AFRO-NETS> The Drum Beat - 95 - Communication & Change News & Issues

[Warren Feek <wfeek@comminit.com>]

The Drum Beat - 95 - Communication & Change News & Issues
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from The Communication Initiative...global forces...local choices... 
critical voices...telling stories...

Partners: The Rockefeller Foundation, BBC World Service, The CHANGE 
Project, CIDA, The European Union, Exchange, Johns Hopkins University 
Center for Communication Programs, The Panos Institute, Soul City, 
The Synergy Project, UNAIDS, UNICEF, USAID, WHO.

Chair of Partners Group: Denise Gray-Felder, Rockefeller Foundation 
mailto:dgray-felder@rockfound.org

Director: Warren Feek
mailto:wfeek@comminit.com

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PROGRAMMES

1. Interactive Radio Instruction - Zambia - a project in Zambia that 
is using interactive radio instruction to bring basic education and 
life skills to AIDS orphans. The radio programmes provide children 
with 30 minutes of basic instruction each day that is based on the 
school curriculum. Each programme also carries a short segment of 
life skills education (health, nutrition and basic hygiene) and ad-
dresses values that children would otherwise have received from their 
parents and teachers. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1880.html 
Contact Michael Laflin 
mailto:Mlaflin@edc.org


2. The Centre for Alternative Agricultural Media (CAAM) - India - fo-
cus is on farmer friendly communication systems. They aim to promote 
alternative efforts in agricultural communication, bridge the commu-
nication gap between farmers and scientists/government, set up a li-
brary on alternative agriculture and alternative agricultural commu-
nication, and maintain a website and publish an e-bulletin. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1881.html 
Contact Dr. Shivaram Pailoor 
mailto:caam@vsnl.net


3. Coalition to mark World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse - 
- to "[amplify] the voice of organisations and individuals concerned 
about the increase of millions of children who are trafficked and 
sexually exploited around the world (Convention article 34: 'the 
State shall protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse, in-
cluding prostitution and involvement in pornography')." By joining 
the coalition, the name of each organisation will be printed on the 
official poster 2001, which announces the World Day for Prevention of 
Child Abuse - 19 November. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1879.html 
Contact Rachel Pache 
mailto:dignity@vtxnet.ch


4. Books for Ethiopia Literacy Project - Ethiopia - founded to pro-
mote the publishing of children's books and reading and literacy in 
Ethiopia. They plan to: establish a Children's Book Center, with 
books for children, parents, teachers and social workers; publish 
children's books based on Ethiopian culture, history and reality re-
flecting gender sensitivity, human rights, environmental conservation 
and peace; and, conduct a literacy programme for low-income families 
with school age children. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1888.html 
Contact Maureen Evans 
mailto:EBCEF@aol.com

***

90.4 percent of what indigenous community lacks sewerage services?

BASE LINE - http://www.comminit.com

[changes every Tues & Fri]

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5. A Participatory Approach to Produce Web Content - Africa - demon-
strates how to realise the full benefits of Internet technologies to-
wards sustainable development in Africa and identify some of the bar-
riers that might constrain such a realisation. The project also 
sought to develop a methodology that could be used to produce web 
content that could impact on development. The work undertaken in-
volved carrying out field studies mainly in Zambia and Zimbabwe. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1887.html 
Contact Batsirai Mike Chivhanga 
mailto:bmmc@soi.city.ac.uk


6. Theatre, Dance & Music Workshop for Slum Children - India - As a 
part of their AIDS Awareness Campaigns, Servants of the People Soci-
ety started a once a week Follow-up Centre every Saturday in Janta 
Colony Sector 25, Chandigarh in the home of an ex-addict to create 
self-help groups at grassroots level and involve, enlist and train 
social workers as well as different volunteers for the service of the 
community. They launched the Theatre, Dance & Music Workshop for Slum 
Children for children of drug addicts. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1884.html 
Contact Dr. Avnish Jolly 
mailto:avnish@ch.sps.org.in


7. World Computer Exchange - Global - collects used PCs for schools 
in developing countries, including Africa, Asia and Latin America. 
They will take "anything that will get the kids online." The Exchange 
has so far signed up more than 700 schools, orphanages and learning 
centers in 22 countries. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds52001/sld-1898.html 
Contact:
mailto:WorldComputerExchange@mediaone.net


AWARDS

8. The Fulbright New Century Scholars Programme is open to research 
scholars and professionals from the U.S. and around the world. Theme 
is "Challenges of Health in a Borderless World". 
http://www.comminit.com/awards/sld-1815.html

***

Filmmakers for Conservation... Native American Digital Village... Af-
rican Women's Studies Journal...

