FOLLOW UP TO THE 9 th ROUND TABLE Riccardo del Castello Communication for Development Officer FAO

The 9th UN Round Table FAO, Rome, 6-7 September 2004 In collaboration with UNESCO, WB, IDRC, Italian Cooperation, CTA Previous Round Table: Nicaragua 2001 HIV/AIDS communication and evaluation 150 Participants from UN agencies, academia, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, practitioners...

Themes of the 9th Roundtable Main Theme: Communication and Sustainable Development The context of Communication for Sustainable Development The role of communication in the MDGs ICTs and Media Historical background Communication models, trends, challenges and priorities Priority areas for organizations and practitioners Different approaches at UN, Govt and NGO level

Thematic areas and Working Groups: Themes of the 9th Roundtable

Results and Outcomes of the 9 th Round Table Shared and agreed principles on Communication for Development: People are the drivers of their own development ComDev is a horizontal two-way process that contributes to sustainable change Co-creation and sharing of knowledge Respect for local contexts, values and culture Communication is critical to the success of the MDGs Challenges: Rapidly changing environment due to globalization, privatization, ecological pressure, decentralization, explosion of media Rapid expansion of ICTs, new scenarios, new actors but also widening gap between knowledge and information (divides) Mainstreaming ComDev into local/national development policies Demonstrate the added value of ComDev

Results and Outcomes of the 9 th Round Table Recommendations Scaling up and better resourcing ComDev Building a communication component into development projects Ensuring support for free and pluralistic information systems and community media Improving research and training for ComDev practitioners Developing new skills and tools for evaluation and impact assessments Building alliances, fostering local, national and regional ComDev processes

Results and Outcomes of the 9 th Round Table General recommendations Ensure that ComDev is an integral component of any development process. UN agencies must actively engage in coherent and systematic coordination effort. Donors and development agencies should set up well resourced ComDev units. Establish an inter-agency group to analyse experiences, suggest improvements and develop a common approach to ComDev. Support training programs in ComDev in developing countries building on existing experiences. Towards a Plan of Action

Results and Outcomes of the 9 th Round Table Towards a Plan of Action Cross-cutting issues for priority collaboration Advocacy Learning and Capacity building Building Alliances Research M&E Information Sharing

...Have we succeeded? The Way Forward: a collaborative framework... Loose commitment of UN Agencies Absence of officially designated focal points Lack of handover and follow up wherever staff turnover took place Lack of knowledge about each other’s work in ComDev Lack of a shared understanding of ComDev Insufficient funding for networking

Specific recommendations A working group/network to foster global partnerships on ComDev The participants will further develop the Plan of Action and monitor its implementation FAO and UNESCO will accompany the follow up process to ensure the active participation of other partners and develop and information sharing mechanism (task force of focal points) The Way Forward: a collaborative framework

The Way Forward: a collaborative framework......Have we succeeded? Alternative forms of partnerships: Informal task force for the WCCD and for the preparation of the 10 th Round Table Commitment of individual officers to establish collaborative initiatives Informal mechanisms for information sharing (conference calls, web site on 10 th RT Concrete partnerships at field level