Box 4.2 Community Radio in Community-Driven Development Projects: Kenya, Ghana, and Sri Lanka

MODULE 4: Development Communication Services and Operations at the World Bank



BOX 4.2



Community Radio in Community-Driven Development

Projects: Kenya, Ghana, and Sri Lanka (continued)



equipment, materials, and civil works on a cost-sharing basis, and finance

the ongoing capacity development and initial operating costs of the station.

The project is supporting community radio development because the critical bottlenecks to effective natural resource management in Kenya’s arid

and semiarid lands are social and administrative, rather than the absence

of particular technologies in forestry or range management. Establishing

community radio is expected to play a key role in addressing these challenges and promoting the empowerment of communities to achieve sustainable improvements in their standard of living.

Ghana—The Bank continues to address broadcasting policy and community

radio development by helping develop the reform agenda for Ghana’s broadcasting sector. The Bank supported the development of a groundbreaking

study of Ghana’s broadcasting sector with policy, legal, regulatory, and institutional recommendations to guide the reform process, and it guided foundational steps toward drafting important national broadcasting legislation. Further,

the Bank supported technical collaboration with the Ghana Community Radio

Network (GCRN) to stimulate the development of the community radio sector.

Ghana has a well-conceived approach to community radio, reflecting global

good practices in participatory planning and programming. However, the sector remains small because of ambiguities in the enabling environment, principally the absence of an effective broadcasting law, fragmentation in the

regulatory framework, and unclear licensing procedures. The technical assistance activity began in 2004 and continues at the time of this publication. It

focuses on showcasing the role of community radio within the CommunityBased Rural Development Project to strengthen community empowerment

and voice through community radio programming; developing a program to be

embedded in the CDD project to engage communities in priority issues and

generate opinion on improvements needed in local governance and public

service delivery; and improving the enabling environment, particularly the regulatory framework for broadcasting and media development.

Sri Lanka—Work in Sri Lanka consisted of assessing the community

radio–enabling environment. The activity was conducted in the context of

the Community Development and Livelihood Improvement “Gemi Diriya”

Project and consisted of collaboration with local experts on community

radio planning and piloting to showcase its potential as a tool for poverty

reduction, as well as to clarify regulatory impediments and negotiate

changes. Participatory research and awareness building were completed

in the communities of Uva and Southern provinces, and the resultant

report, containing findings and recommendations, is under peer review.



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In Timor-Leste, Sri Lanka, and Nigeria, participatory planning for community

radio development has included the participation of women from the outset, and as

a result, female reporters and producers have played a strong role. In these countries, many reporters, producers, and station managers have produced feature programs on women’s issues, some of which invite listeners to submit questions that

are answered on the air. National women’s organizations and women’s rights groups

such as the Female Leadership Forum and Women Information Network in Nigeria

are vocal advocates for community radio and work to ensure that community radio

stations are vehicles for gender equity and rights.

The World Bank’s support for community radio, along with partner donors, has

extended to disaster management areas in Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the aftermath

of the December 2004 tsunami. Though the Indonesia Kecamatan Development

Program (KDP) had already been working with community radio to broadcast

information about KDP and to strengthen community oversight at the local level,

the establishment of community radio in post-tsunami Aceh was a crucial mechanism to help restore a sense of normalcy and to provide communities with local

information, reconstruction news, and entertainment.

In July 2006, the World Bank Institute convened a stakeholder meeting in Nigeria, in collaboration with AMARC, to discuss the absence of community radio in



BOX 4.3



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Community Radio and Women’s Participation: Timor-Leste



In 2006 the World Bank, under the CEERD program and the East Asia and

Pacific Region and with GENFUND (Integrating Gender Issues into the

World Bank’s Work) support, developed a capacity-building activity in

Timor-Leste to support community radio as a vehicle for social expression

and a tool to empower women throughout the country. The activity partnered with an external media training organization to train young women

in community radio production, station management, and reporting techniques. Four workshops during a 12-week training session covered several topics, such as the role of women in politics, gender equality, and

domestic violence. These workshops also examined how to sustain community radio stations, with in-depth analyses of fundraising techniques,

marketing strategies, operational requirements, management approaches,

and more. A key result of the activity was that 10 women journalists from

community radio stations across the country collaborated to produce a sixpart radio program series and a three-part drama series on the themes covered in the workshops. They also documented outcomes of the Second

National East Timorese Women’s Congress and its significance to women

in media and communication.



