AFRO-NETS> The Drum Beat - 85 - Communication & Change News & Issues

[Warren Feek <wfeek@comminit.com>]

The Drum Beat - 85 - Communication & Change News & Issues
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from THE COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE partnership - The Rockefeller Foun-
dation, BBC World Service, The CHANGE Project, CIDA, The European Un-
ion, Exchange, Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Pro-
grams, The Panos Institute, Soul City, The Synergy Project, UNAIDS, 
UNICEF, USAID, WHO.


Chair of the Partners Group: 
Denise Gray-felder <dgray-felder@rockfound.org>
Director: 
Warren Feek <wfeek@comminit.com>
http://www.comminit.com


PROGRAMMES

1. On 8 Mar, Feminist International Radio Endeavour (FIRE) held a 
Webcast Marathon, dedicated to the struggles of women against the ra-
cism. "Full Spectrum Against the Racism" was held with the collabora-
tion of WIN - the Women's Network of AMARC (World Association of Com-
munity Radios) - and it forms part of the "Voices Without Frontiers" 
Campaign of AMARC which will hold a 24 hour broadcast from South Af-
rica via Internet, Satellite and local radios world wide on March 
21st.
http://www.amarc.org/vsf/index.htm


2. Uganda Participatory Development Network (UPDNet) - Uganda - a 
loose association of about 30 organisations and individuals inter-
ested in promoting participatory techniques for community develop-
ment. They provide an opportunity for practitioners to meet, discuss 
and exchange experience and they organize workshops on specific 
themes relevant to the use and development of Participatory Tech-
niques in Uganda. 
Contact:
mailto:cdrn@imul.com
http://www.rcpla.org 


3. Fundacion Cabo San Francisco - Ecuador - an NGO working in the 
fields of education, health and the environment that has constructed 
an optimal water supply system and a school for the community. They 
are seeking funders and technical assistance to continue their pro-
jects. 
Contact:
mailto:info@cabosanfrancisco.ch
http://www.cabosanfrancisco.ch 


4. Development Teams - Global - matches projects in the developing 
world with corporations seeking Leadership Development programmes for 
their staff. Involves the staff in overseas volunteer work on spe-
cific ongoing projects. Tasks may be manual, technical, or adminis-
trative, and often in remote locations. Clients can also donate their 
own time, skills and resources via online volunteering to specific 
projects on a longer term basis. Fees are paid directly to the se-
lected development projects. 
Contact Robert Winter 
mailto:europetv@aol.com


5. M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation - South India - committed to 
a mission of harnessing science and technology for environmentally 
sustainable and socially equitable development. MSSRF's research, 
training, communication, extension and networking programmes, in the 
fields of agriculture and rural development, seek to link ecological 
security to livelihood security in a mutually reinforcing manner. 
Contact:
mailto:executivedirector@mssrf.res.in
http://www.mssrf.org 


6. TEAMS (Time to End Alcohol Marketing in Sports) - USA - a national 
campaign to promote voluntary and governmental policies and actions 
to eliminate alcohol marketing to underage persons in sports. TEAMS 
will also work to promote positive sports role models for youth. Main 
focus is on limiting marketing strategies (prohibiting alcohol adver-
tising, eliminating alcohol sponsorship of youth events, etc.) and 
eliminating the presence of alcohol at youth events. 
Contact Lloyd Jacobson 
mailto:ljacobson@cspinet.org
http://www.cspinet.org/booze/


7. Workers World Radio - South Africa - from Sept-Dec 1997, a collec-
tive of labour service organisations carried out a radio pilot pro-
ject. It consisted of 12 weekly 30-minute slots on Bush Radio, a com-
munity radio station, focussing on issues relevant to workers and the 
labour movement. At the evaluation meetings at the end of the pilot 
project, it was agreed by the participating organisations to set up a 
semi-independent radio production project. 
Contact Martin Jansen 
mailto:martin@lrs.org.za


8. World TB Day - 24 Mar 2001 - In recognition of the right to the 
highest attainable standard of health for all, the theme for this 
year's global campaign is "DOTS: TB Cure for All". The campaign has 2 
objectives: (i) to alert political leaders and decision-makers to the 
situation of TB sufferers worldwide and the effects of the disease on 
human development; (ii) to raise awareness that a cost-effective 
cure-DOTS-exists and that accessing and completing treatment free 
from stigma and discrimination is an important step in realizing 
one's right to the highest attainable standard of health and well-
being. 
Contact:
mailto:stoptb@who.int
http://www.stoptb.org 


