Mauritius Strategy Implementation:Small Islands Voice Planning MeetingBequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines

July 14, 2004

INTRODUCING

• PP is is a professional and dynamic non-profit organisation providing high quality training, consultancy, products and services for organizations and countries that are seeking to improve parenting outcomes.

believes that:

• Every child should be afforded the best quality parenting as the most important contribution to their total development.

 • All Caribbean parents can, with

self-confidence, information, skills and support, raise happy and healthy children who will become resilient and responsible citizens.

INTRODUCING

• Caribbean Support Initiative (CSI) is a 5 year sub-regional Early Childhood Development (ECD) programme with a thematic focus on parenting initiatives in ECD.

• PROGRAMME PURPOSE: Good parenting practices in ECD adopted

CSI Supported projects with funding from the Bernard van Leer Foundation:

Story-Telling for Early childhood & Parenting Support

STEPS

Caribbean Internship Project (CIP)

Replication of the Roving Caregivers

Project (RCP)

Revision of the Pathways to Parenting

manual (PP manual)

Caribbean Research Project

(CARE)

Dominica GrenadaSt. Lucia St. Vincent &

Grenadines

Trinidad & Tobago

Belize

Project Countries

Project Purpose

Local capacity to produce and deliver radio programmes on parenting and

early childhood development (P/ECD) is strengthened

RRP - PHASES 1 & 2PHASE 1

(March 2004 –August 2005)

PHASE 2 (September 2005 – February 2007)

Local Level Local Level•Local focus groups•Stakeholder consultations.•Develop & broadcast pilot radio programme•Development of Proposals for strengthening,

marketing & sustaining P/ECD radio

programme development

•Inclusion of Belize

•Follow-up submission of proposals for radio programme and communication supports

•Continue production, broadcast promotion and marketing of radio programme

•Media Literacy Programme

Regional Level Regional Level•Regional Consultation•Technical Assistance and peer support to local groups

•Radio Drama Workshop

•Exchange of radio programmes and/or scripts

•Continued Technical Assistance and peer

support to local groups

•Regional Consultations

Radio Programmes Developed :Dominica - “Shaping Our Children’s Future Through Good Parenting Practices”

Grenada - “Spice It Up”

St. Vincent & the Grenadines - “In This Life”

Trinidad (Toco) - “Focus on the Family”

Tobago - “Tobago Today – All About Good Parenting”

St. Lucia - “Mamay-la” (The Children and People of the country)

• WELLNESS - A child who is healthy, strong and well-adjusted

• EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION - An effective communicator

• CULTURE VALUE - A child who values own culture and that of others

• INTELLECTUAL EMPOWERMENT - A critical thinker and independent learner

• RESPECT FOR SELF, OTHERS & ENVIRONMENT - A child who respects self, others and the environment

• RESILIENCE - A child who has coping skills

The Radio Programmes should help Caribbean Parents & Children attain:

Underlying Radio Programme Principles :• THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (as outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child)

• GENDER EQUITY - both male and female parents and children must be involved and their respective issues, differences etc. addressed .

• LIFE CYCLE APPROACH – recognising that Early Childhood is not a stage but part of a process of human development

• ADAPTABILITY - of other issues into P/ECD e.g. Health & Nutrition Youth DevelopmentHIV/AIDS Community DevelopmentDrugs & Alcohol Conservation & the Environment

Conflict Resolution Domestic and Community Violence

The Grenada Experience

• Grenada was badly and directly hit by Hurricane Ivan on September 7, 2004

• Many people died, others made homeless and the infrastructure suffered extreme damage

• Little or no communication throughout the island for weeks.

• No electricity throughout the island due to fallen poles

The Grenada Experience

The Pilot Project Altered•A drama series “Spice It Up” was advocated as the format of presentation

•Series was written by Ms. Paloma Mohamed, Communications Specialist from Guyana as a public service to the people of Grenada in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan

•“Spice It Up” was produced by Mr. Francis Urias Peters of Family Theatre Production.

The Pilot Project Altered•Themes for first 3 episodes: Family Communication; Back To School; Coping With Unfamiliar Behaviour and Emotions

•A panel is in studio to discuss the issues, speak with callers and make referrals where necessary.

•WEE FM and GBN broadcast the programmes. Feedback has been very positive

• The RRP has collaborated with the STEPS project (Storytelling)

• The CIP (internship) has provided interns from various Departments of the University of the West Indies (UWI) who assist on projects

• UNESCO – the Caribbean Multimedia Centres (CMC’s) for rural and remote communities

RRP Collaborations

UNESCO’s Multimedia for Caribbean Communities (MCC)

• The MCC Project exists under the framework of a larger international project to develop Community Multimedia Centre (CMC) in 12 countries in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean.

