AFRO-NETS> The Drum Beat - 112 - The Communication Initiative

["Warren Feek" <wfeek@comminit.com>]

The Drum Beat - 112 - The Communication Initiative 
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Programmes http://www.comminit.com/programmes.html

1. Telefilm on Arsenic - Bangladesh - a TV film to raise awareness 
about arse- nic poisoning, its symptoms and how it can be prevented. 
Includes production of 5 25-minute story-episodes entitled, "Water is 
Life, Water is Death". The film, which is in Bangla, with plans for 
English subtitles, will be broadcast on TV and disseminated to commu-
nity groups and NGOs. Some channels in India have also shown inter-
est, as some areas of India are also affected by arsenic. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds92001/sld-2998.html 
Contact Nargis Akhter mailto:femcom@bangla.net 
OR Ferdousi Sultana mailto:fsultana@adb.org

  2. fem'LINKpacific: Media Initiatives for Women - Suva, Figi Islands 
- 

A women's NGO committed to bringing the stories of Suva women and 
their communities to the forefront and to share these stories with 
the rest of Fiji, with the hope that through this community-centered 
initiative they will not only in- crease awareness of critical so-
cial, political and economic issues, but also serve as a means to 
promote reconciliation and peace in Fiji. They have recently com-
pleted distribution of their pilot community video, "fem'TALK," to 
over 50 women's groups, their civil society partners and political 
parties. http://www.comminit.com/pds92001/sld-2995.html 
Contact mailto:femlinkpac@is.com.fj

  3. The Gacaca Democracy & Governance Project - Rwanda - Following 
the 4 yr Rwandan genocide, which began in 1990, more than 120,000 
people have yet to stand trial. The Johns Hopkins Center for Communi-
cation Programs (JHU/CCP) helped Rwandan officials to set up a tradi-
tional court system called 'Gacacas' to address "all but the most se-
rious" crimes and help to diminish the backlog of cases and prison 
over-crowding.  Due to the fear and distrust of the Gacaca system 
felt by Rwandans, the JHU/CCP and the Ministry of Justice are design-
ing a communication programme to increase awareness and understand-
ing. http://www.comminit.com/pdscc2001/sld-2877.html 
Contact Jhuccprw@rwanda1.com

4.TARAhaat - India - 

Will provide access for villagers to a variety of information re-
sources and market-based opportunities through the Internet. The pi-
lot phase concentrates on the villages of Madhya Pradesh and the ru-
ral belt of Uttar Pradesh. A house-to-house survey, covering 20,000 
households in 131 villages, is providing information on rural life 
and livelihood practices. E-mail, on-line connection and chat rooms 
will be the major components, connecting local users to each other, 
and to their friends and family in the cities. TARAhaat will provide 
ac- cess to low income users by setting up local TARAdhabas (TARAki-
osks - the rural  version of cybercafes) where they can get connected 
to the Internet for a small  fee. 
http://www.comminit.com/pds5-2001/sld-1893.html
Contact http://www.tarahaat.com/

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Call For Opinions - Competencies

  Please complete a brief survey on defining the competencies needed 
by those who practice communication for development and communication 
for social change.

English - http://www.comminit.com/competencies.html Espaol - 
http://www.comminit.com/competenciessp.html FranØais - 
http://www.comminit.com/competenciesfr.html

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5. Institute for Media & Society (IMS) - Nigeria - 

An NGO that emerged from the collective ideas and efforts of profes-
sionals in journalism, broadcasting, arts & culture, development com-
munication, agricultural extension, educational technology, informa-
tion and communication technology, conflict prevention and resolution 
and community development - all with a commitment to communication, 
democracy and development. Strategies include: re- search, documenta-
tion and dissemination of media/communication issues and  trends of 
contemporary relevance; training; publishing; and, networking of in- 
dividuals or groups and governance institutions to forge the syner-
gies of collective initiatives.
http://www.comminit.com/pds6-2001/sld-2152.html  
Contact:mailto:imeso@hyperia.com

6.Young Media Partners - Global - 

An international membership association of young journalists (ages 
15-25) in broadcast, print and electronic media, who are committed to 
using their skills to "build a world of peace, social justice and 
equality". YMP offers media internships to young journalists at the 
United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and at its 10 regional bureaus 
(Kenya, Philippines, Turkey, Slovenia, Russia, Portugal, USA, Costa 
Rica and Brazil). 
http://www.comminit.com/pds7-2001/sld-2438.html   
Contact Debra Kreuter Grant youngmedia@hotmail.com

