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urb-al IIIOficina de Coordinacin y Orientacin - OCO

Communicating about/fordevelopment results in publiccooperation initiativesOlga del Ro

03Methodological guides

URB-AL III


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Communicating about/fordevelopment results in public

cooperation initiatives


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This document has been produced within

the ramework o a European Union

grant. The content o this document is

the exclusive responsibility o the author

and should not in any way be considered

a reection o the position held by the

European Union.

Editor: URB-AL III ProgrammeTravessera de les Corts 139-151

Pavell Mestral, 4, 08028 Barcelona

Tel. +34 934 049 470

Fax +34 934 022 473

E-mail [email protected]

www.urb-al3.eu

Publisher: Diputaci de Barcelona

(URB-AL III Programme Orientation and

Coordination Ofce)

Editorial Board: Jordi Castells, Octavi de

la Varga, Eduardo Feldman, Sara Sotillos,

Carla Cors and Vernica Sanz

Editing: Directorate o Communication,

Diputaci de Barcelona

Design: Estudi Josep Bag

LD: B. 33209-2012

Olga del RoDoctor in Communication Sciences

(Autonomous University of Barcelona,

UAB) with over 20 years experience

in international cooperation for

development. She is a researcher

specialising in cooperation fordevelopment, democratic governance

and human rights, gender in

development, communication and

ICT for development, as well as

methodological tools and social

research. She is a lecturer at the

Autonomous University of Barcelona

and the University of Girona.

Academic coordinator of the Barcelona

module of the European professional

specialisation Masters Degree in

Inter-Mediterranean Mediation

and consultant for the European

Commission and the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP),

among others.


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Communicating about/fordevelopment results in publiccooperation initiatives

Olga del Ro

03Methodological guides

URB-AL III


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Contents

9 Prologue

11 Chapter 1: Communication, development and international cooperation 11 1.1. Information and communication on the international cooperation

agenda 15 1.2. Communicating about/fordevelopment results 19 1.3. Communication, decentralised cooperation and public policies

25 Chapter 2: Communicating for development in cooperation programmes/policies 25 2.1. Communication for development and social change 30 2.2. Incorporating communication into cooperation programmes/policies 44 2.3. Strategic planning of C4D and incorporation into the LFM 55 2.4. Indicators and sources of verification 61 Chapter 3: Communicating about the results of cooperation programmes/

policies 61 3.1. Communicating aboutdevelopment results 63 3.2. Drawing up a plan for communicating aboutresults 89 Bibliography and other available resources 95 Appendix

101 Glossary

List of tables and charts

13 Principles of managing for development results (MfDR) 16 Conceptual framework for communicatingforand aboutresults 17 Principal characteristics of communicating aboutand for development

results 19 Contextualisation of decentralised cooperation 26 Conceptual framework for communicatingforand about results

27 Interrelation and interdependence between communication structures and communication processes 32 Communication interventions in different stages of the programme/policy 39 Differences between programme objectives, behavioural objectives and

communication objectives/results in a public policy for integrating people with AIDS 41 Types of participants for C4D strategies 43 Matrix for analysing participants/stakeholders/audiences 51 Analysis of the map of participants/stakeholders and initial strategies 52 Communication planning matrix 54 Strategic framework for communication in programme/policy planning 62 Conceptual framework for communicatingforand aboutresults 64 Graphical representation of communication planning 73 Examples of the tone of the message


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75 Advantages and disadvantages of communication media and channels81 Example schedule for a communication plan83 Example budget for a communicating for development strategy


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The Orientation and Coordination Office(OCO) of the URB-AL III Programmeproduces a collection of MethodologicalGuides which are the result of work

and exchanges with various projectsand the lessons learned over the courseof running the programme. Theseguides cover a wide range of topicssuch as: monitoring, evaluating andcommunicating projects, the constructionof local public policies in Latin America,the effect these policies have on socialcohesion and the definition of citystrategies that incorporate a vision ofsocial cohesion.

This guide, Communicating about/fordevelopment results in public cooperationinitiatives, aims to contribute knowledgeand tools to help effectively andefficiently communicate the results andimpact of decentralised cooperationprogrammes and projects with particularfocus on local public policies, which areunderstood as being medium and long-term processes.

In the last decade, aspects linked toinformation and communication havetaken on an important role in theinternational agenda in general and inthe cooperation agenda in particular.Nevertheless, in practice we find thatcommunicating cooperation projectsand programmes does not usually forma core part of the strategy behind them,and this has a negative impact on boththe development and implementation ofthese projects and on the understandingof their effects among the citizenswho benefit from them, the actors

participating in them and the donorsthemselves.

In view of this situation, the OCO

identified a need to publish amethodological guide that would help tocontextualise the role of communicationin the international cooperation system,and to contribute elements and toolsto optimise and enhance the value ofthe impact made by public cooperationinitiatives.

The arguments in this document arefounded on the idea that incorporatingcommunication into all of the stages

of the project or programme cycleis fundamental for guaranteeingdemocratic ownership, accountabilityand management based on developmentresults.

Leading on from this, the guide reflectson the current dichotomy betweencommunicating about results andcommunicating for results, and suggeststhat complementarity between both

types of communication, in line withthe principal international cooperationagencies, may be the best solution.

Communicating aboutresults the mosttraditional and commonly used type inpractice is comparable to corporatecommunication, and usually centres ondisseminating information about outputsor final results, without touching on theother stages of the programme or project.This strategy squanders the potentialthat communication has for increasingthe likelihood of success in development

Prologue


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processes, which is why we are shiftingtowards the idea of communicationforresults, a novel vision that usescommunication as a cross-cutting tool

for achieving the project or programmesdevelopment goals.

Here at the OCO we are confident thatthe guidelines offered by this documentwill be a useful aid to designing effectiveand efficient communication strategies.

Jordi Castells,

Director of International Relations at Diputaci

de Barcelona and General Coordinator of the

Orientation and Coordination Office of the

URB-AL III Programme


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1. Communication, development and internationalcooperation

1.1. Information andcommunication on theinternational cooperation agenda

After the WSIS (2003 and 2005),various issues linked to informationand communication came up onthe international agenda and on thecooperation agenda in particular.Moreover, several agreements guidethe international cooperation agenda;among them we would highlight the ParisDeclaration and the Accra Agenda for

Action on aid efficiency, the approach ofhuman rights-based development (HRBD)and the Millennium Development Goals

(MDG).

1.1.1. Communication and

development effectiveness

Despite the fact that information andcommunication are not explicitlymentioned in the Paris Declaration(2005) or the Accra Agenda for Action

(AAA 2008), both are implicit, as theirrecommendations cannot be carriedout unless communication is a keycomponent. This is particularly truewith regard to democratic ownership,accountability and management based ondevelopment results.

Communication and democraticownership

Ownership is a principle according towhich partner countries exercise effectiveauthority and leadership over their

development policies and strategies,and coordinate the development actionsthat form part of these policies, therebyreducing the role of the donor countries.

This is closely linked to governance,which means that this ownership mustbe taken by citizens, communities, localauthorities, civil society, research centresand the private sector.

Accra marked an important change:ownership could no longer be definedas the product of bilateral conversationsbetween governments and donors, butmust instead include a process of dialoguewith beneficiaries and citizens.

Communication and accountability

Accountability implies a commitmentbetween donors and partners to acceptmutual responsibility for developmentresults, based on a process of reviewsand assessments whereby both parties areaccountable for their performance to eachother and to their respective citizens.

The Accra Agenda for Action affirmsthat transparency and accountabilityare essential elements of developmentresults. They lie at the heart of the ParisDeclaration, in which it was agreed thatcountries and donors would be mutuallyaccountable to each other and to theircitizens.