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BOX 4.4



Community Radio in Disaster Management: Aceh, Indonesia



With the support of the World Bank and partner agencies, the Aceh Emergency Radio Network (AERnet)6 was established soon after the December

2004 tsunami to respond to the community’s information and communications needs. This fledging network started with five community-run and

-operated radio stations that promoted dialog and were staffed by both

local and internally displaced people working as volunteers. Designed to

give communities access to information about the reconstruction and

rehabilitation efforts, the network’s reporters also shared news with partnered networks, including Radio 68H, an independent public radio network, which syndicates local and national news and features. Renamed

ARRnet7 to reflect the transition from emergency to reconstruction, the

network has been working to make a difference in many local communities. For example, after the tsunami, the airwaves in Aceh Besar District

were virtually empty and few displaced people had access to radio sets.

ARRnet’s SeHa FM distributed radio sets in temporary camps and broadcast special programs for listeners, which provided entertainment and

information.

This station quickly became popular, and still collects up to 200 song

request coupons daily. Aside from music, the station also presents a range

of regular programs such as interactive talk shows about health and religious topics, and reaches more than five subdistricts. ARRnet facilitated

the establishment of 16 additional community radio stations in 2006 and

plans to facilitate 26 more throughout the province, targeting tsunamiaffected areas to promote a two-way exchange between victims, donors,

and governments. This is being done through a network of Kecamatan



Nigeria, the role of community radio in general, and opportunities to support its

development in Nigeria through the establishment of a clear government policy

designed to support community radio development and investment support, starting under the Bank-financed Fadama Projects, the largest CDD projects in the

country. In August 2006, the minister of information convened a joint government–civil society Community Radio Policy Committee, and by the end of 2006,

they produced a draft Community Radio Policy Statement. This languished during

the change of government in 2007, but as of 2008, it is being revived and, at the time

of this publication, is expected to be institutionalized. The Fadama II Project is supporting the participatory planning of three pilot community radio stations, and

Fadama III is expected to fund their establishment and the establishment and operations of a total of six pilot stations. This is being developed within Fadama’s communications component, and in collaboration with Nigeria’s stakeholder coalition

for community radio, which includes over 120 local organizations.



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Research and Analysis

Community radio can also be an important resource in the analytical work needed

for development initiatives. In the area of voice and accountability, the World Bank

is learning from its partners in the sector, providing the infrastructure for local and

national networks in various developing countries, and exchanging knowledge and

experience with counterparts on the ground. At the time of this writing, the Bank

continues to support community radio development by supporting broadcasting

sector policy and legal and regulatory reform in several developing countries, supporting the participatory development of prototype community radio stations in

others, and prototyping the integration of community radio into CDD lending.

The World Bank’s Broadcasting, Voice and Accountability: A Public Interest

Approach to Policy, Law and Regulation, discussed in the Regulatory Environment

section, is also a useful contribution. It is a concise and comprehensive overview of

the enabling environment for information, voice, and media, with good practice

examples from diverse countries.8 It is designed to help stakeholders and development agencies to facilitate policy reviews and analyses in particular developing

countries, identify areas for reform, and provide a framework for dialog and planning of reform efforts in appropriate contexts.

Community radio assessments are another important tool to supply basic

knowledge about country context to improve institutional mechanisms and practices for making informed choices, local governance, and empowerment of poor

communities. They also have an important role in promoting the value-added of

community radios in donor-supported operations. In the last few years, community radio assessments were carried out in Benin, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Mongolia,

the Kyrgyz Republic, Morocco, and Ghana, among other countries.