9. United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on 
HIV/AIDS - New York, USA - NGO and civil society organisations are 
invited to join in the preparations for the Special Session, sched-
uled for 25-27 Jun 2001. "As more is understood about the epidemic, 
greater emphasis is being placed on the value of community-based ex-
perience and expertise. With individual countries and communities 
recognised as the major source of relevant expertise and understand-
ing regarding personal AIDS responses, that knowledge must be a cor-
nerstone of the HIV/AIDS UNGASS process." 
Contact:
mailto:join-break-the-silence@hdnet.org


10. The EuroTransMed Foundation (ETM) - Europe - offers a range of 
postgraduate continuing medical education programmes, by satellite in 
Europe and via the web world-wide. ETM works with major medical or-
ganisations in presenting evidence based best practice. Over 200 hos-
pitals receive the satellite broadcasts, which facilitate live inter-
action with international opinion leaders in the studio. After the 
broadcast text summaries and RealAudio files with streaming graphics 
are available from the ETM web site <http://www.etm.nl> ETM also of-
fers hospitals the opportunity to replicate RealVideo files of pro-
grammes within their Local Area Networks for local self-directed 
learning and reference. 
Contact:
mailto:r.dirne@etm.nl


11. Asha for Education - India - an action group for basic education 
for underprivileged children in India, with 35 chapters in the USA, 
India, Singapore, England, Australia, and Canada. Asha is run by an 
all-volunteer force, has a flat structure and zero overhead costs, 
and supports over 100 secular and apolitical projects. Identifying, 
researching, owning, funding, and sustaining projects forms the core 
of Asha's activities. Asha-Computers is a focus group within Asha 
that is exploring the use of computers for basic education. 
Contact:
mailto:projects@ashanet.org 
http://www.ashanet.org

***

Drum Role 7 - Stephen Lewis, former Canadian ambassador to the UN and 
deputy executive director of Unicef, reflects on the responsibility 
of drug companies to make AIDS drugs available to all, in an article 
he titles "J'accuse!":
http://www.comminit.com/TheDrumRole/sld-1378.html

***

EVENTS

12. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) held its national executive 
meeting in Khayelitsha, Cape Town on 15-16 Jan 2001. This meeting 
adopted a programme of action for 2001. From 18-21 Mar 2001, TAC will 
hold its national Treatment Congress in Johannesburg, Gauteng. The 
Treatment Congress will adopt a Treatment Charter and build a cam-
paign to produce generic anti-retrovirals. 
Contact:
mailto:info@tac.org.za
http://www.tac.org.za 


13. The 2nd World Education Market (WEM), will take place 21-24 May 
2001 at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre, British Colum-
bia, Canada. 
Contact:
mailto:info@wemex.com 
http://www.wemex.com 


DISCUSSION FORUM

14. Health Communication Materials Network - The Media/Materials 
Clearinghouse at Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication 
Programs has established a network of professionals specializing in 
all aspects of health communication materials development and dis-
semination. Share ideas, information, and samples of materials with 
colleagues. Membership is free. To join visit:
http://www.jhuccp.org/mmc/index.stm 


WEB SITES

15. Health-e is an online health news agency with the objective of 
supplementing and broadening the coverage of health issues in South 
Africa through the mainstream media. News and feature stories - for 
daily and weekly newspapers, radio and on their website. 
Contact Jo Stein
mailto:jostein@health-e.org.za
http://www.health-e.org.za


16. The Child Survival Technical Support Project (CSTS) assists pri-
vate voluntary organizations (PVOs) in increasing their capacity to 
achieve sustainable service delivery in public health interventions. 
Some features include an events calendar; online conference registra-
tion; a links page; and Child Survival Connections, a collection of 
articles on successes, innovations, and promising practices from pro-
jects around the world.
http://www.childsurvival.com


MATERIALS

17. The Report on the Eastern & Southern Africa Regional Workshop on 
Orphans & Vulnerable Children, which was held 5-8 Nov 2001 in Lusaka 
is available on the CABA (Children Affected by AIDS) archive:
http://www.usaid.gov/pop_health/caba/archive/ 
(under Title: Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Workshop Report). 
The workshop was sponsored by UNICEF Zambia and USAID Zambia and in-
cluded 80 participants from 14 countries in the region.


18. "A World of Difference: Sexual & Reproductive Health & Risks" 
an effort to measure the progress of nations toward transforming re-
productive health programmes. A wall chart ranks 133 countries on a 
Reproductive Risk Index (RRI) composed of 10 key indicators of sexual 
and reproductive health. The study documents the vast disparities be-
tween rich and poor countries and the need to accelerate progress in 
this area. From Population Action International (PAI) and CARE. 
Contact:
mailto:lisom@popact.org
http://www.populationaction.org/worldofdifference/

***

The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for de-
velopment activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement 
or support by The Partners.

Send items for The Drum Beat to 
The Editor
Deborah Heimann
mailto:dheimann@comminit.com

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