Putting into practice this shift towardsdownward accountability fromgovernments to citizens insteadof upward accountability fromgovernments to donors continues to


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be one of the greatest challenges facinginternational cooperation. It is also thearea in which activity is most intenseboth among donors, such as with the

Development Assistance Committeeof the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD),and among civil society. In both cases,almost all the strategies designed toensure that governments are accountableto their citizens involve information andcommunication processes. Informationand communication are playing anincreasingly central role in ensuringthat citizens understand where fundsallocated for their benefit/development

are being spent. Without thisunderstanding, and without the capacityto communicate their own perspectiveson whether they feel that this spendingis correct and efficient, there can be noaccountability.

Several multilateral organisations areworking in this area, such as the OECD,which has set up an observatory onaccountability, the Public Governance

Committee (PUMA). Currently, UNESCOhas its own project on e-Governancewhich is working to achieve transparencyin the management of the worldsgovernments and democracies. In theUnited Nations System, the UnitedNations Online Network in Public

Administration and Finance has adivision, Public Economics and Public

Administration (DESA), which helps publicadministrations with accountability,Public Sector Transparency and

Accountability: Making it Happen.

In civil society, some of the mostimportant international organisationswhich, in turn, set the benchmark forresources and producing material,

methodologies and proposals onaccountability, are Article 19, AccessInfoEurope, and the Centre for Law andDemocracy. Another important non-governmental organisation is the GlobalTransparency Initiative (GTI), whichprovides studies and methodological toolsfor analysing the transparency of globalinformation.

International Right to Know Day(September 2011), Access InfoEurope

and the Centre for Law and Democracylaunched the first detailed analysisof the legal framework of the rightto information (RTI) in 89 countriesthroughout the world. The results arehighly heterogeneous, but deficient ingeneral terms.

Communication and managing fordevelopment results1 (MfRD)

Managing for development results(MfDR) is a strategy based on sustainableimprovements in developmentperformance. It provides a coherentframework for development effectivenessin which performance information is usedto improve decision making and includespractical tools for strategic planning, risk

1 A development result is the product, effect or

impact (whether planned or not, positive and/ornegative) of a development intervention. OECD-WB (n.d.).


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able to participate in their governmentspolitical processes and policy debates(PANOS 2007a).

In democratic systems of government,the fundamental role of communicationis to ensure that supply coincideswith demand in public governance. Interms of demand, communication canhelp citizens voices be heard and allowthem to participate in public debates,as well as express their own needs andconcerns. The supply, in turn, permitsgreater informed participation in policiesthat genuinely respond to these needsand concerns. Improving information

on the application and supervision ofpublic policies increases transparency andcitizens autonomy to contribute to theadoption of responsible policies (UNDP2007).

The UNDP, in its 2007 report, The MDGsas a Communication Tool forDevelopment, considered that, onceadapted to the national and local context,the MDG framework has the potential to

work as a development communicationtool. At the same time, it states thatimproving public dialogue on theMillennium Development Goals couldhelp them to be achieved.

The MDG were designed to be easilycommunicated to anyone and everyoneinterested in development. Thisaudience includes the donor community,governments and those in charge ofdrafting responsible national and localpolicies, as well as the impoverishedpopulations and those excluded from

society which the goals aim to benefit.And, if the MDG are to be meaningful forexcluded and marginalised populations,these people must be able to discuss

national and local priorities. According tothe previously mentioned report (UNDP2007), the first step on a global levelwould be to make the MDG nationalpriorities through participatory processes.The second step would be to buildpeoples capacities to use the MDG inorder to enforce their rights and remindgovernments of their responsibilities.

1.1.3. Communication anddevelopment in the United Nations

System

Since 1988, the United Nations has hada specific forum for communication fordevelopment (C4D) which provides a spacefor deliberation and recommendationsto the Secretary General in this area:the United Nations Round Table onCommunication for Development.

In 1996, at the initiative of UNESCO, theUnited Nations General Assembly adopteda resolution on Communication forDevelopment, which, among other things,highlighted the need to support reciprocalcommunication systems that facilitatedialogue and enable communities toexpress themselves, voice their aspirationsand interests, and participate in decisionsrelated to their development. The General

Assembly recognised the significance ofthe fact that policymakers and decision-makers place greater importance on


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communication for development and itencouraged them to include this as anintegral part of developing projects and

programmes.

The Round Tables (from the eighth to thetenth) make up the third phase, basedon the UNs renewed commitment togreater collaboration among organisationsand to a more themed approach thataims to demonstrate the importance ofC4D in achieving the United Nationsdevelopment priorities, as expressed in theMillennium Declaration and the Millennium

Development Goals (MDG).

It should be noted that the ninth andtenth Round Tables (2004 and 2007)concluded that the MDG cannot beachieved without good communication,and they highlighted the need for newstrategies and tools that will be developedto support the objectives (UNDP-WorldBank 2009). Furthermore, the tenthRound Table on Communication forDevelopment recommended the systematicincorporation of C4D into developmentplanning and evaluation processes

(UNDP-Oslo Governance Centre 2007).

1.2. Communicating about/fordevelopment results

Over time, and in the light of the resultsof evaluations on the success and impactof programmes aimed at developmentand the fight against poverty in the last50 years, it can be seen that changes orthe perpetuation of attitudes are a key

factor that is directly linked to the successor failure of these programmes and, inparticular, to their sustainability, whetherthey are projects of a productive, sectorial,organisational or any other type.

On the other hand, there are two basicuses of information and communicationin the framework of the internationaldevelopment cooperation system. Atraditional vision, limited to promotingthe corporate visibility of partners anddonors, and a second (relatively new) visionthat uses communication as a tool for

Some recommendations in the Rome Consensus (World Congress on Communicationfor Development Rome, Italy, 27 October 2006)

1. National development policies should include specific communication for development components.

2. Development organisations should include communication for development as a central element at the inception ofprogrammes.

3. Strengthen the communication for development capacity within countries and organisations at all levels. Thisincludes: people in their communities, development specialists and other staff, and capacity-building and academicprogrammes.

5. Adopt and implement policies and legislation that provide an enabling environment for communication fordevelopment including free and pluralistic media, the right to information and to communicate.


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achieving development goals. The successesachieved, particularly in the area of health,led to organisations such as DAC-OECDto form a group of experts on this issue.

This group concluded that communicationshould be incorporated into the entireproject management cycle and not be usedexclusively for disseminating the finalresults of the programme (OECD 2008). Thefollowing diagram shows the similaritybetween the communication cycle and theMfDR cycle, and suggests the basis forgreater synergy between them.

As a result of the previously mentionedworking group, the OECD (2008)

distinguished between communicatingabout results and communicating forresults in development. Although inpractice there is a considerable overlapbetween these two approaches and it isoften difficult to identify the boundarybetween them, the emerging view is

that they are both complementary buthave different objectives, strategies andrequirements.

Conceptual frameworkfor communicating forand aboutresults

Source: OECD 2009.

Communicatingforresults

Communicatingaboutresults

Feedback

Setting goals, agreeing on targets

and strategies

Service delivery/ Results

Allocation of availableresources

Monitoring andevaluation

Reporting tothe public


Feedback


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Communicating aboutdevelopment results Communicating fordevelopment results

Comparable with Corporate Communication Comparable with Strategic Communication or Communication forDevelopment (C4D)

Objective: communicate the results/impact achieved by the programme.Debate about whether it is useful for development results or only for theinstitution

Objective: use of communication to achieve the programmesdevelopment goals

Presence: used to disseminate information at the endof the programme Presence: communication is incorporated into the entire programme cycle,from the initial analysis to the final evaluation

Visibility tool, corporate image and publicity. In the worst cases,political or electoral communication. In the best cases, communicatesaccountability

Managementtool to increase the probability of success in developmentprocesses. Framed within managing for development results (MfDR)

Short-term vision Medium to long-term vision

Target audience: focused on public opinion, donors and other levels ofgovernment

Target audience: focused on the beneficiaries of the programme andother interested parties, including political leaders, civil servants, non-

governmental organisations, socioeconomic stakeholders, universities anddevelopment cooperation partners/donors

Role of the communicators: packaging and providing information aboutresults (top-down). Incorporating publicity and public relations strategies

Role of the communicators: they play an important role in setting goalsand strategies and allocating resources, a part of which are dedicated tocommunicating forresults

Most of the efforts made by international cooperation are concentratedin this area, which is usually a central element of terms laid down bypartners and donors

Currently a minority choice due to a lack of awareness among decision-makers of its potential, the lack of specialist resources and the cost ofmeasuring its impact

Principal characteristics

of communicating aboutand fordevelopmentresults

Source: created by the author.