Additionally, in 2007, a multicountry study was also carried out to clarify good

practices in the development, operation, and maintenance of community radio stations, particularly on issues related to their effectiveness. This study was designed to

encapsulate useful experiences from community broadcasters in the countries studied, to guide Bank project teams to design support programs for community radio

development.9



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Conclusion

Across many countries and in different regions, community radio stations foster

community participation and create an appetite for transparent and accountable

governance, even in challenging regulatory environments. Good governance and

effective leadership, especially in impoverished communities, are collective

processes, which depend on the development of an engaged, analytical, informed,

and robust civil society. Community radio in particular has proved to be a sustain-



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able and interactive medium for poor and marginalized populations to be heard

and informed, shape knowledgeable opinions, learn the give-and-take of informed

dialog, and become more decisive agents in their own development.

Good practice demonstrates that support for community radio includes the

development of capacities in programming, credible local reporting, station management, and resource mobilization. A needs assessment must be undertaken before

larger support programs for the community radio sector are developed. This preliminary assessment may help to clarify how best to support the participatory planning and establishment of community radio, how to enhance the capacities of its

staff and volunteers, and the likelihood of station sustainability.

The World Bank’s community broadcasting activities have been varied, with a

focus on providing robust, ongoing vehicles for people—including the very poor—

to influence decisions at local and national levels, to voice their individual (and

community-based) concerns, and to hold government institutions accountable.

There is also a strong focus on analysis of the enabling environment of policies and

regulations for information and voice, to enable the Bank to support policy, legal,

and regulatory improvements. Further areas of involvement include facilitating networking among community radio stations and support to national community networks, and provision of technical assistance to help station personnel produce

better radio content, diversify their sources of revenue, interface with complementary ICTs, and play a proactive role in the development of the communities served.



Notes

1. Radios are effective mechanisms to increase access in the developing world because

they are inexpensive, have broad coverage, and are battery-powered, and no literacy is

required to operate them. At least 75 percent of the world’s population is within “easy

access” of some form of broadcast technology, primarily radios. See Alfonso Gumucio

Dagron, Making Waves: Stories of Participatory Communication for Social Change (New

York: The Rockefeller Foundation, 2001); Carter Eltzroth and Charles Kenny, Broadcasting and Development: Options for the World Bank, Working Paper 11 (World Bank,

Washington, DC, 2003); L. W. Couch, ed., Digital and Analog Communication Systems

(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001); and Steven Tripp and Warren Roby,

“Auditory Presentations in Language Laboratories,” in Handbook of Research For Educational Communications and Technology, ed. D. H. Jonassen (New York: Macmillan,

1996), 821–50.

2. See Steve Buckley, Kreszentia Duer, Toby Mendel, and Seán Ó Siochrú, Broadcasting,

Voice and Accountability: A Public Interest Approach to Policy, Law and Regulation (copublication of the World Bank and the University of Michigan Press, 2008).

3. See Craig Hammer, Annex, in Buckley et al. (2008).



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4. Examples include the Ghana Community Radio Network in Ghana and the National

Community Radio Forum in South Africa.

5. The Civic Engagement, Empowerment, and Respect for Diversity (CEERD) program of

the World Bank Institute supports the voice of poor communities in developing countries by promoting community radio development, and the development of a pluralistic broadcast sector that serves the public interest through informed, participatory

development, and demand for good governance. The objectives of CEERD include

building institutional capacity of community radios, enhancing community radio programming for citizens’ engagement in public accountability, generating and sharing

knowledge, and facilitating global networking of community radios. The CEERD program builds on the World Bank Institute’s close collaboration with regional staff

involved in communication, country and central staff supporting CDD projects, and

regional and central staff involved in public sector reforms and good governance. The

CEERD program also learns from the experiences of experts and practitioners in this

field and works with organizations such as the World Association of Community Radio

Broadcasters (AMARC); Ghana Community Radio Network; Search for Common

Ground; national community radio networks in Asia, Africa, and Latin America; and

others, to help strengthen the community broadcasting sector in developing countries.

6. Funded initially by Britain’s Department for International Development and then the

Japan Social Development Fund, ARRnet activities are implemented by the Combine

Resource Institution. They are supported by JRKY (Jaringan Radio Komunitas

Yogyakarta). The grant is managed by the Indonesia Kecamatan Development Project.

7. ARRnet is short for Aceh Reconstruction Radio Network and supersedes AERnet. It

started in October 2005 and will run until March 2009, with funding from the Japan

Social Development Fund.