  7. Center for Women's Policy Studies - USA - a multiethnic and mul-
ticultural feminist policy research, analysis, and advocacy organisa-
tion. Communication strategies include: publishing reports, newslet-
ters, policy papers, research papers, action alerts, press releases 
and op-eds to bring research findings and policy analyses to wide and 
diverse audiences. http://www.comminit.com/pds7-2001/sld-2440.html 
For more information or to receive their quarterly newsletter 
contact mailto:cwps@centerwomenpolicy.org

EVALUATION http://www.comminit.com/evaluation-results.html

8. Impact Data - Radio Communication Project - Nepal - 

In 1997, 52% of women surveyed had heard at least 1 component of the 
RCP, which increased to 60% in 1999. Increased spousal communication 
about family planning was evident in addition to an increase in com-
munication between peers. The number of women who had not discussed 
family planning with another woman in their village decreased from 
37% in 1997 to 20 % in 1999. The evaluation indicated strong evidence 
that exposure to the RCP was associated with contraceptive use by 
previous non-users & the continuation of contraceptive use among 
prior us- ers. 
http://www.comminit.com/idcc2001/sld-2095.html 
Contact Marc Boulay mailto:mboulay@jhuccp.org

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Join The Drumbeatchat Forum to contribute to the discussion on "Im-
plications of September 11." 
http://www.comminit.com/email_forum.html#drumbeatchat

***

AWARDS http://www.comminit.com/awards.html

9. Gates Award for Global Health - $1 million (US) is awarded to rec-
ognise an organisation that has made a major and lasting contribution 
to the field of global health. 
http://www.comminit.com/awards/sld-2596.html 
Contact: Terry Fisher maito:tfisher@globalhealth.org

10.  2002 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize - $1 million (US) is 
awarded annually to a nonprofit or charitable organisation making ex-
traordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering anywhere 
in the world. 
http://www.comminit.com/awards/sld-1995.html 
Contact: Melissa Whalen mailto:melissa@hiltonfoundation.org

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

11. Promoting Community Radios in the Horn of Africa - Addis Ababa - 
Dec 11-13, 2001 - aims to introduce and discuss the concepts and 
practices of community radios and their relevance to the Horn of Af-
rica. 
http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2001/493-event.html

12. Domestic Violence Awareness Month - Oct 2001 - JHU/CCP kicks off 
Domestic Violence Awareness month on Oct 1 in Baltimore, USA, with 
the launch of a web site dedicated to ending violence against women. 
http://www.endvaw.org/ will include journal articles, reports, train-
ing materials, brochures, posters, and links to other organisations.
http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2001/494-event.html 
Contact Patricia Poppe mailto:ppoppe@jhuccp.org

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Social Change - http://www.comminit.com/social-change.html 
Change Theories - http://www.comminit.com/change_theories.html

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WEB SITES http://www.comminit.com/links.html

13. The Loka Institute - a non-profit organisation dedicated to mak-
ing research, science and technology more responsive to democrati-
cally-decided social and environmental concerns. Focus is on critical 
assessments, education, dissemination and advocacy.
http://www.Loka.org

14. NewsDirectory.com -a guide to online English-language media. In-
cludes news- papers, magazines, television stations, colleges, visi-
tor bureaus, and govern- mental agencies. 
http://www.ecola.com/

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Strategic Thinking - http://www.comminit.com/strategic.html Commen-
tary - http://www.comminit.com/drum_role.html Vacancies - 
http://www.comminit.com/vacancies.html

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MATERIALS http://www.comminit.com/materials.html

15. A Media Handbook for HIV Vaccine Trials for Africa by Yinka Ad-
eyemi - from the back cover - "This practical handbook has been writ-
ten to enhance the capacity of scientists involved with HIV vaccine 
trials to develop useful collaborations with the media, and through 
them, other relevant groups and members of the public."  
http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-2961.html

16.  Raising Women's Voice for Peacebuilding: Vision, Impact & Limi-
tations of Media Technologies by Susan McKay & Dyan Mazurana - ex-
plores how women have used communication technologies in their quest 
for peace, documents their experience from their own perspectives and 
provides an analytical framework to understand the challenges they 
face in realising their vision and using these tools. 
http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-2864.html

***

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. 

Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - 
Deborah Heimann 
mailto:dheimann@comminit.com


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