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Both types of communication can worktogether, and this complementarityis backed by important actors ininternational cooperation such as the

OECD, the World Bank, and various UNand bilateral cooperation agencies. Theexclusive use of communicating aboutresults in development programmes and/or public policies is wasting the potentialof communication for increasing the

chances of success in developmentprocesses, as well as their sustainability.

The box below presents an example of

incorporating communication about andfor development into a European Unionprogramme.

EXAMPLE: Communication strategy for the 2nd Peace Laboratory in Colombia

Programme of the European Union, the Government of Colombia Social Action and the Supra-Departmental Association of Municipalities in the Alto

Patia Region (ASOPATIA)Taken from the GLOBAL OPERATING PLAN OF THE 2nd PEACE LABORATORY

Communication strategy

A central aim of the Peace Laboratory is to build a community of Colombians who, together with their institutions, generate the political conditionsfor overcoming armed conflict and building a culture of peace. Formulating a cross-cutting communication and dissemination strategy for theprinciples, actions and results expected from the Peace Laboratory, framed within the specific dynamics of each region, is considered a main priorityfor achieving this aim. This strategy should go beyond simple visibility and will instead centre on the criterion of communication for developmentas an integral part of the programme and its projects, with the aim of generating a sense of identity and belonging among the beneficiaries of theseprogrammes and projects.

In this regard, the communication strategy should seek to build a new form of managing information media based on peaceful coexistence, thedemocratic construction of a culture of peace and the management of regional conflict. Communication should be seen as a means of boosting thesocial processes supported by the Peace Laboratory and as a generator of identity. Likewise, there should remain a historical record of the project thatsystematises the conception, implementation experience and evaluation of the entire 2nd Peace Laboratory programme.

The Laboratorys communication strategy includes the definition of a set of principles on the generation, analysis and dissemination of information;the conversion of this into useful knowledge and, finally, the transformation of the knowledge generated into better and more qualified decisions,that facilitate the successful execution of the Laboratory and its projects in each region, as well as increase its national and international impact.

This series of actions should contribute significantly towards achieving the goals and ensuring the credibility, effectiveness and sustainability ofthe Peace Laboratory. The strategy is guided by the Communications Unit, a Training Unit and the Regional Observatories that interact and providecontinuous feedback in order to generate actions that lead to achieving the objectives and, therefore, towards building peace.

Taken from the website of the Second Peace Laboratory (Colombia).http://www.laboratoriodepaz.org/publicaciones.php?id=28908


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1.3. Communication, decentralisedcooperation and public policies

Decentralised cooperation is a relatively

new phenomenon in internationaldevelopment cooperation and one whichis particularly dynamic in the frameworkof relations between the EuropeanUnion and Latin America. The EuropeanUnion was the first to incorporatedecentralised cooperation into itscooperation programmes, and also thefirst actor to adopt this approach afterit was incorporated into the agreementsof the 4th Lom Convention, signed in1989 with African, Caribbean and Pacific

countries (Del Huerto 2004:21-22).

The European Commission defines

decentralised cooperation as a newapproach to cooperation that seeksto establish direct relations with thebodies of local representation and to

stimulate these bodies capacity tocreate and execute development projectswith the direct participation of thepopulation groups concerned, takinginto consideration their interests andtheir points of view on development(EC 1992).

The European Consensus onDevelopment, as well as otherdocuments and resolutions adoptedby the European Union, highlight the

role that local governments can playas important stakeholders in promotingdevelopment, fundamentally because

Contextualisation

of decentralisedcooperation

Source: Martnez and Sanahuja

2010:47.

External action area

Decentralised cooperation

Social movements

Decentralised governmentsin the north

Design ofdevelopmentcooperation

policies

Top-down participation

Bottom-up participation

Design of

developmentpolicies

Top-down participation

Bottom-up participation

Civil society in the north

Decentralised governmentsin the south

Civil society in the south


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of their accumulated experience andtheir potential role in driving change,preventing conflicts and supportingdecentralisation processes, among other

relevant aspects (European Commission2008).

1.3.1. Challenges and limitations of

decentralised cooperation

The challenges and limitations ofdecentralised cooperation stem partlyfrom the challenges and limitations ofdevelopment cooperation in general, as

well as from its specific characteristics.The added value and potential ofdecentralised cooperation raises multiplechallenges of its own and regarding itsrole in the international developmentcooperation system. Martnez andSanahuja (2010) identified some of thesechallenges and limitations:

(i) The proliferation of stakeholders, thefragmentation of aid and spiralling

costs are features shared by all typesof cooperation, but this is emphasisedin decentralised cooperation. Tomanage these problems, furtherprogress must be made towardsacting on the commitments made inParis and Accra on aid effectivenessat a local level instead of justdiscussing them, incorporatingthe criteria of harmonisation,complementarity and division oflabour into the task, as well asaligning it with the partners agendaand promoting democratic ownership.

Harmonisation requires the sharedgeneration and use of relevantinformation, in addition to dialoguebetween partners and donors in order

to establish common agreements.Aligning partners and donors isbased equally on the exchange ofinformation and on having fluid andefficient communication channels.Democratic ownership requirescitizens to take ownership, andfor this to happen communicationactions to inform and talk withcitizens are necessary.

However, managing information and

communication does not usually formpart of the design of decentralisedcooperation programmes or policies.

(ii) Another important challenge isthe fact that the developmentof an institutional frameworkand an increase of resources fordecentralised cooperation have notbeen accompanied by a similardevelopment of capacities, procedures

and instruments for carrying it out.Thus, further progress is needed inmanaging for development resultsand accountability aspects in whichcommunication plays a central role.

(iii) Furthermore, the cooperation plansof decentralised actors have been,on occasions, overambitious interms of the management capacitiesof those implementing them,and there is a notable absence ofmechanisms that make monitoringand evaluation possible. These


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limitations are reflected in thedifficulty of measuring the impactof projects/policies. On numerousoccasions decentralised cooperation

programmes have not createdbaselines or conducted analyses(participative or not) which includeindicators that enable the impactat the end of the programmesto be assessed, which, in turn,hampers the evaluation of theprogrammes success or failure, theresulting capacity-building andthe dissemination of the successesachieved, among others.

The consequences of not includingindicators of communicating fordevelopment, regarding changes inperceptions, knowledge, behaviour,etc., also impedes the measurementof intangibles in developmentprocesses, which are vital for theirsustainability.

(iv) Decentralised cooperation helpsbring local governments greater

internationalisation, which canencourage increased participationin global governance. However,to do this they must resist thetemptation to just capitalize on thisinternational projection and insteadincrease their contribution on theinternational stage, systematising anddisseminating their own experiences,as well as building proposals thatenrich the debate and incorporateregional actors into the internationalscene.

(v) Another challenge facingdecentralised cooperation is theemphasis on everything relating toextending, deepening and promoting

a medium to long-term strategicvision, going beyond instrumentalexchange to build alliancescommitted to development processes.Likewise, the aim is to encouragecitizen participation and buildcapacities in all the stages of theprogrammes/policies, strengtheningtheir role as individuals with rightsand that of their governments asduty-bearers, and thereby reinforcingthe rights-based approach in

programmes/policies.

(vi) Finally, a limitation and a challengeat the same time is the absence ofa shared definition that preciselyidentifies what is and what is notdecentralised cooperation. Thisdifference of views affects theconsolidation of one of decentralisedcooperations added valuesits contribution to democratic

governance as the participationof local actors from civil society interritorial development processesdepends on the vision held by thepartners and not on the culture andspecific added value, despite thecontributions in this area made bydifferent international agreementsand declarations.


