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'Development Communication, Policy Advocacy, and Governance'

Since media and communication play a critical role in development, relevant communication policies are important for good governance to succeed. People engagement and participation in policy advocacy through dialogue are important to gain trust, acceptance, and cooperation from all stakeholders. According to Jan Servaes (2010), since public policies must be viewed as an integral part of the social and economic development process, the kind of advocacy that is ideal is that which is participatory.The focus in this approach is on ‘listening’ and ‘cooperation’ rather than on ‘telling what to do’ and presumes a dynamic two-way approach to communication. In general, one can distinguish between (a) advocacy for policy design and decision-making aimed at ensuring political, social and legislative support for development issues (e.g. protection of the environment); and (b) advocacy for policy implementation which requires intensive efforts for mobilizing social forces, individuals and groups for development actions. Both are important and must be addressed. The aim in advocacy strategies is to foster political and public engagement as well as professionals in development issues through the process of social mobilization. There is no universal approach which can be used in all circumstances, flexibility is required in selecting appropriate strategies.

The communication media are critical in creating awareness, generating public interest and demand, and placing the issue on the public agenda and building social support. They can play two kinds of advocacy roles: (a) they can support development initiatives by the dissemination of messages that encourage the public to support development-oriented projects; and (b) they can provide decision makers with the information and feedback needed to reach a decision. Policymakers usually respond to popular appeal, to pressure groups, and to their own social network of policy- and decision-makers. Therefore, advocacy, political commitment, and supportive policies are often themselves a product of social support systems and empowerment of people. Advocacy should, therefore, be viewed in conjunction with social support and empowerment strategies.

Jan Servaez (2009) affirms that the importance of a free and balanced flow of information to an engaged civil society, through independent media and transparent government, has long been acknowledged. He sees that communication plays a pivotal role in improving governance in developing countries.

Governance may be defined as: (1) the process by which governments are selected, monitored and replaced, (2) the capacity of the government to formulate and implement sound policies effectively, (3) the respect of citizens and the state for the institutions that govern economic, political, and social interactions among them, and (4) the capacity for active and informed economic, social, and political dialogue among citizens within a public sphere.

Governance implies the ways through which citizens and groups in a society voice their interests, mediate their differences and exercise their legal rights and obligations. Good governance includes notions of greater participation by civil society in decision making, instituting the rule of law, anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, poverty reduction and human rights. Good governance links government to the notion of responsibility for and to the citizenry as opposed to the traditional idea of authority over a nation--legitimacy emanating from popular assent to and participation in government, which is concerned with the welfare of its citizens.

The role of the media in promoting good governance is clear. All aspects of good governance are facilitated by a strong and independent mediascape within a society. Only when journalists are free to monitor, investigate and criticize the public administration’s policies and actions can good governance take hold. Independent media are like a beacon that should be welcomed when there is nothing to hide and much to improve. Indeed, this is the concrete link between the functioning of the media and good governance--the media allow for ongoing checks and assessments by the population of the activities of government and assist in bringing public concerns and voices into the open by providing a platform for discussion. Instead, all too often governments devise laws and informal means of keeping their activities hidden from public view or only available to media favorable to their viewpoint. In recent years, many governments have tried to co-opt journalists by paying part of their salaries or by giving them certain kinds of access on the condition that they will not report from other perspectives. If the media are to function in the public interest, governments have to protect the independent functioning of the media and allow various viewpoints to flourish in society.

A key aspect of governance is how citizens, leaders, and public institutions relate to each other in order to make change happen (Haider Huma, et al, 2011). Communication structures ensure the two-way exchange of information between state and citizens, It allows the citizens to enter into dialogue with the state on policies issues that matter to them. This environment develops trust between state and society which lays the foundation of good governance.

Development communication has brought to the fore the evolution of communication for development (C4D)which has mirrored broader shifts in theories and models of economic and social development. For much of the post-World War II period, C4D was informed by the ‘modernization’ paradigm, which sought to transform ‘traditional’ societies into modern, Western societies through the transmission of attitudes, practices and technologies. Correspondingly, communication initiatives adopted a diffusion approach, which uses communication to carry out a transfer of information. This includes large-scale media campaigns, social marketing, dissemination of printed materials, ‘education-entertainment’ and other forms of one-way transmission of information from the sender to the receiver. Proponents of diffusion theory recognised the limitations of mass media, however, in promoting sustained behavioral change. The theory also incorporated interpersonal communication: face-to-face communication that can either be one-on-one or in small groups. The objectives are to share information, respond to questions, and motivate specific behavioral practices. The belief is that while mass media allows for the learning of new ideas, interpersonal networks encourage the shift from knowledge to continued practice.

