COMUNICACION

Participatory Communication

Most rural and urban communities in the Third World do not have a voice. The globalisation of communications during the last decades has imposed over the world not only biased information but also a daily culture that very often is in conflict with local traditions. The communities that have resisted to changes that may annihilate their moral and ethical values have based their strength in their own culture. But many were not strong enough to resist, so they have disappeared as cultures. They only remain as people, added to the margins of the globalised economy.

Communication has a very important role to play in defending and promoting cultural identity. In my work I have always kept in mind that communication is tool for participation and organization. Only organized communities, that use communication to strengthen their traditions and to preserve a live memory of their past, can face the challenge of resisting to a uniform and globalised world.

I have supported communities to build their own communication systems in several countries, using all possible communication tools, from community radio to popular theatre. I have used film to support the organizational activities of workers in Nicaragua and peasants in Bolivia, rural theatre to promote immunization in Nigeria, audiocassettes to help networking among rural communities in México. Each concrete situation has brought me to develop different communication responses, strategies and tools.

Diseño & implementación de estrategias

Communication has too often been seen in the development work as information only. International cooperation agencies think about communication when the need arises to "show" how a programme in the works or good results. Sometimes communication is called in only when problems related to community involvement become too serious and put the programme in jeopardy. Few programme managers realise that communication is a process that should develop along with programme implementation from the initial steps of a project and always in close relation with community stakeholders.

The design and implementation of communication strategies is a must in every development programme. Participatory assessments and analysis are necessary to validate not only the proposed projects, but also the communication tools that will be introduced to support the development process. My work on this area has taken mi to develop communication strategies for many international and national organizations. I've prepared communication strategies for Conservation International (Washington), for UNICEF (in Colombia, Haiti, Nigeria and Guatemala), for FAO (Rome), UNDP (New York) and other.

Capacitación & materiales

If communities are to be involved in developing a communication process that will remain as part of the community life, then training becomes imperative. A communication process is not sustainable if it always depends on external communicators and specialists that may work at the community level but do not contribute by transferring their skills and tools. Often very useful communication activities are implemented at the community level to support programme implementation, but they stop as soon as the projects reach to an end.

If we want the communication process to be sustainable, the communication activities have to be conducted progressively with community members. The process must then include training activities and production of materials that will support the process of appropriation of the communication tools by the community. In my work on social development programmes I've always tried to give the necessary important to communication skills, by training the community groups involved. I designed and implemented training programmes of radio production skills for journalists from the miners radio stations in Bolivia, film and video for young factory workers in Nicaragua, street theatre for cultural groups in Haiti.

Trabajo con NGOs

Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been instrumental to help communities to be more proactive in relation to their own development. Also, NGOs have developed and experience that has changes in the last thirty years the whole concept of development that governments and international cooperation agencies had before. NGOs have demonstrated that they can be more effective with fewer resources, because much of their work is based on ideals. NGOs have also formed many skilled staff that has later continued working either in government positions or in the world of international cooperation.

My experience with NGOs has been inspiring. I started in the Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado (CIPCA) working with rural communities in Bolivia, building a small communication unit that would help the organization to generate audiovisual aids and publications. Soon I realized that the demand for communication assistance both from communities and other NGOs was so big, that it justified the existence of an NGO entirely devoted to communication for development. That is how the Centro de Integración de Medios de Comunicación Alternativa (CIMCA) was created, and during the following years (1984-1998) the institution contributed with training, publications, audiovisual aids, radio, film and video productions.

The support to NGO networking has been an objective in my work in development. While I was director of CIMCA we developed a directory of Bolivian NGOs involved in training. While working with UNICEF in Nigeria I conducted another research project to catalogue all Nigerian development NGOs and published a book issued from a seminar, on the role of national NGOs in development.

© 2009 Alfonso Gumucio Dragon www.alfonso-gumucio-dragon.com
Réalisation : Agence-Nova | www.agence-nova.com
Crédit photos et textes : Alfonso Gumucio Dragon - Agence Nova