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Summary Results of GKP Consultation with Practitioners on Issues Discussed At the 10th UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development

Global Knowledge Partnership [email protected]

10th Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for DevelopmentRinalia Abdul Rahim, Executive Director, GKP Secretariat

12-14 February 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

6 Sharing Knowledge ● Building Partnerships


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Background to GKP Consultation

• Limited consultation undertaken to obtain practitioner, civil society and other external

perspectives on issues tabled at this meeting

• Consultation was via questionnaire extended to around 40 non-UN organisations over 17 days

• Questionnaire was circulated to 3 main partnerships – GKPGKP, the Building Communication Building Communication

Opportunities (BCO) AllianceOpportunities (BCO) Alliance and the Communication Initiative (CI)Communication Initiative (CI) – and also Internews

• 7 completed responses from DIDACTICA, Internews, eCOM-LAC, OneWorld South Asia, Panos

London, Panos South Asia and Warren Feek

– Limited time for responses

– Issues being discussed are difficult to engage with

– A level of skepticism on assumptions underpinning RT

• Communication for Social Change Consortium, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation

(SDC) and GKP did not respond because of involvement in developing questionnaire and/or

analysing the outputs




Summary Results of GKP Consultation (1)

• A strong welcome for RT initiative

– Issues being discussed at RT were important and timely, addressing real and urgent challenges

• Increasing coordination of C4D action: Yes, great but ….

– Current investments in C4D initiatives not strategic, are sector-specific rather than based on systemic approach for building capacities in society and across sectors

• Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Key for Success

– Strong consensus for involvement of CSO, private sector, academic, funding and other organisations through multi-sector or multi-stakeholder partnerships

– UNDAF not well suited to meeting multi-sector or multi-stakeholder partnership approach

– Consider 2 coordination mechanisms: (1) internal UN equivalent of JUNIC on C4D, (2) broader forum representing other stakeholder interests

– Acknowledgment that effective C4D cannot always be product of consensus

– UN (or governmental structures) in multi-sector partnerships must not have exclusive control or ‘veto’ power to avoid compromising two-way communication





• Incorporating C4D into planning systems: The value, scale and diversity of

current initiatives

– Most multilateral/bilateral development organisations insufficiently aware of dynamism, innovation and scale of C4D at country level

– Important to be aware of, to build on and to support what exists in many countries

• UN working together to achieve policy impact: a serious and necessary

contribution

– A more coordinated UN system could play positive role in securing enabling policy environments for C4D (community media, public service broadcasting, ICT policy and freedom of expression)

• Questions of capacity: systematic thinking

– Need to employ experts who can take holistic view – iCT, media, DevComm

– Must have overarching “public goods” approach for C4D to be financed, managed and included in national policy and visions





• Role of UN: doubts among practitioners as to whether UN is sufficiently equipped

to lead in C4D

– UN organisations downgrading commitment to C4D (incidences C4D department closures)

– Much of UN still perceived as conflating C4D with external communication and advocacy for promoting own brand and agenda

– Skepticism over High Level panel recommendations will lead to envisaged increase in

coordination

– Concerns that UN system’s partnership with governments would compromise independence

and capacity for C4D to hold authorities to account at country level

– Concerns that increased coordination may lead to bureaucratic and technocratic framework

which will stifle innovation, empowerment and pluralism





• Data collection, monitoring and evaluation

– Important to incorporate C4D issues into national country assessment programmes

– M&E indicators need to reflect long term and non-quantitative nature of impact which C4D initiatives bring

• Other issues for international coordination

– Consider establishing a UN Trust Fund to support international coordination and initiatives that cannot be funded from country level budgets

– Examples are UN Democracy Fund and annual Human Development Report




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Summary Results of GKP Consultation with Practitioners on Issues Discussed At the 10th UN Inter-Agency Round Table on Communication for Development

Rinalia Abdul RahimGlobal Knowledge Partnership [email protected]

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Global Knowledge Partnership Secretariat [email protected]