DC since 2016, with the aim of identifying elements that can be scaled up nationally. Two radio stations are carrying out the broadcast twice a week during school-term; Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), which has national coverage and Ebony FM, with coverage that is limited to Mbeya, Iringa and Njombe regions (MIN). The SRP included developing, pre-recording and broadcasting 100 episodes. The radio drama series featured a young girl, Sara and her friends. The SRP was crafted in a way to be fun as well as engaging pupils - girls and boys, teachers and parents in discussions around key messages. Primary standard four to seven school children (10 - 14-year olds) are the main target audience for the programme. Teachers and parents were key secondary audiences that got information through direct listening and messages from children. The programme addressed social norms to promote school girls’ retention and completion. In addition, the SRP aimed at imparting a change in knowledge and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive health, early marriage, early pregnancy, social inclusion and protection. The long-term objective of the programme is to empower girls to decide and control what happens to them, to be safe, and to pursue what they want in life.
[.] Findings on SRP thematic components
SRP Information: Almost all the children (93.5%, N=339) interviewed in Iringa DC confirmed that they were aware of the SRP implemented in their schools. The high percentage of awareness of the SRP by the children can be attributed to the frequency of attendance for listening to the episodes. The majority of children mentioned that Sara radio episodes were broadcasted twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday between 1530hrs to 1600hrs.
HIV/AIDS: Children were asked whether they have heard of HIV/AIDS and majority 95.9% had heard of HIV/AIDS while a mere 3.9% had not. Regarding source of information on HIV/AIDS, the majority of children (87.0%) mentioned schools/teachers as their main source, followed by parents/guardians/family (33.0%) while radios contributed 17%. On spreading of HIV virus, the majority of children (87.0%) confirmed that unsafe sex increases chances of acquiring HIV virus, against 10.7% who did not. There was a small percentage difference between boys (88.0%) and girls (85.8%) who confirmed the risks of unsafe sex on acquiring the HIV virus. [.]" (Executive summary, p. viii-ix)
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"Social media engagement alone can achieve limited results in promoting public accountability for police misconduct in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda but can and has served as a valuable tool in this endeavour. The percentage of the population in Africa that engages in discussions on social media platfo
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rms about the actions and behaviour of the police is currently small. This number has the potential to grow exponentially over the next decade with advances in mobile connectivity and as the public realise the power of harnessing social media as a tool to promote good governance and demand accountability from government. Social media engagement can facilitate communication between police agencies and the public, allowing for information to flow between these groups. Well-coordinated, strategic social media campaigns by civil society in the countries reviewed can mobilise the public, energise large groups of people and achieve tangible results. Civil society can develop systematic strategies to engage with the police in different ways. These strategies include using positive interactions to build trust and open the lines of communication, and using photographs and videos of specific events and incidents of police misconduct gathered through social media to demand accountability." (Key findings)
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"The GSMA mHealth programme, under the mNutrition Initiative funded by UK aid (the UK Department for International Development, DFID), has been working with mobile network operators (MNOs) and other mobile and health sector stakeholders to support the launch and scale of mobile health (mHealth) valu
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e-added services (VAS). As of December 2017, these services have cumulatively delivered lifesaving maternal and newborn child health (MNCH) and nutrition information to over 1.59 million women and their families across eight Sub-Saharan African markets: Malawi, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda and Mozambique (Figure 1). Key findings: Adopting a HCD approach to product development and optimisation led to increased user engagement; mHealth service users demonstrated improved nutrition behaviours over non-users across all implementing markets; mHealth services resulted in an average improvement of 12 percentage points in overall nutrition knowledge among users across all eight markets; Mobile information services improve knowledge, even when existing knowledge around certain nutrition topics is reasonably high; Mobile information services have a stronger impact with poorly understood concepts; Repetition of messages about key health practices reinforces the behaviour; Forty-two per cent of mNutrition service users report sharing the information they learn with their family, friends and communities [...]" (Executive summary)
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"Between August 2017 and July 2018, CRF implemented the Kilimo Mtaji project (“agriculture makes sense” in Swahili) in Tanzania and DRC. The aim of the project was to seize the power of youth-produced radio shows and outreach events in order to share key messages that raise awareness around fina
