1. Communicating for Development? - Media, Young Adults, and Public Health Communication in Tanzania Prof. Thomas Tufte, Ph.D Roskilde University Halle Speaker Series Lecture Emory University, Atlanta, USA April 14 2011

2. Today’s presentation  Communication for Development –Trends and paradigms  The Case of Femina HIP –From Health Comm Projects to Civil Society driven Media Platforms –Refocusing the attention to the citizen/user/audience  People Speaking Back? Media, Empowerment and Democracy in East Africa (MEDIeA 2009-2013) –Research design & Preliminary findings

3. Orecomm.net - a Communication and Glocal Change Research Consortium - 2 universities (Roskilde & Malmø), 2 countries (Denmark & Sweden), many internat’l partners - Hosting research projects (Writing Transition, MEDIeA, Tanzania Diaspora…) - Organize Seminars and Festivals in Communication for Development: Upcoming: 6 June + 9-13 September! - A web-based MA in ComDev (a large and active alumni community) - An online journal: Glocal Times

4. Approaches within Communication for Development Dissemination /Persuasion IECBCCUNAIDSCFSC Individual/Diffusion Structural Causes/ Participation Diversity of frameworks + diversity of strategies + multiplicity of interventions = Growth of the field = New conceptual approaches Convergence model No magic formula

5. The aim of communication for social change  CFSC is horizontal and strengthens community bonds by amplifying the voices of the people who are poorest  people within poor communities must be the protagonists for their own change and manage their own communication tools  rather than persuasion and info dissemination, CFSC promotes dialogue among equal voices, and debate and negotiations within communities  Seeking outcomes beyond individual behaviour - depending on social norms, values, current policies, culture and the overall development context  CFSC strives to strengthen cultural identity, trust, commitment, voice, ownership, community engagement and empowerment  CFSC rejects the linear model of information transmission from a central sender to an individual receiver, and relies instead on a cyclical process of interactions focused on shared knowledge and collective action

6. Types of Social Change Outcome Indicators Leadership Degree and Equity of Participation Information Equity Collective Self-Efficacy Sense of Ownership Social Cohesion Social Norms

7. The emergence of civil society media platforms  25 years of HIV/AIDS Communication experience  Media platforms developed – radio and tv genres, print media, websites, blogs  A relationship of trust established with large-scale constituencies  Expertise in comm-strategy development  Partnerships with civil society

8. Introducing Femina HIP  Tanzanian NGO, 1999-  Youth focused  Focuses on RH and HIV/AIDS  Many donors on board, but is a ’homegrown’ organisation  EE through real life stories  Media outlets include: Two large magazines, tv talk show, radio drama, interactive website  Femina clubs

9. I am called Sister N. I was born 28 years ago. I completed my primary education in 1993, my secondary education in 1997. I was selected to join teachers college but could not continue due to economic limitations. I stayed home doing petty activities to eke out a living. In 1998 I got a man who put me in a family way in 2002. I gave birth in January 2003. Since I gave birth, the child has always been sick. Everyday we were at hospitals. The child was too thin, you despair. Meanwhile I was in good health. This magazine completely changed my life. It had cleared my worries about testing for HIV/AIDS. Initially I did not want to hear anything about testing. I was worried stiff from the poor health of my child. I got this magazine from children who were playing with it. They did not know its importance. After reading from the cover HIV/AIDS and treatment, I was attracted. I asked the children to give me and they relented without hesitation. I read it seriously from the start to the end and it gave me the courage to go for HIV testing. The fear evaporated and I went for testing with my child and discovered that we were infected. However unlike the past, I now have enough awareness about this disease and I understand that having HIV is not the end of life.

10. Strategic Aims of Femina’s Edutainment Strategy  Articulate processes of building trust and raising awareness  Articulate the voices of marginalized groups  Facilitate social mobilization  Contribute to the creation of an enabling environment where the ‘ordinary citizen’ can feel a sense of agency

11. Femina HIP Objectives To build supportive environments in Tanzania where:  Young people in their communities enjoy their right to access information & services and are empowered to make positive informed choices around sexuality and lead healthy lifestyles in order to reduce the negative impact of HIV/AIDS.