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1.3.2. Communication in the

management of local public

programmes/policies

Communication is, by definition, aninteractive process, which is why it isequally important to generate informationand implement communication channelsfrom the municipality (local government)towards the population as it is toempower the population so that theycan request pertinent information andcommunicate with the municipality toexpress their opinions and proposals.

The communication model adopted by a

municipality is closely linked to the modelof local development, which definesthe place that citizens and institutionsoccupy within it. Likewise, in principle,decentralised cooperation programmesare linked to the local governmentsdevelopment model. However, they shouldalso be consistent with the principlesthat guide international developmentcooperation, which involves the effectivedemocratisation of management and the

impact of the programmes on citizens, aswell as on the model of local developmentitself. These principles also affectcooperation programmes communicationmodels and this may generate tensionsor inconsistencies between them andthe municipalities (local governments)communication models.

The role of communication in localprogrammes/policies encompassesdifferent areas:

/ Inform, the different audiences identified

(internal and external) and public opinion,about any of the stages of a publicprogramme/policy:i) information about the identification

of a problem/need/right; ii) informationabout the process of defining theprogramme/policy; iii) informationabout the objectives sought and thestrategies planned for achieving them;iv) information about the resources,support and actors involved in carryingout the programme/policy; v) informationabout the processes and progress inimplementing the programme/policy;

vi) information about the evaluation andresults obtained.

/ Raise awareness, with the differentaudiences identified and public opinion,about aspects considered relevant to theprogramme/policy, fostering democraticand social values (solidarity, respect,tolerance, equity, shared responsibility).For example, raise awareness in the mediaabout the need to include developmentissues on the local media agenda, raiseawareness in businesses about their

environmental responsibility, raise thepublics awareness about saving energy,rejecting violence, etc. This can be doneusing various strategies, techniques andformats that will be discussed in laterchapters.

/ Develop skills and capacities in thegeneral population or specific groups:communication is a powerful tool forcreating and strengthening skills andcapacities for local development. There aremany tried and tested strategies used inprogrammes/policies for fighting poverty,


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productive development, promotinghealth, improving the environment, etc.,that are usually grouped together underthe umbrella of communication for

development and which will be detailedin later chapters.

/ Generate participation and socialmobilisation: communication cancontribute to developing peoples(inhabitants, leaders, authorities andcivil servants) communication skills andthose of organisations in order to becomestakeholders in their own developmentprocesses and to establish the dialoguesbetween municipalities and citizens that

are vital for the success of developmentprogrammes/policies.

/ Communicate the goals andachievements of the developmentprogramme/policy: numerous authorsindicate that communicating developmentresults contributes to those developmentprocesses, provided that the messages andimages transmitted are in harmony withthe goals being sought.

The following chapters in this guidediscuss these aspects in greaterdepth, developing them further andsuggesting techniques and tools for theirimplementation.


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2. Communicating fordevelopment

in cooperation programmes/policies

2.1. Communication fordevelopment and social change

The analysis of programmes to fight

poverty has demonstrated that theeffectiveness of human developmentprocesses (and, therefore, of developmentcooperation) depends to a great extenton the effective flow of information/communication between citizens andgovernments (national and local). Thistwo-way flow of communication hasbeen identified repeatedly as a definingcharacteristic of good communication indevelopment contexts (BBC-WST 2010).

For UN advisor Alfonso Gumucio(2007), there are many challengesfacing the future of communicationfor development and social change,among them, the challenge of namingthings, the challenge of developingthe discipline, and, finally, the difficultyof legitimising communication forsocial change among the large bodiesand governments (national and local)and the D-NGOs that make decisions

on development.

Regarding this last point, Gumucioindicated that specialists in C4D needto be legitimised and elevated in thehierarchy of development organisations,referring to the need to positioncommunication for development andsocial change at the top of the agendain these organisations, which also callsfor a new profile of communicators witha strategic vision of communication forsocial change, placed at the heart ofdecision-making and not, as is currently

the case, as spokespersons for decisionsmade by others.

2.1.1. What is communication for

development and social change?

Communicationfordevelopment respondsto various approaches and methodologieswith a common vision: usingcommunication to achieve developmentresults. It is an emerging disciplinestill under construction, but it hasdemonstrated its effectiveness particularlyin public policies and programmes linked

to fighting poverty, and in policies in thearea of health.

Despite there currently being manydifferent positions regarding the definitionof communication for development, inthis guide we have used the conceptas the general framework of referenceregarding the potential of communicationin human development processes.

It could be said that communicationfor development (C4D) is the use ofprocesses, techniques and communicationmedia to help a population gain fullawareness of its situation and of itsoptions for changing, resolving conflicts,achieving consensus, planning actionsfor sustainable development, acquiringthe knowledge and skills necessary toimprove their conditions and that of thesociety in which they live, as well asincreasing the effectiveness of institutions(FAO 2010).


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Communication for development andsocial change helps to improve theeffectiveness of development processes inthe following ways:

/ It contributes to open and inclusivepublic dialogue (national and/or local)on policy options. This leads to greaterand more informed participation inpolicymaking by significant segments of

the population. The result is increasedsupport and commitment for the strategythat is agreed.

/ It manages expectations. It allowspeople to adjust their expectationsto a vision of a process based onthe recognition of the economic andpolitical context, which can help localgovernments.

/ It promotes transparency andaccountability. Open and inclusivedialogue contributes towards better

governance and democratic legitimacy.Citizens can follow the progress of thepolicies.

/ It creates or deepens a public culture ofcitizengovernment dialogue. Such aculture has enormous benefits all roundfor the development agenda.

The following chart illustrates the

interrelation and interdependencebetween communication structuresand communication processes. Pressfreedom, the defence of transparency andaccountability are prerequisites. Therefore,press freedom influences the functioningof the different types of communication(public, private and community), which, inturn, have an impact on the real processesof communication for development.

A communication process aimed atproducing social change throughparticipation, knowledge-sharing and

Conceptual framework

for communicating forand aboutresults (theaspects covered in this

chapter are circled)

Source: OECD 2009.


Communicatingaboutresults

Feedback

Setting goals, agreeing ontargets and strategies

Service delivery/ Results

Allocation of availableresources

Monitoring andevaluation

Reporting to the

public


Feedback


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political debate depends on free-flowingcommunication.

Communication for development andsocial change fosters the activeparticipation of the key stakeholders in adevelopment process and proposes the

necessary flow of communication at alllevels, for example, vertically betweenthe participants in national, regional andcommunity plans, and horizontallyamong peers, such as members of thecommunity, civil society organisations,non-governmental organisations,authorities and decision-makers.

2.1.2. . Principal strategies and tools

of communication for development

This section briefly presents themain focuses of communicationfordevelopment: i) communication for socialchange; ii) advocacy; iii) behaviour

change communication.

Communication strategies employperspectives ranging from thepsychosocial viewpoints of learningtheories to the communication media,but dialogue and the active participationof the public are essential elementsof communication for development.Many programmes have centred on theindividual as the focus of change (Singhal2003), but it has been demonstrated thatto change behaviour on large scale it isimportant to take into account cultural

Communicating about development results

Communication context

Press freedom

/ Transparency

/ Accountability

Communication context

Social change

/ Participation

/ Social and political dialogue

/ Sharing knowledge

/ Behavioural change

Channels

/ Public

/ Private Commercial

/ Community

/ Print, electronic and audio-visual media (radio-TV-ICT)

/ Fiction - Theatre

/ Folk media

/ Interpersonal

/ Others

Interrelation and

interdependencebetween communicationstructures and

communicationprocesses

Source: DANIDA 2007:8.

Note: Folk media are

communicative activities not

mediated by communication

forms and channels, such as

street performance, songs,

theatre, puppet shows and fairs.


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values, social norms and structuralinequalities. Good communicationstrategies must also be aware of thepolitical and legislative environment.

Communication for social change

Communication for social change is aprocess of public and private dialogueaimed at empowerment through whichpeople define who they are, what theywant and how they can get it (Gray-Felder and Deane 1999). This approachhighlights the importance of horizontalcommunication, the role of peopleas agents of change and the need for

negotiation skills and building alliances(UNDP 2011; CSFC 2003).