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ncial literacy and agriculture as a business, incentivise uptake of services and increase access to service providers, advocate for youth-friendly policy changes and create pathways of opportunity and access to employment for youth [...] The first chapter unpacks the communication campaign model CRF used and its achievements. The chapter further explains the reasons why this campaign model is effective in an African context. The chapter then unpacks the youth-centred approach and shares some of the achievements of this model during the pilot phase in Tanzania and the DRC. The second chapter unpacks the pedagogic approach used to capacitate the youth reporters with the ability to produce quality radio shows and conduct outreach events around these topics. The third chapter provides guidance on the use of various tools developed for the purpose of this project. These tools are the fact sheets, radio guides and outreach guides. Fact sheets are developed for youth reporters to use as factual foundations for their own research and localisation of project topics. Radio guides unpack the process of developing a specific topic for radio shows. Outreach guides look at the process of using radio skills to develop interactive live events with radio listeners, or specific targeted audiences, on a particular topic." (Pages 2-4)
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"This report maps the current landscape in respect of digital rights and online freedom of expression in East, West and Southern Africa. It looks at the trends regarding law and policy developments, as well as recent litigation, within these regions. The report focuses on 18 countries – 6 per regi
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on – and tracks the recent developments that have taken place in these countries. Part I of the report provides an overview of the litigation before the ACHPR and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) in respect of freedom of expression. Parts II, III and IV of the report look at the trends generally in East, West and Southern Africa respectively, as well as some of the key legal and civil society actors working on digital rights and online freedom of expression, and include a snapshot of some of the notable developments – both positive and negative – that have occurred in the 18 countries under consideration in this report, as well as reflections on opportunities and challenges for vindicating digital rights within each of the countries. Lastly, Part V considers what the next possible opportunities will be for digital rights and online freedom of expression litigation in the region." (Pages 5-6)
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"Only a few media companies have a predominant market position and thus a potentially high influence on public opinion in Tanzania. Whereas the regulatory framework should in theory safeguard media pluralism and prevent media concentration, it shows considerable gaps in practice. Moreover, the legal
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environment restricts data collection and research." (http://www.mom-rsf.org/en/countries/tanzania)
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"The 43 country reports included in this year’s Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) capture the different experiences and approaches in setting up community networks across the globe. They show that key ideas, such as participatory governance systems, community ownership and skills transfe
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r, as well as the “do-it-yourself” spirit that drives community networks in many different contexts, are characteristics that lend them a shared purpose and approach. The country reports are framed by eight thematic reports that deal with critical issues such as the regulatory framework necessary to support community networks, sustainability, local content, feminist infrastructure and community networks, and the importance of being aware of “community stories” and the power structures embedded in those stories." (Back cover)
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"The potential for young people to strengthen and grow the continent’s economies is only possible if they are adequately supported and provided with the tools they need to create a sustainable livelihood. Economic opportunities are a significant concern for young people globally, with youth three
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times as likely to be unemployed as their adult counterparts. Young people interviewed in urban and rural contexts across the three African countries [= Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania] experience poverty in a way that leaves them economically and socially deprived. Young people in all of the countries are acutely aware of the barriers to upward social mobility in their lives and those of their families. Lack of finances to support further education and training, or to set up their businesses, and lack of opportunities for meaningful employment are most often cited as holding them back. For young women, gender norms formed an additional barrier. Increasing the numbers of young people in employment will depend on providing them with the right kinds of skills for the jobs available and stimulating inclusive economic and employment growth. Despite the various challenges facing young people, they are at the forefront of Internet adoption. The way in which youths use mobile phones and the Internet is crucial for ensuring that ICTs contribute to their social and economic development." (Executive summary)
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"The volume digs beneath the standardised and universalised veneer of professionalism to unpack routine practices and normative trends shaped by local factors, including the structural conditions of deprivation, entrenched political instability (and interference), pervasive neo-patrimonial governanc
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e systems, and the influences of technological developments. These varied and complex circumstances are shown to profoundly shape the foundations of journalism in Africa, resulting in routine practices that are both normatively distinct and equally in tune with (imported) Western journalistic cultures. The book thus broadly points to the dialectical nature of news production and the inconsistent and contradictory relationships that characterise news production cultures in Africa." (Publisher description)
