The Drum Beat 329 - Eastern Europe and Central Asia

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This issue of The Drum Beat focuses on Eastern Europe and Central Asian region, where countries have been in transition and have experienced significant growth over the past 15 years. We focus here on communication issues related to interethnic relations and peace, women's and media rights, child health and development, reproductive and sexual health, and education. Below are just some of the communication initiatives, project evaluations, articles, and resources developed to support communication for development work from and within this region.

We are very interested in expanding our database of communication for development information and resources specific to Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Please send any information you have to Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com

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INTERETHNIC RELATIONS AND PEACE

1.Balkan Children's TV Magazine - The Balkans

DTV Production and Prix Jeunesse produced a 15-minute weekly television magazine aimed at young people aged 9 to 14 in the Balkans. The show was broadcast through August 2005 in 5 regions: Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia. The aim of this show was to help children learn that mutual understanding is important for their futures. The 43 episodes focused on children's issues and featured children speaking from their own perspectives about different topics. In addition to television, email and telephone were utilised for seeking feedback from, and fostering dialogue among, viewers.

Contact Aleksandar Jankovic dtvbelgrade@yahoo.com OR maremar@yubc.net

2.Violence in the Media: The Extent and the Influence of Violence in the Media in Slovenia

by Dragan Petrovec

This survey analyses the reporting on violence in Slovene print and television programmes. The author suggests that there is a need for a new cultural framework to be developed, within which the media audience will be able to distinguish between the "good" and the "bad". Petrovec recognises that the process of developing this framework is hindered by most audiences' voyeuristic interest in violent content, as well as providers' economic interests. Petrovec concludes by offering a partial solution: He proposes that expert bodies be established within television stations and newspaper publishing houses to deal with the representation of violence in the media.

3.Macedonia Project - Macedonia and North America

In 1994, the Search for Common Ground Macedonia (SCGM) began work to strengthen interethnic relations and help prevent violence in Macedonia. The educational projects and media initiatives implemented since that time have been designed to decrease levels of tension and encourage people to engage in creative problem solving in a very tense context. Initiatives include: the Balkans Forum, Nashe Maalo children's television programme, conflict resolution games and video dialogues in Kosovo, Video Bridges documentaries, a "Diaspora Dialogue", Bridges for the New Balkans: Regional Media Project (television, print media, and radio), Multi-ethnic Forum magazine, Karavan magazine, newspaper supplements, Balkans Forum on the Hill events, and Interethnic Kindergartens (Mozaik).

Contact sfcg@sfcg.org.mk

4.Project Hope - Croatia and the United States

This is a youth leadership and peer education project dedicated to promoting respect for cultural diversity, human rights, and peacebuilding in Croatia and New York City, USA. Since 1996, a Global Kids team has traveled to Croatia each summer to participate in the creation of an international team of youth leaders working to promote democracy and peace in their communities and around the world. The project uses face-to-face interaction and various kinds of media to train youth and youth workers in development and experiential learning strategies.

Contact Evie Hantzopoulos evie@globalkids.org

5.Building the Media Bridge: Uniting Youth in Divided Yugoslavia

by Darren Shore

This article describes how community-based media can play a key role in bridging racial tensions and hatred in war torn areas of Yugoslavia. The author asks, "What do you do to ease racial tensions stemming from a war in which neighbours killed neighbours and friends turned on friends?" His article then describes a number of situations in which community-based media efforts initiated by youth have helped bring together people with different ethnic backgrounds.

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A search from our Custom Search page for "Eastern Europe & Central Asia" currently results in 1,136 matches!

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RIGHTS

6.EQVIWA - Regional Action for Equal Visibility for Women - Croatia and Former Yugoslavia

'Be active. Be emancipated' (B.a.B.e), a feminist strategic, advocacy and lobbying women's organisation based in Zagreb, Croatia, is engaged in a regional project: EQVIWA - Regional Action for Equal Visibility for Women. The project's aim is to facilitate change in social values and increase the visibility of women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro. The project combines elements of social research and analysis, an evaluation of legal frameworks, training and workshops, and gender-conscious media production. The key activities within the project are: an analysis and production of a report on media legal framework from a gender perspective; research on female audiences' reception of gender representation in mainstream media including advertisements; training for professionals in electronic media production with a focus on television, and interactive training for media professionals and women's and human rights activists; and independent gender sensitive media production.