It is an approach that seeks to improvepeoples lives, amplifying the voices of the

voiceless and strengthening their presencein the public domain (Gumucio 2004). Itis a model that seeks to empower peoplerather than persuade them, with a groupfocus that aspires to principles such astolerance, self-determination, equality,

social justice and active participation. It isa strategy that leads to collective action,which can result in individual and/orcollective changes (Beltrn 2005).

According to Gumucio (n.d.), the fiveessential conditions present in theprocess of communication for socialchange are:

/ Community participation and ownership.

/ Language and cultural pertinence.

/ Generation of local content.

/ Use of appropriate technology.

/ Networking and convergence.Communication for social change usesparticipative techniques to generatethe process of communication withincommunities, with the aim of allowingpeople to create their own agendas forchange. This process includes the presenceof an expert as a catalyst. Although itis more firmly based on dialogue, thisstrategy employs different communicationmedia, either traditional or modern,

depending on the characteristics andneeds of each group (UNDP 2011).

But, how is a communication for socialchange intervention built? UNICEF, forexample, in its communication strategyfor social change in the case of actionslinked to HIV/AIDS, uses a combinationof three synergistic strategies: i) publicdefence and promotion (advocacy) to putthe issue on the agenda and influence

decision-makers; ii) social mobilisation,to form broad social alliances withorganisations of civil society; iii)behaviour change communication, withthe aim of increasing shared information,knowledge acquisition, discussionwithin communities and families, and offacilitating informed behaviour amongindividuals and groups.


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Communication for public promotionand defence (advocacy)

Advocacy for development is a

combination of actions designed to putan issue on the agenda, influence publicpolicies, gain social acceptance and thesupport of the system for a particular goalor programme (Servaes and Malikhao1993).

It involves gathering and structuringinformation persuasively, communicatingthe case to those in positions ofresponsibility and other potentialsupporters, including the public, through

interpersonal and media channels, andgenerating actions that raise supportfor the goal being pursued from socialinstitutions and decision-makers.

The main actors of advocacy include thestate and civil society, the private sectorand international cooperation.

It focuses, above all, on councillorsor policymakers at local, national and

international level, with the idea thatwinning them over to the cause helpsbring about the social changes beingsought. According to the model proposedby UNICEF (2009), social advocacy hasthree important results on change: onpolicies, on the system and on democracy.

The most commonly related categoriesare:

/ Institutional strengthening. Linesof action focused on areas within theorganisation that need reinforcing in

order to carry out more effective advocacywork.

/ Strengthening alliances. Lines of action

linked to the work of other organisations,networks and people and the elementsthat are needed to make the alliancesthat are formed stronger or more solid,including some of the actions related tothe secondary audience.

/ Increasing the political will of decision-makers. Lines of action directly focusedon the target audience in the firstinstance, but also on secondary audiences,and to turning threats into opportunities.

Behaviour Change Communication (BCC)

In the last thirty years, Behaviour ChangeCommunication (BCC) has moved fromthe small-scale IEC model (information,education, and communication) to takeits place in national/local strategiccommunication programmes. The aim ofBCC is to empower people and to providecommunities with options for their

wellbeing and enable them to act on theseoptions.

BCC views social change and individualchange as two sides of the same coin.From this perspective, behaviour changecommunication is defined as ... thewell planned and organised use ofcommunication techniques and resources(media and non-media) to promotedevelopment, through a change of attitudeand/or behaviour, disseminating thenecessary information and generating theactive and conscious participation of all


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those involved, including beneficiaries, inthe process (FAO 2002:3).

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

(FAO) (2002) presented five stages of thebehaviour change process: i) presentingthe message; ii) knowledge/understandingof the message; iii) ownership/approvalof the message; iv) decision to unite withthe message content; v) implementation/actioning the message content, and

vi) promoting the behaviour detailed inthe message.

In the community, BCC is about changingbehaviour, but framed within a context

and some personal factors (cultural, socialand economic) which take on greaterimportance, including: i) knowledge(so that people do not act throughignorance); ii) attitudes (so that peopleand communities work to create theright conditions for the behaviour beingpursued); iii) behaviour and practices(in order to reduce the known risks topeople and the community), and iv) tofoster interpersonal and promotional

communication (so that people canencourage others to act positively both inprivate and in public).

2.2. Incorporating communicationinto cooperation programmes/policies

The presence of communication indevelopment planning can be found inthree basic formats:

a) Projects/programmes that areexclusively about communication,such as a project with the developmentgoal of increasing the Latin-Americanpopulations level of information aboutthe Millennium Goals. It is unusual tofind projects of this type.

b) Projects that incorporate acommunication sub-strategy in theprogramme/policy planning. Despitethere still being few projects thatincorporate communication as a sub-strategy, this format has experiencedthe biggest increase over the lastdecade.

c) Projects that incorporate cross-cuttingcommunication. This type is the

rarest, owing to the methodologicaldifficulty involved in including cross-cutting communication in project cyclemanagement in general.

In any case, communication should be atool for achieving development goals.


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2.2.1. Steps for incorporating

communication into the programme/

policy cycle

Incorporating communication intodevelopment programmes is an importantresource for managing for developmentresults. To increase the likelihood ofsuccess of development processes and/oractions, communication should ideally bepresent throughout the entire project cyclemanagement process or the policy cycle,and it should integrate and complementthe structure of the programme, and bereflected in the projected resources.

The support communication providesdevelopment is only as effective as theprogramme/policy itself. Even the mostcarefully designed communication strategywill fail if the projects goals are not clearlydefined, if there is not broad consensusamong the stakeholders involved, or if theactivities are not correctly applied.

For a development communicationstrategy to be well defined it must be

present in all the stages of the programmeor policy cycle. In each of these stagescommunication plays a role that affectsthe likelihood of successfully achieving thedevelopment goals set by the programme/policy.

Furthermore, the stakeholders andbeneficiaries must be involved in designingthe communication strategy.

Given that development programmes/policies are implemented in specificcontexts, it is important that theproblematic situation and the desired

situation are identified in a way thatallows suitable planning to take place atthe start and, later, confirmation of justhow successful the project was in terms ofachieving its objectives and the effect ithad on the target groups.

The path (strategy) to achieving theobjectives is based on obtaining a series ofresults (or sub-strategies) by carrying outcertain activities that will require resources(human, material, technical and time). In

addition to the internal factors mentionedearlier, the success or failure of the projectwill also depend on external factors thatshould be equally well identified in orderto minimise uncertainty and risks.

The analysis required in order toincorporate communication into theprogramme/policy cycle involves twostages.2 The first consists of reviewing theoperational components of the programme.

The second stage is to identify the mainstrategic communication objectives linkedto the phase of the programme/policycycle. This will provide an essential basisfor developing a realistic andcomprehensive communication strategy,including an action plan. Below, wepresent five examples of the maincommunication objectives for differentstages.

2 Mozammel and Schechter 2005.


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Source: Mozammel and

Schechter 2005 [adapted by theauthor].

Communication

interventions in differentstages of the programme/policy

PreparationEvaluation

Identification

Negotiation

/ Operational-communicationanalysis vis-a-vis the aims ofthe programme/ Initial draft ofcommunication strategyand action plan vis-a-vis thedevelopment goals/ Sensitisation workshops andconsultation/ Identification ofcommunication functions /capacity/ Manage expectations

Appraisal

/ Identify and cost out line itemsbased on action plan/ Modify action plan/ Assign budget to thecommunication intervention/ Manage expectations

/ Assess the contribution ofcommunication to the developmentgoals/ Conduct participatory impactevaluation/ Dissemination of newknowledge

Implementationand supervision

/ Preparation and implementationof communication campaigns/ Material production/ Training (facilitators, journalists, etc)/ Management Information Systemand other M&E* tools (at all levels)/ Stakeholder networking/ Communication for appraisaland learning

/ Stakeholder consultation/ Beneficiary analysis/ Communicationassessment/ Manage expectations

of the programme /policy

/ Articulate differences/ Define conditions/ Manage expectations

C4D in theprogramme/policy cycle

* M&E: monitoring and evaluation.