Criticism of the modernization paradigm grew in the 1970s and 1980s. The one-way flow of information and communication from the North to the South was criticized alongside calls for greater representation of voices from the South. At the same time, there was a push for more ‘participatory’ approaches to development. This triggered the emergence also of participatory development communication, which aims to empower the community towards collective decision-making and action through enhanced knowledge and skills to identify, prioritise and resolve problems and needs. Communication for development has thus come to be seen as a way to amplify voice, facilitate meaningful participation, and foster social change. The 2006 World Congress on Communication for Development defined C4D as ‘a social process based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It is also about seeking change at different levels including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills, building policies, debating and learning for sustained and meaningful change’. Such two-way, horizontal approaches to communication include public hearings, debates, deliberations and stakeholder consultations, participatory radio and video, community-based theatre and storytelling,and web forums. Diffusion and participatory approaches have been increasingly integrated or adopted in parallel in C4D initiatives. Such combinations allow agencies to reach broad audiences through large-scale campaigns while promoting local community development, empowerment and ownership through participation.

However, while the role of communication in supporting development, and stimulating economic growth has increasingly been recognized in international policy statements, communication is relatively under-prioritized in the ‘good governance’ agenda. Some attribute this to a lack of robust evidence demonstrating communication’s impact on governance, others argue it is more fundamentally a question of whether giving support to communication – which typically encompasses the development of an independent media sector, improving access to information, and the strategic use of media and political communication tools to influence behavior and social change – is a legitimate area for donor funding, given the often highly political nature of such interventions. What is clear is that the available research on the role of communication in governance is fragmented across multiple disciplines with often conflicting priorities (including political science, communications, media studies, and development studies). At the same time, there has been a dearth of practical guidance available to policymakers on understanding and using communication in governance reform.

In spite of its relative under-prioritisation in development assistance, few dispute the power of communication, and in particular the catalytic role of the media, in influencing governance relationships and processes: communication is widely seen as vital for connecting states with society, facilitating inclusive political systems, giving ‘voice’ to poor and marginalised groups, and enabling citizen participation and social accountability. Communication advocates also argue that the strategic use of political communication tools and methodologies can influence the attitudes, opinions and behaviour of key stakeholders and secure the political will necessary for reforms to be successful on the ground. With the recent rise of the fragile states agenda, there has been increased academic and donor interest inhow communication can contribute to state-building by improving state-citizen relationships and helping to (re)build social contracts in conflict-affected states. *

The intertwining relationship of development communication, policy advocacy, and governance is aptly described in the concept of strategic communication of GIZ, a Germany-based international non-governmental organization. In 2006, the GIZ, (then the GTZ) published in 2006 an article on Strategic Communication for Sustainable development: A Conceptual Overview which is summarized here below:

Strategic communication is not just disseminating information; it is the active gathering of stakeholders’ views. It is a pre-requisite and an instrument of effective policy making and public participation, facilitating information exchange and establishing consensus among divergent opinions and interests. It facilitates the building of know-how, decision making and action capacities at the heart of the delicate cooperation between government, civil society groups, and the private sector. Both internal and external factors influencing human communication require consideration. Internal factors include norms and values, attitudes and behaviour. External factors include the ‘vehicles’ that bring the material to the target audience. Five branches of strategic communication are particularly applicable to sustainable development:


 * 1) 	Development and environmental communication: Breaking down complex information into understandable elements in a socio-culturally relevant way for different audiences is a prerequisite for consensus building and change. A particularly successful model is the problem-oriented, participatory and focused Strategic Extension Campaign (SEC) developed by FAO.
 * 2) 	Social marketing: This involves gathering input from intended beneficiaries to design communication campaigns promoting socially beneficial practices or products in a target group. Audience segmentation is a crucial element.
 * 3) 	Non-formal and environmental education: These involve promoting awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour for sustainable development and effective participation in decision-making.
 * 4) 	Civil society mobilisation: This involves listening as well as ‘talking’, and combines vertical and horizontal social interaction through community-controlled media.
 * 5) 	Conflict management and negotiation: Mediation, conciliation or arbitration can help to address  communication deadlocks and power imbalances, and increase trust.

In 2007, Coffey International Development of London published The Role of Communication in Governance: Detailed Analysis. This paper analyses the positive and negative contributions of communication to governance. In theory, effective communication can help to promote good governance; however, a solid evidence base is lacking and a positive correlation should not be assumed. Existing studies suggest that it is not enough to create the means of communication; enabling factors must be in place so that voices can be heard and citizens can hold the government to account. Here below is the summary of this paper: "If good governance requires an inclusive public space based on informed dialogue and debate, a positive relationship between communication and governance seems plausible. However, communication can further poor governance (when used to protect the state rather than serve as a voice for the people, for example, or when subject to elite capture). In addition, it is difficult to establish a clear evidence base to support positive connections between communication and governance. There are also challenges relating to causality where the link between communication and governance is thought to be reciprocal; for example, communication may help to promote good governance, but freer government may also promote participation and communication."