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"Publics around the world overwhelmingly agree that the news media should be unbiased in their coverage of political issues, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of 38 countries. Yet, when asked how their news media are doing on reporting different political issues fairly, people are far mo
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re mixed in their sentiments, with many saying their media do not deliver. And, in many countries, there are sharp political differences in views of the media – with the largest gap among Americans. To build off Pew Research Center’s earlier findings about U.S. news media habits and attitudes, this new cross-national survey begins to study these dynamics globally. The survey finds that a median of 75% across 38 countries say it is never acceptable for a news organization to favor one political party over others when reporting the news. Just 20% say this is sometimes okay. People in Europe show the greatest opposition to political bias in their news." (Page 3)
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"Popular support for a free news media has declined significantly in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania – three countries currently making headlines for government attempts to limit press freedom. Recent Afrobarometer surveys show that the proportion of respondents who say the government “should have t
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he right to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers harmful to society” has risen sharply in Tanzania and Uganda, and more modestly in Kenya, over the past five years. At the same time, fewer citizens say they feel free to express their opinions." (Page 1)
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"This study examines the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in shaping health reporting in Tanzania. Drawing on in-depth interviews with representatives from NGOs cited in HIV/AIDS-related stories published in the Tanzanian newspapers, the Daily News and The Guardian, the analysis focuses
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on financial incentives and resources committed by NGOs to foster collaborative relationships with journalists. Findings reveal that media training opportunities, seminars and “sitting fees” are used to gain and keep journalists’ attention on health issues, increasing promotional and advocacy-based reporting. Incentive-based reporting raises ethical and normative questions about editorial freedom for both news sources and journalists." (Abstract)
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"This book analyses the online presence of African language media. The chapters in the book focus on the speed, structure, content, navigation and interactivity, operations and performance, and audience of the online media. They also pay particular attention to how social media such as Facebook, Twi
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tter and WhatsApp have been appropriated by African language media. Using a wide range of case studies, the contributors assess the challenges of adopting digital technologies by the media, and how the technologies have impacted journalistic practice and media operations." (Publisher description)
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"Most Western-driven theories do not have a place in Black communicative experience, especially in Africa. Many scholars interested in articulating and interrogating Black communication scholarship are therefore at the crossroads of either having to use Western-driven theory to explain a Black commu
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nication dynamic, or have to use hypothetical rules to achieve their objectives, since they cannot find compelling Black communication theories to use as reference. Colonization and the African slave trade brought with it assimilationist tendencies that have dealt a serious blow on the cognition of most Blacks on the continent and abroad. As a result, their interpersonal as well as in-group dialogic communication had witnessed dramatic shifts. Black/Africana Communication Theory assembles skilled communicologists who propose uniquely Black-driven theories that stand the test of time. Throughout the volume's fifteen chapters theories including but not limited to Afrocentricity, Afro-Cultural Mulatto, Venerative Speech Theory, Africana Symbolic Contextualism Theory, HaramBuntu-Government-Diaspora Communications Theory, Consciencist Communication Theory and Racial Democracy Effect Theory are introduced and discussed." (Publisher description)
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"The paper summarizes evidence on food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa and strategies to provide information on innovative agricultural practices to smallholder farmers. The research in this paper is then discussed within the context of research on information and communication technologies (ICTS)
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for development. Next, the paper presents the ICT-enhanced participatory radio campaign approach and ICT innovations introduced by Farm Radio International, a Canadian nongovernmental organization. The paper analyzes two participatory radio campaigns that use both listening groups and ICTs to engage African farmers. Research on these radio campaigns in six African countries is reported to examine how the participatory approach impacted listenership, knowledge and initial adoption of agricultural techniques and practices presented in the radio campaigns. The authors conclude that the findings of research on these projects could be highly relevant for increasing awareness and adoption of agricultural practices in Sub-Saharan Africa." (Abstract)
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