Contact Sanja Sarnavka eqviwa@eqviwa.net

7.Your Voice Will Not be Heard Without a Free Press - Armenia

In May 2004, Internews Armenia celebrated World Press Freedom Day by producing and distributing a 50-second television public service announcement (PSA). The ad starts with silence and a black screen; then a pair of hands communicates a message in sign language. The image of a man's face appears. He begins screaming, as other voices join him in a loud, long yell. Snapshot images of people's faces appear. Finally, a message in the Armenian language is spoken - "Your voice will not be heard without a free press" - these words appear on the screen as well. The PSA was shown repeatedly on about 25 TV stations located all over Armenia. In addition, it was broadcast about 60 times on the Republic Square electronic video display and on a screen located on the roof of a downtown trade centre.

Contact office@internews.am

8.The Role of Civil Society and Volunteerism in Promoting the Pro-Poor & Pro-Women Agenda: Chapter 8: Volunteering and the MDGs

This 8-page chapter "Volunteering and the MDGs" is part of Albania's National Human Development Report, which outlines volunteerism's role in implementing 'pro-poor and pro-women' policies and volunteers' contribution to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Albanian civil society has made a significant change in the last three years marked by a notable increase of civil society organisations (CSOs) across all sectors, as part of the National Strategy for Socio-Economic Development (NSSED). In this chapter it is noted that donors continue to prioritise service provision in their funding cycles. Furthermore, local government is described as becoming more decentralised, which is leading to the gradual opening up of opportunities in the non-government sector.

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Please also participate our Pulse Poll

Having reviewed the data in The Drum Beat 328 and other impact data on The CI website, there is compelling evidence of the direct impact of development communication.

[Please see The Drum Beat 328]

Do you agree or disagree?

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CHILD HEALTH AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

9.Draugiskas Internetas [Safer Internet] - Lithuania

Implemented by Bite Lietuva, the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Social and psychological Service Center, this web-based programme of the European Commission (EC) Information Society and Media Directorate-General uses information and communication technologies (ICTs) to create a new national node for safety awareness in Lithuania. It is designed to call Lithuania's attention to information of illegal and harmful content on the internet (e.g., pornography, paedophilia, racism, and xenophobia) - particularly as related to children and adolescents using the internet. The media campaign was designed to appeal to various age and social groups, and features a logo of a teddy bear and mouse pointer.

Contact Tomas Sudnius hotline@bite.lt

10.Evaluation of TV Programme "First Step"

Broadcast every Saturday from September 2004 through April 2005 in the Republic of Georgia, the 50-minute television programme "First Step" was designed to support the healthy development of children by strengthening parental skills for proper upbringing of their children. The informative, interactive format of the show sought to introduce viewers to principles of physical, mental, psychological, and social development, and to respond to their specific questions about these issues. To evaluate the effectiveness of "First Step", the research team carried out desk research and then conducted 4 focus group discussions in Tbilisi and Batumi. Specific aspects of the programme that respondents cited in positive ways included the visual aspect of the programme (music and balloons) and the integration of films, which enabled the viewer to see ways of solving various problems in real situations. The presence of children in the studio was said to create a positive attitude/environment. Viewers also gave positive evaluations of the experts, saying that they inspired trust and that the information they provided was credible.

11.Role of Health Communications in Russia's Diphtheria Immunization Program

by Robert W. Porter, Robert Steinglass, Javaid Kaiser, Paul Olkhovsky, Mark Rasmuson, Fatima A. Dzhatdoeva, Boris Fishman & Vera Bragina

This 8-page report describes communication activities supporting adult diphtheria immunisation efforts undertaken as part of a broader health communication programme in Russia. It evaluates the impact of these activities by assessing vaccination coverage data in two project sites - Novgorod and Voronezh. Novgorod experienced a very modest increase in adult coverage (two or more doses). In Voronezh, with a stronger communication component, coverage increased significantly (from 20% to 80%).

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The December 2005 issue of the DB Classifieds - Vacancies will be published December 21st. Please send your vacant posts to Jennifer Savidge jsavidge@comminit.com by December 19th 2005.

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REPRODUCTIVE AND SEXUAL HEALTH

12.Kazakhstan: Greater HIV Awareness Amongst Youth Needed

This article describes a series of interviews held by a staff person of the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) with a number of public health officials in Kazakhstan regarding HIV/AIDS awareness and youth. In the article, schoolteachers are described as broaching the subject of HIV/AIDS - but information is not impacting the majority of youth in their day-to-day lives because HIV/AIDS continues to be considered a taboo subject matter.