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Operationalcharacteristics Strategic communication objectives

1. Participatoryplanning

Participatory planning is key to building trust, ownership, understanding, and commitmentby stakeholders to operational objectives, processes, and other stakeholders. It is also

fundamental for ensuring periodic evaluation of the programme and adjustment. The mainobjectives of communication activities in this process include the following:/ Build awareness among and sensitise direct and indirect stakeholders by discussing

objectives, scope, processes, roles, responsibilities, benefits, tradeoffs, and other issues./ Build ownership and contribute to operational effectiveness. Ensure that all direct

and indirect stakeholders are made aware of the operational context and institutionalarrangements and are given the opportunity to provide input.

/ Build trust by initiating new interaction and communication channels among stakeholders,improving relations among groups with a tradition of mistrust.

/ Identify the scope and style of project-related messages and possible tools and means ofdelivery.

2. Communitydevelopmentcommittees and

subcommittees tomanage programmesand policies

Communication activities related to the selection and operation of local developmentcommittees are designed to ensure a transparent and continuous information flowwithin the community and between the community and other major stakeholders in

implementation processes. This information flow is designed to prevent capture by elitesand provide realistic opportunities for all members of the community to contribute to thedevelopment process by becoming aware of involvement opportunities and by providinginsights, knowledge and constructive criticism. Communication activities will also help to:/ Identify existing power dynamics in each community and help determine whether a newdevelopment committee should be formed./ Establish criteria for appointment to the new development committee./ Facilitate community-wide awareness of the roles and responsibilities of the developmentcommittee with respect to the community, local committees, and other institutions involvedin the project, including local government.

3. Participatoryappraisal, planning,and monitoringand evaluation

The participation of the beneficiaries in appraisal, planning, and monitoring and evaluationis fundamental in order for citizens to understand and reflect upon the design, management,and implementation activities related to the programme. Communication processes shouldfacilitate the ongoing exchange of information among the stakeholders involved in orderto leverage the broad host of local capacities, and ensure that development prioritiesare based on a collective vision of all members rather than the interests of certain elites.Communication activities must be transparent and participatory. They should also:/ Establish community recognition./ Facilitate participatory community-wide discussions of local development vision andpriorities./ Ensure community-wide awareness of the advantages, disadvantages and benefits of eachpotential subproject./ Facilitate community-wide participation in auditing, accountability, and measuring resultsin the context of the subproject cycle./ Facilitate community-wide awareness, and critical reflection regarding successes, failure,challenges, and opportunities associated with project management and implementation


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Programme/policy planning is one ofthe most important stages: the likelihood

of attaining development goals largelydepends on it but, paradoxically, it isone of the stages that attracts the leastattention and resources. Decentralisedcooperation and public policies are oftenapplied in haste and do not always followall the necessary steps, or include all theelements required for good planning.

Experience shows that the presenceof communication in the design andplanning phase of a programme/policyhas an important influence on quality.

2.2.2. Identifying and preparing a

programme/policy

An in-depth understanding of thesituation, knowledge, skills, perceptions,attitudes, behaviours and contextof the territory is fundamental foridentifying/establishing development andcommunication priorities.

This analysis of the situation is sometimescalled the baseline or diagnosis: it isessential for being able to take informed,and not arbitrary, decisions, and forovercoming the usual excuses for notcarrying it out, such as that the problem

4. Management ofprogramme funds

Communication activities should convey clear messages about budgeting, and report theresponsibilities of all those involved with the management of funds. These activities shouldestablish:/ Clear understanding among all community members of the rights and responsibilities

associated with obtaining and managing funds./ Clear understanding among local government authorities and other stakeholders of thecommunitys rights with respect to fund management./ Clear understanding among all members of the community of accountability obligations./ Awareness among all local businesses of opportunities for subcontracting and projectinvolvement./ Awareness within the community of challenges, opportunities, and successes associatedwith disbursing and allocating funds.

5. Exchange andcapacity-building

It is one of the major areas in which strategic communication is an enabling factor. Aregular and systematic communication approach can not only bring communities togethersocially, it can also foster the development process by sharing knowledge and experiences.The main communication objectives include the following:/ Integrate general programme objectives and processes among the beneficiaries./ Facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience of the development process among

communities and involved stakeholders by institutionalizing a systematic process of dialogueand building capacities./ Promote participation and involvement in the development process by local media tofacilitating exchanges by communities (through use of various media channels).

Source: Mozammel and Schechter 2005 [adapted by the author].


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is already well-known (without havingdone a systematic analysis and made itavailable to all the stakeholders involved),or that it is felt that establishing a

baseline will cost too much time ormoney.

Against all recommendations, todaythere are still a great number ofcooperation programmes being launchedwithout a situation analysis, ignoringthe fact that working without a goodbaseline: i) prevents the people affected/beneficiaries from gaining access tosystematised knowledge of their ownsituation that they should have formed

part of, thus undermining one of theprinciples of international cooperationwhich is participation; ii) it complicates(or prevents) managing for developmentresults (MfDR).

Situation analysis

The situation analysis includes analysingvarious aspects linked to the developmentgoals the programme/policy hopes to

contribute to. It should include thefollowing aspects:

/ Global view of the problem, describingthe relevant global instruments fortackling the problem and the contextof the central issues guiding theinternational agenda, such as the MDG,HRBD, development effectiveness, genderequality and governance.

/Analysis of the problem in the country,using the available data. Identify theexisting legal framework and public

policies, and the development of theirapplication. Identify previous programmesto address the issue/problem/right inquestion.

/Analysis of the problem in the localenvironment: identify the extent to whichpeople feel they are affected by theproblem; use the programme documentsand local knowledge, as well as existinglocal statistics, as much as possible.Divide up the affected populationaccording to different aspects, such asgeographical area, cultural or religiousgroups, socioeconomic status, age andgender.

/Analysis of the context: it is alsoimportant to bear social/cultural factorsand attitudes in mind when analysing theunderlying causes of the problem and inorder to understand why people behavein a particular way. Look into the socio-cultural and economic factors maintainingexisting behaviour (positive and negative).This answers the why question. If theaim of a programme is to end a harmful

practice, for example, child marriages orchild labour, it is important to discuss notonly the harmful effects of the practice,but also who benefits and how. To beeffective, the communication strategy willneed to address both the benefits and risksof harmful practices as well as the barriersto adopting positive practices. (UNICEF2008)

Finally, as part of the context analysis,identify which organisations are workingon the issue in the region, and take intoaccount what is being done or has been


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done by international cooperation agents(multilateral, bilateral, decentralised) andthe private sector (communication media,religious groups and other groups and

collectives).An in-depth understanding of thesituation, knowledge, skills, perceptions,attitudes, behaviours and the contextof the participants in the communityor the affected groups is essential forestablishing communication priorities.

Programme analysis

A subsequent step in creating the

communication project (or sub-matrix) isto analyse the programme/policy designedto address the problem/right in question, inorder to insert it into the communicationstrategy. The aim of the programmeanalysis is to identify the way in whichcommunication can help to achieve theobjectives and/or results pursued, whichis the first step towards building and

justifying a communication strategy.

The situation and the programmeanalyses should form the basis on whichto determine who the participants/stakeholders will be. The goal of thisanalysis is to identify groups based ondifferent criteria and the role each of themplays.

Stakeholder analysis

A stakeholder can be any individual,group of people, institution or companylikely to have a connection with aparticular project/programme. At this

point it should be checked that theprogramme includes a stakeholderanalysis which: i) identifies anystakeholder(s) likely to be affected

(positively or negatively) by the projectand the way in which they are affected,at community, local and national level;ii) understands the stakeholders roles,interests, relative power and capacityfor participation; iii) identifies thestakeholders position, i.e., beneficiary/

victim of cooperation/conflict, vis-a-vis the project and among each other,and then design intervention strategiessuited to the different positions held;iv) interprets the results of the analysis

and defines how they can be incorporatedinto the project design.