COMMUNICATION NEWS in TEMPO - http://www.comminit.com

[new on Tues & Fri!]

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MATERIALS

9. "Reflections at the Nexus: Science, Religion, & Development," a 
Bishrt Media Development Associates Production - video documentary 
presents the voices of a diversity of India's development actors and 
thinkers addressing major issues in India today and as they engage 
with the implications of the Science, Religion & Development dis-
course: "what, if anything, does development look like at the nexus 
of our scientific and religious knowledge systems?" 
http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-1882.html 
Contact Maziar Sabet 
mailto:host@bisharat.org


10. A Research Study on the Level of Sustainability of NGOs in Brazil 
working on HIV/AIDS - 59 entities were included in the study, and 
based on an index ranging from zero to one (zero being no sustain-
ability and one total sustainability levels), the average sustain-
ability index found was 0.346. In addition, only 5 out of all 59 NGOs 
studied were above the 0.500 level. Final report available in Portu-
guese. 
http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-1905.html 
Contact Miguel Fontes 
mailto:m.fontes@johnsnow.com.br


11. Communications in Haiti, by Charles Arthur - an extract from a 
longer report evaluating the World Association for Christian Communi-
cation (WACC) -supported grassroots communications projects in Haiti 
is available on the WACC website. 
http://www.wacc.org.uk/publications/haiti.htm 
Contact:
mailto:Tttnhm@aol.com


12. Governing Our Cities: will people power work? - a report by 
Panos, to be presented at the special session of the UN assembly that 
meets in New York June 6-8 2001. Governing Our Cities assesses 
whether urban strategies are succeeding. It concludes that although 
many nations are trying to take new approaches to the way they manage 
cities, they are doomed to fail unless governments work in tandem 
with other groups in society, and particularly the urban poor. 
http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-1899.html

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Brazilian Project for Women's Economic Development & Children's Edu-
cation... USA Excludes Medical Associations from the World Health As-
sembly...Millions Killed in the DRC War...

DEVELOPMENT NEWS in ABOUT TIME - http://www.comminit.com

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WEB SITES

13. The Hoot - a portal for media-related inquiry in the South Asian 
region. Devoted to "media practice, right to information, and issues 
of media ethics." 
http://www.thehoot.org 


14. The World Social Forum - for the creation and exchange of social 
and economic projects that promote human rights, social justice and 
sustainable development. The event will take place every year in 
Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the same period as the World Economic 
Forum, which happens in Davos, Switzerland, at the end of January. In 
English, Portuguese, French & Spanish. 
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br


15. PLANetWIRE provides information on international family planning, 
population, reproductive health and the environment. Offers media 
analyses on news coverage on these issues, daily headlines, and fea-
ture stories on how these issues relate to current events. 
http://www.PLANetWIRE.org


EVENTS http://www.comminit.com/2001-events.html

16. The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has launched an 
internet-based campaign with Yahoo! and other partners to create pub-
lic awareness about the urgent need for an accessible AIDS vaccine. 
The Call for Action petition will be presented during the UN Special 
Session on HIV/AIDS in New York June 25-27 2001. Available at:
http://www.iavi.org/callforaction/ Sign by June 25.


17. 4th Inter-American Dialogue on Water Management will be held Sep. 
2-6 2001 in Brazil. Seeks to document successful and innovative ap-
proaches to integrated land and water resources management in the 
Americas and to identify specific actions that can improve the man-
agement of water resources. Contact in Brazil:
mailto:dialogo@acquacon.com.br 
or in Washington, DC - mailto:bgriesinger@oas.org 
http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2001/148-event.html


18. Infrastructure, the Environment & Dispute Resolution in the 
Americas will be June 18-20 2001 in Costa Rica. Designed to enable 
lawyers, regulators, policy makers, corporate decision makers and en-
vironmental advocates to understand fully the challenges they face 
when addressing infrastructure projects in the region, and to learn 
from colleagues who have legal, policy and practical lessons to 
share. 
Contact Amy Horton-Newell 
mailto:hortona@staff.abanet.org 
http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2001/178-event.html

*** Vacancies...Jobs.... http://www.comminit.com/vacancies.html 
Contact Carey Hooge 
mailto:chooge@comminit.com

***
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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