• The CMC’s offer concrete examples of how

integrated, sustainable, grass-roots community development use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

UNESCO’s Multimedia for Caribbean Communities (MCC)

• ICT’s can help improve the quality of life, particularly in disadvantage communities in rural and low-income urban settlements

Benefits of Community Radio

1. Builds local identity, character  and culture through a diversity of programmes and content

2. Promotes community access to Caribbean and local community content

3. Focuses on specific community issues  concerns and events

4. Highlights  various interest groups and community personalities

5. Shares local   news  by giving voice to the voiceless

Benefits of Community Radio

6. Includes minority and marginalized community members

7. Facilitates mastery of radio equipment  and basic broadcasting techniques

8. Promotes democratic process, social change, development, civil society and good governance

9. Acts  as a form of public-service broadcasting independent of government and  party politics

10. Relies on the community resources it serves rather than the whole nation

Benefits of Community Radio

UNESCO’s Multimedia for Caribbean Communities (MCC)

• The first phase of the MCC project saw the establishment/transformation of four community radio stations into Community Multimedia Centres:

– Roots FM - Jamaica

– Radio Toco - Trinidad

– Radio Cocodrilo - Cuba

– Radio GED - Barbados

Multimedia for Caribbean Communities (MCC)’s Vision

15 steps that include:• Computerised news scripting and research • Computerised storage, indexing and

cataloguing of recordings

• Mastery of sound editing software and automated radio management system

• Internet connectivity for downloading, sharing and repackaging • Eventual transformation of broadcasters into MultiMedia practitioners

Phase 2: Countries selected with specific criteria,

offering a variety of backdrops and themes:

Community Type

Theme Station and Country

Rain Forest Environmental protection

Radio Paiwomak – Guyana

River & Rain Forest

Tourism & Environmental protection

Radio Muye - Suriname

Rural Poor Radio em ba Mango - Dominica.

• GOAL: To address poverty in isolated indigenous communities using integrated community media and the creation of multimedia products as the focus for a sustainable human development strategy

• This pilot project aims to consolidate existing community broadcasting and/or telecentre facilities into community media centres for indigenous peoples in isolated communities in the following countries:

Belize Dominica Guyana St. Vincent & the Grenadines

Suriname

Related Project:ICT’s and Indigenous Peoples Project

The Suriname Experience• Radio Muye serves 10,000 indigenous Maroons in

villages along the Saramacca River.

• Maroons, originated from runaway slaves, started ‘illegal’ communities years ago and have kept the African culture alive.

The Suriname Experience• The radio station came about as a result of there

being no electricity or television in the rain forest, few schools limited information, socially isolated from the outside world.

• Radio Muye is powered by solar energy

• Programmes also reinforce the Saramaccan language

The Suriname Experience

• There is a generally high dropout rate at primary school level in the villages.

• The station has been useful in supplementing children’s education, “Both children and teachers appreciate those programmes, especially at exam time!”

The Suriname Experience

• Nurses and Health Workers say both men and women are more curious about sex and HIV/AIDS from what they hear on Radio Muye.

• However, listeners are very keen to criticise, demand and propose programme ideas to the radio staff they meet on river trips.

The Suriname Experience

• Radio Muye is “The Poor Man’s Telephone” – people can send messages and news to relatives and friends in far off villages

• Behaviour changes when a station reporters visits a village. “Radio Muye is here, so better behave properly!”

The Suriname Experience

• Village meetings are broadcast and benefit those unable to travel to the meeting

• The villagers want a stronger transmitter in order to reach more people and thus attract advertisers, especially tourism interests

SUCCESSES & CHALLENGES OF RRP & MCC PROJECTS

Challenges

•Challenges of sustainability are common

•Developing content

•Difficulty developing local proposals at local level

•Frequent disruptions in email, fax and telephone connections delay implementation

•Absence of technical expertise to service and maintain equipment

Successes

•Community Involvement is good

•Interest has been mounting from national governments, regional and international stakeholders in the region

•Community residents take much pride in their work and culture

•Radio programmes produced at community level

•Coordinators are nurtured in their independent efforts at improving themselves rather than relying solely on development funding

•Collaborations developing

SUCCESSES & CHALLENGES OF RRP & MCC PROJECTS

UNESCO-CSI/RRP COLLABORATION

UNESCO Indigenous People’s Project

CSI via RRP and STEPS

- provides access to ICT training and infrastructure

- helps communities develop content on Parenting & Early Childhood issues

Projects have countries in common (Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Suriname,

St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago)

Projects are both interested in enabling and developing local capacity

UNESCO-CSI/RRP COLLABORATION

Together, CSI/RRP and UNESCO can assist local communities produce and broadcast relevant content to a wider audience

For further information on the

REGIONAL RADIO PROJECT or PARENTING

contact:

MS. COLLEEN WINT-SMITH

PROJECT COORDINATOR

PARENTING PARTNERS

C/o CARIBBEAN CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

MONA, KINGSTON 7

JAMAICA

TEL: (876) 927-1618 or (246) 266-5300 (roaming)

FAX: (876) 977-7433

EMAIL: parentingpartners03@yahoo.co.uk

regionalradioproject@yahoo.com

URL: www.csinews/rrp/index.html

For further information on the CARIBBEAN SUPPORT INITIATIVE

contact:

MS. SUSAN BRANKER

PROJECT DIRECTOR

CARIBBEAN SUPPORT INITIATIVE (CSI)

1st FLOOR, WEYMOUTH CORPORATE CENTRE

ROEBUCK STREET

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS

TEL: (246) 427-8535/6

FAX: (246) 436-1709

EMAIL: sbranker@csinews.org

URL: www.csinews.org

For further information on the

UNESCO’S MULTIMEDIA FOR CARIBBEAN COMMUNITIES

contact:

MR. ALTON GRIZZLE

NATIONAL PROFESSIONAL OFFICER

COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION

UNESCO CARIBBEAN OFFICE

25 DOMINICA DRIVE

KINGSTON 10, JAMAICA

TEL: (876) 929-7087

FAX: (876) 929-8468

EMAIL: a.grizzle@unesco.org

URL: www.mcclinks.com

Produced and presented byColleen Wint-Smith, at the

Mauritius Strategy Implementation:Small Islands Voice Planning MeetingBequia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines

July 14, 2004