This analysis is important in termsof communication in two ways:i) it enables the social communicationmedia to be incorporated as actors in theirrole as creators of public opinion and/or mediators, in so far as they are likely tobecome allies, neutral or opponents of theproject or programme, and ii) it allows us,

in the subsequent steps of the methodology,to identify and plan which recipients(target groups) the project will addressand the focus (what we want to changein the recipient) in the case of wanting toinfluence the media.

The stakeholders may include:i) interpersonal communication channels/spaces (a religious organisation inthe community/neighbourhood, forexample), ii) organisational/institutionalcommunication loops (union or publicinstitution channels of communication


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which the beneficiary population hasaccess to), and iii) the mass media (localor national, written or audiovisual, etc).

All of these can be incorporated into

almost all projects as social mediators.Doing this will provide stakeholders withan opportunity to detail their potentialcontribution to the projects goals, justlike all the other actors.

In cases where this analysis has not beendone, an initial assessment should becarried out and included in the projectdocument.

Participant behavioural analysisand objectives

To identify behavioural objectives it

is necessary to start by looking at theaims of the programme and clarifyingthe key behaviours that are required(and by whom) in order to achieve thoseaims. If the programme that requires thecommunication strategy does not haveclearly defined behavioural objectivesand participants, it would be advisableto carry out actions addressing this needwith the partners, communities andstakeholders.

Identifying behavioural objectives isimportant for planning programmes forsocial and behavioural change, and itis not only a communication problem.Establishing sound behavioural objectivesinvolves them not only being SMART(specific, measurable, attainable, relevantand time-bound), but also clearlyindicting what behaviour that is beingsought and by whom.

Among the questions that could beincluded in a behavioural analysis, are:

/ Which behavioural problem(s) should beaddressed? Which people/group(s) exhibit

SMART, but without yet beinga behavioural objective

SMART, which identifies who is exhibiting whichbehaviour

12 months after the start of the project field activities,XX% of the babies in the District Y are being exclusivelybreast-fed during their first six months of life

12 months after the start of the project field activities,XX% of the mothers of the newborns who participated inthe YYY programme, breast-fed their babies exclusively

(without additional liquids or solids) during the first sixmonths of the babys life


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each of these behavioural problems?

/ Do men and women exhibit differentbehaviour patterns related to problem X?

/ What are the consequences of thespecific behaviour(s)? What form dothese consequences take for each of thegroups/people identified?

/ What are the desirable behaviours foreach of the groups/people affected positivelyor negatively by the behaviours or by thechanges in behaviour?

/ What are some of the barriers (patriarchal,

cultural, religious, social, of uses andcustoms, financial, political) hampering thepotentially ideal or acceptable behaviour?

/ What existing factors could encourageideal behaviour?

/ What behaviours and practices need to bepromoted? And in which groups?

/ Who are the partners and allies that we

need to involve?

/ What gender stereotypes are there?

Setting behavioural objectives shouldbe based on a participatory process withthe affected population and with theguidance of experts. Given that achieving

behavioural change calls for complexprocesses that go beyond providinginformation, the list of behaviour changeobjectives should be kept very short sothat it is manageable and attainable inone programme. The changes identifiedcan be short, medium and long term, asthey are processes of social change.

The process of raising awareness andadopting behavioural changes worksbetter if the social groups affected

participate actively and if the process isbased on relationships of trust.

The behaviours of the primary (PP),secondary (SP) and tertiary (TP)participants should be analysed andselected. The lessons learned fromcommunication for development teachus that training and sensitisation aloneare not enough to ask people to changetheir practices for example, by recycling

household waste or saving water.Changing practices requires (UNICEF2008):

/ As far as possible, that the group selectedto change its practices should participate inidentifying the problem and in proposingthe solution.

/ A basic knowledge of information aboutnew practices and how to carry them out.

/ Arousing interest in the new practice andlinking it to values and lifestyles.


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/ Carrying out preliminary trials withthe innovative practices and allowingthe affected population to evaluate theirusefulness and impact.

/ The acceptance and commitment of thegroup affected.

One procedure suggested for carrying outa participatory evaluation of the problemsand needs is through a reference study ofthe beneficiaries knowledge, attitudes andpractices (KAP).

A KAP survey should analyse not onlythe behaviours of the primary participants

such as taking their children to bevaccinated, washing their hands, child-rearing practices, condom use andpracticing bio-safety measures in poultryfarms it also includes support behavioursand the practices of the secondary andtertiary participants selected such as thecommunication skills of health workers,the conduct of grandmothers with regardto breast-feeding and immunisation,promotion actions by community, local,

and national leaders to support registeringbirths, journalists responsibility and skillsfor providing sufficient and balancedcoverage of the issue, etc.

Differences between behaviour changeobjectives and communicationobjectives

Identifying the behaviour changeobjectives required for the success of theprogramme is not the same as identifyingthe communication objectives (as we willsee later on). The behaviour analysisshould be conducted in order to assessat what stage the participating groups

are in terms of their level of awareness/knowledge/practice of the desirablebehaviours. This will help to position thecommunication activities and messagesaccording to the behaviour change stages.

In addition, communication objectivesare not usually the same as those of theproject or programme. Achieving thecommunication objectives/results is anecessary condition, but in itself is not

Differences betweenprogramme objectives,

behavioural objectivesand communicationobjectives/results in

a public policy forintegrating people withAIDS

Objectives of thePeople living withAIDS (PLWA)programme Behavioural objectives Communication objectives/results

1. Promote the rightsof PLWA assuringa supportive legalenvironment.

1. Strengthen the capacity of civilsociety organizations (CSOs) totake strategic action to bring legalchange to assure all rights withequality.

1. Through advocacy, local authorities will assurethe rights of PLWA particularly related to healthcare and education (objective).


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enough. Above we provide an illustrationof the development of a hypotheticalprogramme of communicationobjectives, starting with the aims ofthe corresponding programmes and thebehaviour change objectives.

Analysis of the participants/stakeholders

After carrying out the situation analysisand programme analysis it is necessaryto analyse the participants/stakeholdersin order to establish the communicationobjectives and results, which will be thenext step.3

3 However, in order to maximise the efforts this

analysis should be reviewed and adapted once saidobjectives and results have been defined, as shouldthe approach and tools that will be used.

The aim of the analysis is to identifythe relevant groups of participants, theircharacteristics and the resources thateach group may have access to in orderto achieve and maintain the desirablebehaviour(s). Addressing the programmeobjectives for each group requiresdifferent communication strategies,messages and channels for dialogue.

A first step would be to identify all theparticipants/stakeholders. There aredifferent options, sometimes linked todifferent communication for developmentstrategies. UNICEF (2008), for example,suggests placing the participants/stakeholders in three concentric circles,with the primary participants4 (PP) in the

4 It is important to bear in mind that in programmesthat use behaviour change strategy, the primarybeneficiary in the programme is not always the

Source: adapted from UNICEF 2008.

2. Guaranteethat PLWA haveeasy access toquality health and

educational services.

2. Service providers in health andeducation sectors provide PLWA witheasy access to quality service withdignity and equality

2.1. Health care providers in maternal healthservices who participate in programme activitiestreat and advise HIV positive women and theirchildren with dignity and equality (result).

2.2. School management and local governmentensure enrolment of all children irrespective oftheir or their parents HIV status (result).

3. Reduce socialand culturalstigmatisation ofPLWA.

3. Families and other social actors intheir locality accept the participationof PLWA in family, social and culturalevents without facing stigma ordiscrimination.

3.1. Relevant religious, social and communitygroups discuss HIV/AIDS, compassion, mythsand misconceptions at regular meetings, andhold events at least once a year to promoteunderstanding for PLWA and their families (result).3.2. Journalists deliver accurate, evidence-basedand balanced reporting on PLWA (result).


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centre and the secondary and tertiaryactors in the outer circles.

