At the Heart of Change: The Role of Communication in Sustainable Development

This document, written as a call to development strategists and advocates, argues the case for the centrality of communication to the field of development and sets an agenda for action by governments, donors, and civil society. The document takes exception to communication being "...introduced into programmes too little, too late, and in a fragmentary way. Panos London argues that communication needs to be included from the very start in all analysis of development problems, in the establishment of development goals and policy, in planning, and at all levels of programme implementation."(Kitty Warnock, The Drum Beat 410 - At the Heart of Change: The Role of Communication in Sustainable Development)

From the introduction:

"Many development policy makers already acknowledge in principle the importance of communication. However, action is lagging behind. Policy makers often lack sufficient knowledge of what specific steps they can take to strengthen communication processes. Sometimes political will is also absent: after all, enabling poor people to participate directly challenges existing power structures. Adopting a holistic approach [to development communication, including all channels - broadcast and print, telephones, digital, and face-to-face] would facilitate the formation of open societies where information and communication processes are seen as ‘public goods’ that benefit all citizens and maximise the impact of development. One characteristic of public goods is that the more people use them, the greater the common benefit. Communication processes should be regarded as public goods because they contribute to a society’s development, governance, peace and prosperity. At the heart of change establishes such an approach, showing how information, communication, the media and ICTs are powerful agents of change, how they can give ‘voice’ to the poor and contribute to more sustainable development. There are many contending views of the role of governments, civil society and the economy in successful development; but this paper argues that information and communication processes are central to all of them."

The document supports the centrality of communication in development as a way for people to participate as stakeholders - both by receiving information and by making their voices heard - in order to break patterns of social and political exclusion. Communication is cited as the heart of good governance, which, as stated here, requires transparency to make citizen monitoring possible. It is named as the fabric of a healthy civil society, which is woven of networks - interpersonal, informal, and cultural - that provide a vibrant flow of information and communication, involve people in discussion on issues that affect them, and reflect changing societal attitudes and individual behaviours. Communication is described as a key to economic development, affecting a range of initiatives from international trade agreements to conditions for growth and fair markets, as well as stimulation of communication sector growth, e.g. mobile telephony or broadband access. The document then argues for putting in place critical characteristics of strong and open media, including media freedom, pluralistic ownership, a trained press corps, and regulation intending to give voice to a wide range of groups.

The document argues that communication needs support from development organisations. Broad areas for support include governments and traditional media struggling to keep abreast of technology. Another area is the economically poor who are trying to gain access to market-driven communication tools, indicating a need to develop their use as universally available public goods. Both direct financial support and support for developing policy agendas and regulation are needed - e.g., spreading access to mobile phone technology, or ICT infrastructure can mean complex negotiation with multiple stakeholders, including private sector investors. Training and financial support for high quality public service journalism can help to ensure that media is recognised and utilised as a public good.

The document concludes with a four-pronged agenda for action. Among the details of this agenda are the following:

• Build more open, transparent information and communication systems and political cultures - This agenda item has directives for the use of communication by governments (to promote participation and free access to information, engage citizens in civil society process, and ensure transparency and dialogue within government institutions through management, training, and political commitment); by donors (to support civil society organisations, monitor governments for accountability, and lobby and advocate for open and participatory communication processes); and by citizens (to invest in and develop the capacity for opportunities evolving from a politically, economically, and culturally full communication-rich society).
• Treat information, communication, and the media as 'public goods' and invest accordingly - This agenda item directs governments to ensure that ICTs are available to every citizen through a combination of encouraging competitive markets, regulation, non-profit and public service user access and support, training, rural access and leadership, access in multiple local languages, and new technologies and software that are well-designed, stable, and enduring (possibly open source). Governments should seek innovative ways to provide financial support for public interest media content without editorial interference.
• Take a holistic view of communication processes and integrate communications into development planning and implementation - Here the document recommends support, both donor and governmental, for communication planning, particularly in policy and development processes for sustainability and inclusion.
• Invest in media development - The major points, detailed in the document, of this item are:
1. Establish media freedom and an enabling and supportive regulatory environment;
2. Support the development of media infrastructure and long-term sustainability;
3. Build media capacity and professionalism; and
4. Support improvement in the quality and diversity of media content.