| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Communication to Strengthen Community Social Cohesion |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
PCF |
Status: |
Closed |
| File Number: |
307
| Region: |
AFR |
| Sector: |
Health and other social services |
Country: |
Cote d'Ivoire |
| FY approved: |
2005 |
Grant Theme : |
Social protection and risk management |
| Keyword(s): |
Community-driven development;Disarmament, demobilization and reintegration;Media and communications |
Approved Amount: |
$269,800.00 |
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Grant Recipient:
Search for Common Ground |
Grant Purpose:
The objective of the proposed project is to use a locally-based communication program to facilitate reconciliation and collaboration in support of efforts towards community reintegration, reconstruction, and rehabilitation. It will help bring out voices representing all stakeholders in communities, providing a forum to prevent and transform conflicts.
The project plans to achieve the following outcomes:
(i) stronger social capital in the target areas, as evidenced by the willingness and ability to plan and execute collective activities;
(ii) more engaged population in the reintegration, reconstruction, and rehabilitation (RRR) process, as evidenced by community participation in RRR activities;
(iii) stronger capacity of radio stations and drama troupes to contribute to social capital development;
(iv) stronger capacity of NGOs and personnel of the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (CNDDR) to support the RRR process and facilitate reconciliation.
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Grant Activities:
The project is part of a set of three projects:
(i) A rapid social assessment focusing on the identification of the most promising patterns to promote social action.
(ii) Communication to Strengthen Community Social Cohesion (present project).
(iii) A community reintegration pilot, to be carried out by CARE USA.
The Communication to Strengthen Community Social Cohesion grant has two main components:
Component 1: Production of radio programs and other communication events
Search for Common Ground (SFCG), in coordination with CARE and the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (CNDDR), will develop an informative, community-centred communication campaign focusing on tolerance and reconciliation in general, and on the reconstruction, reintegration and resettlement (RRR) process in particular, so that communities will be more receptive and better prepared to becoming involved in the community-based sub-projects financed by the pilot community reintegration pilot which would be implemented by CARE. The campaign will identify various community members' roles and responsibilities and seek to engage the audience in an active, entertaining fashion.
Component 2: Capacity Building and Administration
The project will use training and support to strengthen the capacity of local radio stations, drama troupes and CARE personnel to facilitate reconciliation in communities and support RRR. Joint working sessions to map conflict areas within a defined area and identify affected groups and their issues pertinent to reintegration will facilitate collaboration between civil society and community radios to implement a community-driven and coordinated campaign. The rapid social assessment financed by one of the three parallel grants mentioned above will provide information that will feed into this process, and will, in turn, be informed by the results of several of the communication campaign events.
Local radios will be coached into finding appropriate ways to engage civil society organizations and coordinate efforts to produce reliable and sustained information on the RRR process. Both civil society groups, some of which are already working with the CNDDR, and community radios in target areas will be helped to develop strategies and action plans for better communication and coordination on RRR-related issues.
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Results:
“Since the drama that was performed in our village, we have changed our behavior. Myself, I was treating other ethnic groups poorly, but afterwards I understood a lot of things. We were happy because SFCG [Search for Common Ground] thought of us, of the general population. It made us feel important.”
The objective of the Communication to Strengthen Community Social Cohesion project was to use a locally-based communication program to facilitate reconciliation and collaboration in support of efforts towards community reintegration, reconstruction, and rehabilitation. It aimed to help bring out voices representing all stakeholders in communities, providing a forum to prevent and transform conflicts.
The ultimate goals of the program included building stronger social capital, engaging the population in reintegration, reconstruction and rehabilitation activities, increasing the ability of radio stations and drama troupes to contribute to the development of social capital, and building stronger capacity of NGOs to support the reintegration process and facilitate reconciliation. For the purpose, the project supported a series of radio programs, the establishment of multi-media production studios, as well as capacity building.
Search for Common Ground (SFCG), implementing agency for the project, designed and introduced four regular weekly radio programs broadcasted on 14 stations focusing on the North and West of the country. The programs involved local leaders and marginalized groups like youth, women, former child soldiers, and minority ethnic groups. They focused on issues causing conflict within the country and local initiatives to implement the reintegration, reconstruction and rehabilitation process. The programs agenda focused on relaying messages in support of the reintegration, reconstruction and rehabilitation process and facilitating social dialogue and cooperation. They promoted exchange of information on traditional and new conflict resolution mechanisms and initiatives between divided groups, and encouraged sharing of communities’ experience with managing local conflicts, and promoting tolerance, reconciliation, and peaceful coexistence.
The project also supported training for four local drama groups in interactive theater techniques and performing on themes of reconciliation, coexistence, and conflict resolution. SFCG trained drama troupes in interactive theater and supported them to hold live drama performances in selected communities.
In addition to providing public information and trainings, the project also focused on building the capacity of local groups and institutions to address issues of concern. This aimed to strengthen the capacity of the radio producers in the production of magazines and other program formats. As part of the project, SFCG conducted media trainings for local radio station personnel and other media actors in the country, and continued with ongoing follow-up with the participating stations on how they were applying their new techniques and responding to the challenges that they continued to face. The trainings focused on fostering a search for solutions while providing a platform for a range of opinions, with a particular emphasis on the inclusion of marginalized voices.
The project also provided training for staff of the National Program for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration and CARE, as well as representatives of community-based project committees. The community-level trainings provided capacity building to individuals identified by their communities as resource people for conflict resolution and advice in times of problems. More specifically, the trainings provided knowledge and skills around conflict analysis and conflict resolution techniques, better facilitating these key actors’ engagement in the target areas. Post-training evaluations confirmed that participants found the training content valuable and that they had learned new skills that they can apply in their communities. The interaction facilitated by the trainings also had the side effect of reducing stereotypes and prejudices among the participants.
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Lessons Learned:
A major lesson learned during the project involved the notion that starting a new program in a country involved in conflict is always difficult. Political changes affected the policies implemented by the government, including reintegration, reconstruction and rehabilitation, which, in turn, influenced SFCG’s ability to work on these issues. However, SFCG had a strong working relationship with the National Program for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, and the two groups strived to make the best of the difficult situation. Another major lesson included the understanding that brining experience from other countries is not enough for developing an effective project, as this experience has to be adapted to the new context. In the case of Cote d’Ivoire, the project was both challenging and rewarding as new approaches and methodology were developed in the course of the program.
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