13.Assessment of USAID Reproductive Health and Family Planning Activities in the Eastern European and Eurasian Region with Special Reference to Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Romania

by Pinar Senlet & Andrew Kantner

This 110-page evaluation shares the results of an assessment that examined the extent to which the US Agency for International Development (USAID)'s reproductive health (RH) and family planning (FP) programming/assistance over the past decade in the Eastern European and Eurasian region has been effective in addressing the major RH/FP needs of women and men. In brief, the evaluating agency - The Population Technical Assistance (POPTECH) Project - found that, although "the importance of RH/FP for maternal and child health has not been sufficiently promoted in the E&E region", USAID's assistance has on the whole been successful in encouraging use of modern contraception, training health care professionals, establishing contraceptive logistics management systems, providing information and education, and conducting mass media campaigns.

14.Postabortion Family Planning Operations Research Study in Perm, Russia

by Irina Savelieva, John M. Pile, Inna Sacci & Ratha Loganathan

According to this 71-page report published by the Frontiers in Reproductive Health at the Population Council, the introduction of postabortion family planning service delivery in Russia, involving training in counseling skills and job aids for providers, led to increased use of modern contraceptive methods at 12 months postabortion. Results of the study indicate that institutionalising family planning counselling for all abortion clients is a low-cost, quality-enhancing intervention for the existing healthcare system that does not require increased personnel, purchase of expensive equipment, or remodeling of health care facilities. Because of this, the counselling interventions included in the study can be easily replicated in any Russian oblast or city health care facility.

15.Advocating for Adolescent Reproductive Health in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

by Anika Penn

This 56-page toolkit is designed to help young people develop the skills to advocate for young people's sexual health education and services in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It describes some of the steps needed in organising campaigns and provides information on developing, implementing, and evaluating a successful advocacy strategy.

16.Evaluating Health-promoting Radio Programs: A Toolbox for HAFY Radio Stations in Kyrgyzstan

by Ross W. James

This 106-page Toolbox was created specifically for the use of radio stations involved in the Healthy Airwaves for Youth (HAFY) project in Krygyzstan; however, the hope is that it can also guide and inspire other community-based radio stations in their own attempts to evaluate their projects. The toolbox includes guidelines, examples and templates that match the reality and cost-effective needs of HAFY's radio stations. Marianne Ohlers, Programme Officer of UNICEF in Kyrgyzstan said, "The Toolbox is not meant to comprehensively evaluate all activities undertaken by HAFY but it does give guidelines on planning and evaluation, writing objectives, setting indicators for evaluation, sampling procedures, designing evaluation tools, and gathering data, analysing it and reporting it." The toolbox is available in both English and Russian.

17.Among Us Women Workshops - Romania

Beginning in late 2002, Population Services International (PSI)/Romania engaged in an outreach project to avert abortions. The strategy involves helping curb Romania's high rate of unintended pregnancies through family planning outreach to female workers in factories. During the "Among Us Women" workshops, private medical providers promote family planning products as means to avoid unintended pregnancies and abortion. They also work to correct misconceptions about contraception. Workshops are conducted where there is a high concentration of female workers, usually in textile factories, in collaboration with private local doctors and factory management.

Contact psi@psi.ro

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Send your communication case studies, project reports, evaluations and resources to Deborah Heimann for inclusion within The Communication Initiative website - dheimann@comminit.com

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EDUCATION

18.Literacy, Technology & Expression in Uzbekistan

by Ari Katz

This article describes the motivation and methodology behind Uzbekistan's School Connectivity programme (now known as Global Connections and Exchange - Uzbekistan), and examines the experiences of teachers over the first 18 months of programme implementation. The programme aims to provide "students and teachers the opportunity to integrate the use of electronic resources into the learning process and link them with their peers and colleagues abroad." This article describes several challenges faced by the programme.

19.Learning to Change: The Experience of Transforming Education in South East Europe

by Terrice Bassler (Ed.)

This book provides a collection of first-person narratives by specialists in the field of education in South East Europe. These works, according to the publishers, "chronicle the profound effect armed conflict, political transition, and the increasing openness the region has experienced on education."

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.


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