8. See note 2.

9. This report, titled “Empowering Radio,” will be available at the CEERD Web site:

http://www.worldbank.org/CEERDwww.worldbank.org/CEERD.



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4.4 Disability and Development:

What Role for Communication?

Marco Nicoli* and Katherine Guernsey†



Why Disability and Development?

In order to alleviate poverty, economic development programs and policies and communication strategies must embrace an entire population, including groups at risk,

such as those with disabilities. Without integrating the disabled population, poverty

alleviation efforts are compromised, since disabled people and their entire families

face a higher risk of poverty. Similarly, poor people experience a heightened rate of

acquiring impairments that, in interaction with societal barriers, results in disability.

Disability is widely recognized as a development issue affecting the lives of more

than 600 million people and their families.1 The World Bank’s overarching goal is

poverty alleviation, and a development agenda inclusive of disabled people is necessary to achieve this goal. In this context, the concept of disability is consistent with

the “social model,” where the focus is on the interaction of people’s functional limitations with societal barriers, including physical, attitudinal, legislative, informational, and other barriers.

The commitment to disability has come from the highest levels of the Bank,

including a number of World Bank presidents. Former World Bank President James

D. Wolfensohn indicated the importance of reaching out to, and collaborating with,

disabled populations in developing countries: “Addressing disability is a significant

part of reducing poverty. Bringing disabled people out of the corners and back

alleys of society, and empowering them to thrive in the bustling center of national

life, will do much to improve the lives of many from among the poorest of the poor

around the world.” “Inclusion—that is what development is all about—to bring

into society people that have never been a part of it.”2



The Role of Development Communication



4



Communication methods and techniques can play a crucial role in addressing needs

and challenges for the inclusion of disabled people in the development agenda. Ini* Marco Nicoli is a former World Bank knowledge manager on disability and development, with previous experiences in the field of development communication.

† Katherine Guernsey is an international lawyer whose practice focuses on human rights,

disability, and development.

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tially, proper communication strategies and products are needed to raise awareness

of what disability is and who disabled people are. Too often disability is overlooked,

perceived as merely a health issue, or approached with pietism and largely misunderstood by people. The mainstream media can help to accustom the general public to the inclusion of people with disabilities in everyday life.

Communication campaigns are another important component as they form the

basis for the education of society on disability prevention and on the affirmation of

disability as one of the many different qualities of human diversity, such as sex, religion,

culture, and so forth. Disability is neither a curse nor a blessing: it is a normal part of

life and should be addressed as such. The more disabled people are shown in inclusive

settings with their nondisabled peers, the more familiar society becomes with inclusion. In terms of prevention, disabled people and their nondisabled peers should be

recognized as distinct audiences and the issue of prevention appropriately broached.

While it is appropriate to engage in awareness-raising campaigns aimed at preventing

injuries and the spread of communicable diseases, these campaigns must be accessible

to people with disabilities and in no case should portray people with disabilities as

objects of pity or “cautionary tales.” For example, campaigns to improve driver and

pedestrian safety should not use people injured by traffic accidents as “poster children”

for what can happen when people do not heed the advice of the campaign.

In addition, communication strategies are instrumental for behavior change to fight

stigma and prejudice with the goal of real social inclusion. Many persons with disabilities lead a life of exclusion not because of their own limitations, for everyone has personal limitations, but because of social norms that perceive them as outcasts, bewitched,

sinners punished by God. This discrimination is often extended to family members or

associates of disabled persons. Communication products can be very effective antidiscrimination tools. For example, communication campaigns have been used in postconflict areas to reduce the fear and negative perception of various populations being

reintegrated.3 This fosters a positive behavioral change for the entire society.

Two-way communication processes are needed to include disabled people in

any decisions concerning their civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

Development communication is not only about communicating and educating, but

also about listening, sharing knowledge and opinions, and creating knowledge to

address key issues successfully. Disabled people’s contributions, needs, and perceptions should be articulated by them first and foremost, without external filters, in

order to achieve more meaningful and sustainable results.



What Is the Role for World Bank Communication Professionals?

In order to deal effectively with these issues, communication professionals should

include disability in their work. The following elements should provide the main

scope of this work:

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