KAP analysis of the participants/stakeholders

Once the participants and the behavioural

objectives have been identified, a morethorough KAP5 analysis should be

primary participant. In the case of child vaccina-tion the main beneficiaries are children; however,as this vaccination depends on the behaviourof the parents, these are the primary participants/stakeholders.

5 For this analysis, it is useful to use recent surveydata especially that which identifies knowledge,attitudes and practices linked to the issue.Useful tools and techniques for identifying the

participants and the relationships betweenthem include, among others, direct observation,interviews, group discussions, sociograms, etc.

conducted, studying aspects such as(1) behaviours and attitudes, (2) socio-cultural data; (3) interests; (4) uses,consumption and communicationnetworks; (5) power and influence, and(6) position with regard to the programmeobjectives and strategies. To do this, a

double-entry matrix is recommended toprovide a broad overview that shouldbe complemented by the research andrespective report delving deeper into themost relevant aspects.

Types of participants

for C4D strategies

Source: created by the author

based on UNICEF 2008.

Primary participants (PP)

(e.g. mothers/fathers and children who need to bevaccinated)

Secondary participants (SP)

(e.g. SP1: other women in the family;SP2: health workers; SP3: NGO workers;SPn)

Tertiary participants (TP)

(e.g. TP1: policymakers assigning resources;TP2: religious leaders; TP3: professional associationsthat influence health services; TP4: the media; TPn)


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As already mentioned, the first step isto identify the primary (PP), secondary(SP) and tertiary (TP) participantsneeded in order to maximise the impact

of the programme. Once this analysishas been completed the relevantinformation should be used for definingthe behaviour change objectives of theprogramme in question and, as far aspossible, this should be gathered in aparticipatory way thereby initiating, atthis point, the use of communication toachieve the objective.

(1) Behaviours and attitudes: thisinvolves including the behaviours

to be changed that were selected inthe previous phase. They should beincluded in the matrix in order toprovide an overview that allows thesebehaviours to be related to the specificparticipants, as well as to the rest ofthe information required to define thecommunication strategies.

Attitudes to different aspects ofpeoples lives are directly linked

to the perceptions they have ofthemselves and of any of the elementsthat make up the reality of their lives.These perceptions are determinedby objective aspects, such as thesituation (material conditions oftheir lives) and the position (powerrelationships with other people andgroups).

(2) Socio-cultural aspects: socio-demographic information relevant tothe issue/problem/right in questionshould be collected, such as gender

and age, socioeconomic status, levelof studies, language, etc.

(3) Interests: this refers to analysing

to what extent the interests of theprimary, secondary and tertiary actorsmay be affected, either favourablyor unfavourably, in objective terms,as this could (potentially) influencehow willing the actors in question areto commit themselves to helping orhindering efforts to achieve the goalsbeing sought. The recommendationin this case is to use a scale between(+2), where there is a high level ofinterest in obtaining results, and

(-2), where the level of interest inhampering the goals of the project isequally high.

(4) Communication uses, consumptionsand networks:6 an important step inthe BCC planning process is carryingout a communication analysis. Thisincludes identifying thecommunication networks within thecommunity. The service providers will

need to work with thesecommunication networks to bringabout the change in behaviour ormaintain correct conducts.Communication channels may includecommunity media and popular media.It is crucial at this stage to find outhow the different channels are used,by whom, when and for what purpose.

6 See UNDP 2006 for further development.


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Some of the questions that could beasked in the communication analysisinclude the following:

/ Who are the primary and secondaryaudiences being addressed? Whichcommunication channels are the mostexposed to the target audiences andcan help us reach them?

/ Who are the partners and alliesthat must commit to carrying out thecommunication intervention?

/ What existing opportunities or newassociations are there for workingwith?

/ What types of media will be mostcost-effective for reaching the plannedaudience?

(5)Power and influence: means theauthority a specific actor has inthe decision making required toachieve the goals and results of thedevelopment programme, i.e., how

Participants1

(1)Behaviours and

attitudes

(2)Socio-cultural

aspects

(3)Interests2

(-2 to +2)

(4)Communication

uses and networks

(5)Power3

(1 to 3)

(6)Programme objectives

position4

(-3 to +3)

Primary Participant 1

Primary Participant 2

Primary Participant n

Secondary Participant 1

Secondary Participant 2

Secondary Participant n

Tertiary Participant 1

Tertiary Participant n

Matrix for analysingparticipants/stakeholders/audiences

Source: created by the author.

1. If necessary, the actors can be identified by name, institution and position. This table should gather the information in the way that is most useful for the people carrying out the

analysis.

2. With -2 being a high level of interest in hindering the goals of the programme / -1, an interest in hampering the goals/ 0, neutral / +1, an interest in achieving the goals of the

programme / +2, a high level of interest in achieving the goals of the programme.

3. With 1 being a strong influence / 2, an average influence / 3, a weak influence.

4. With -3 being totally against / -2, fairly against / -1, relatively against / 0, neutral / +1, slightly in favour/ +2, quite in favour/ +3, totally in favour.


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much influence the person has overachieving the goals. This may refer topublic or private, formal or informalpower, governments or even other

members of the family or community.A scale of 1 to 3 can be used.7

(6) Position on the programme objectivesand strategies: meaning the attitudeof the actor in question regardingattaining the development goals andresults. This attitude could range fromtotally against (-3) to totally in favour(+3), with average rankings (and with0 being a neutral attitude), therefore,one scale can be used to indicate the

direct position of the target audienceswith regard to the strategies thedevelopment programme aims to useand not with regard to the issue ingeneral.8

7 With 1 being a strong influence / 2, an averageinfluence / 3, a weak influence.

8 For example, there may be people who agree with

the need to strengthen HIV prevention projects,but not that this should be done by integratingHIV and reproductive health programmes.

2.3. Strategic planning of C4D andincorporation into the LFM

In this stage, the results of the previous

analyses should be used, firstly, toclarify whether a communicationstrategy is needed and, secondly, if it isneeded, to design an environmentalcommunication strategy that contributesto the development process sought.

To do this, the communication strategyshould be incorporated into the projectcycle design and management planningphase, which will in turn allow it to beincorporated into the entire structure of

the programme, and into the monitoringand evaluation of the actions.

The process of planning, implementationand monitoring communication shouldbe carried out in conjunction with thecommunities affected by the developmentprogramme. This already forms part ofthe communication for development(C4D) strategy, since it involves analysis,reflection, dialogue and participation in

taking decisions that concern them.

The planning matrix is the backboneof the project design (document) whichincorporates the basic information about adevelopment action.

Including communication as an expectedoutcome in a logical frameworkmatrix (LFM) involves describing thesituation expected as the final result ofa communication intervention in termsof a verifiable change or result in oneor several selected target groups and it


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Intervention logic Objectively verifiable indicators (OVI) Sources of verification (SOV)

General objective: Improve womenssituation and conditions.

Specific objective: Reduce levels ofgender violence in Panama.

Increased by a % the level of awareness

and rejection of domestic violence amongthe general population and amongwomen in particular in Panama by theend of the project.

Comparative analysis (samplepopulation survey before andafter project actions).

Result 1: Established universal publicpolicies that encourage prevention,attention and protection of womenagainst gender violence throughoutPanama.

Result 2: Improved police and judicialcoverage of prevention, attentionand protection of victims of genderviolence.

Result 3: Panamanian women madeaware of their human rights and theexisting resources against genderviolence.

1. 50% of women exposed to themessage.2. 10% increase in the number of womenwho know their rights.3. 10% increase in the number of womenassociated with organisations working inareas linked to womens rights.4. X% increase in the number of womenwho know about the public and privateresources available against genderviolence.5. X% increase in the number of womenusing the resources available againstgender violence.

1-4. Survey of a sample of thePanamanian population.

5. Statistics/records of thebodies that offer prevention,attention and protectionservices.

Result 4: Panamanian population(men and women) is informed andrejects gender violence.

Result 1 activities

Result 2 activities

Result 3 activitiesA.3.1. Participatory research to learn about the views on gender violence and human rights, on the context and on thecom

comunication cooperation initiatives protegido (1)

Documents