12. What began happening?  Many readers (recycling of magazines)  Very positive response from youth: gratitude, interest and growing ’talk’ about health issues  Rejection from authorities – no collaboration  Growing popular demand nationwide

13. What did Femina then do and what further happened? - Nationwide distribution via secondary schools, read in Fema- clubs and used in class –Developed Fema-club structure –Increased youth talk about the broadening array of subjects –Changing authorities: collaboration with MOE, also on Zanzibar –Political clout

14. 10 years down the line…  FEMINA HIP today: high volume/reach 25% of the population  Partnership with Soul City  Conceptual sharpening –Participatory Communication/CFSC –Exploring citizenship and governance perspectives on an HIV/AIDS communication initiative –Exploring CFSC-oriented process indicators (ownership, leadership, particpation, social norms, etc)  Improving M&E

15. Femina HIPs 2nd Objective To build supportive environments in Tanzania where:  Communities exercise their right to express themselves, participate in public debate & engage in civil society. (Femina HIP Logical Framework, 2007)

16. FEMA  FEMA. A glossy magazine, 64 pages, 170.000 copies  Published 4 x year. Targets youth aged 15-24 especially secondary school students in every region of the country

17. SiMchezo  Si Mchezo! 32 pages,175.000 copies.  6 x year. Targets out of school youth and their communities particularly in rural areas.

18. Tanzanian Context  Changing and growing civil society  Still low but growing levels of participation in public life and decision-making  Much more diverse media infrastructure – new media emerging  Comparative advantage: Femina HIP became a visible NGO early on

19. Media Synergies  Pilika Pilika. A radio soap opera. Carries messages from Femina as well as two other organisations. Airs on national radio 4 times a week.  FEMA Tv Talk Show. Half ½ hour talk show. Broadcasts on national TV 4 times a week. Mobile phones are used for feedback and voting, particularly around the TV.  ChezaSalama (‘play it safe’). Interactive website with a series of activities and information in English and Swahili. First of its kind in Tanzania.  Individual Publications: Range of specialist publications produced on for example HIV-testing, Treatment (500.000 copies distributed to all CTC clinics), youth empowerment (Watata Bomba, for children/youth was produced in 90.000).  A New TV Program on Social Entrepreneurship (2011)

20. What Femina claims to have achieved  Femina influence stretches from behaviour change, over community participation to public debate and social change  Increased knowledge, changing attitudes and practice  Established and growing ’discursive spaces’  Strong media vehicle for any subject/developed media infrastructure  Grown NGO with huge network of stakeholders  Embryonic civil society at community level  Social Media beginning to be used

21. MEDIeA: Exploring Contexts, Claims and Audience Perspectives  KAP: Is there increased knowledge, changing attitudes and practice?  Voice: Are there established and growing ’discursive spaces’ for young Tanzanians?  Media: Are they de facto a strong media vehicle that can carry any subject?

22. Exploring  Organisational Strength: Is Femina HIP a strong NGO with many stakeholders?  Embryonic civil society at community level – is this happening in the clubs?  Advocacy, Accountability and Good Governance. Has Femina achieved: –Public sphere engagement amongst youth? – Strengthened dialogue with opinion leaders and decision makers? – Clout & political responsiveness?

23. MEDIeA Research Design - exploring contexts, claims and audience perspectives  From researching health communication to researching civil society development and civic and public sphere engagement of young Tanzanians  From evaluation of an NGO to embedding civil society practice within an ethnography about youth

24. MEDIeA Research Design: - 3 components  Ethnography of youth everyday lives and media uses  Survey – public health specific  Stakeholder analysis putting Femina into context of mediascape, political context, civil society development and socio-economic contetxt of youth

25. Methodology  Ethnographic fieldwork amongst select groups of young girls (2 groups in Dar) – using EAR/tracking media ecology and social uses of the media  Content and reception analysis of selected media products  Survey in the same areas  FGDs with young people in 4-5 places in the country (typology of youth – from marginalized rurual youth to bloggers in Dar)  Ind. Interviews with key public and private stakeholders

26. Key methodological challenges  How to access and conduct fieldwork in lifeworlds of youth  What data can be produced?  What can the data say about our research questions?

27.  Youth – narratives of everyday life: –gender differences/sexual harassment and unwanted pregnancies > < public sphere involvement and engagement –unemployment and entrepreneurship in a country with a legacy of paternalism and top-down communication: changing relations between citizen, public sphere and governing structures?  Mobile phones in enabling interactive and participatory social processes  Social media (bloggers in particular) opening new public spheres  The emergence if transnational horizontal networks  Synergies and competition in civil society Emerging Issues

28.  Thank you!