| Grant Profile: |
| Project Title: |
Demand Side Governance - Strengthening Media and Civil Society in Cote d’Ivoire |
| PCF/LICUS/SPF: |
SPF |
Status: |
Open |
| File Number: |
| Region: |
AFR |
| Sector: |
Information and communications |
Country: |
Cote d'Ivoire |
| FY approved: |
2009 |
Grant Theme : |
Social dev/gender/inclusion |
| Keyword(s): |
Civil society / NGOs;Media and communications |
Approved Amount: |
$1,400,000.00 |
 |
Grant Recipient:
CAA (Claude Aburbe Associés) |
Grant Purpose:
The objective of the project is to support demand side of governance mechanisms and to increase the diffusion of accurate, impartial and reliable information on specific topics of relevance for economic governance. Project development objectives thus underline strengthening institutional capacity of media while building communication capacities of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and government.
The project comprises support to the professional media associations that are committed to an ethos of journalistic integrity and investigative journalism and which could eventually serve as the conscience of the media sector. Additionally, the project will provide support of advocacy, information and outreach activities for Civil Society Organizations in areas of economic governance in order to build sustainable relationships with key constituencies. It also introduces communication and media training for government officials for better internal and external information flows.
The beneficiaries are key actors working on the demand side of economic governance (particularly transparency of natural resource flows, budget literacy and anti-corruption) such as media associations and journalists/editors, civil society organizations, private sector associations as well as Members of Parliament and local authorities. Additionally, in order to facilitate optimal bridging mechanisms, government officials, responsible members of multi-stakeholder bodies are included in the training and capacity building activities.
|
Grant Activities:
Component 1: Strengthening independent media associations
The media will be encouraged to play a role in creating government transparency, internal accountability and greater responsiveness. In order to create an enabling environment for the media system, the initiative will therefore support the four main existing structures within the sector:
UNJCI (Union nationale des journalistes en Cote d’Ivoire); created in 1991, regrouping journalists from all specters of print media is a key player in terms of lobbying for promoting the conditions of the Ivorian Press. The organization has been active in supporting the fund for aiding the press as well as the creation of a journalist identity card. The UNJCI additionally plays a role as a representative for civil society and has created the Ebony Award for the best journalist performance. One might add that Internet journalists also are part of UNJCI. The initiatives of the UNJCI for structural change thus range from seminars and training to lobbying and support to specific initiatives but also the creation of the OLPED.
OLPED (Observatoire de liberté de presse, de l’éthique et de la déontologie); initially created in 1995 in order to prevent misuse of the deontological code during election periods, now acting as an independent self-regulatory association. Reporters Without Borders points out that the OLPED is a pioneer in sub-Saharan Africa and, despite certain legitimate criticisms that could be leveled at it, represents a valuable tool for regulating the sector in a fair and consensual manner
GEPCI (Groupement des Editeurs de Presse de Côte d'Ivoire); gathers the Editors of the major newspapers and proposes training programs. GEPCI is amongst others currently working on an agreement with the Ministry of Communication for coordinating training sessions to journalist
URPCI (Union des Radios de Proximité de Cote d’Ivoire); created in 1999 and regroups the majority of the community radios.
These independent associations work to guarantee the security of the journalists (being it personal, economic or political security), the liberty of the press and the public right to objective information while ensuring the respect of the journalist deontological code and of the ethics of the profession. The objective being to strengthen their fight for transparency and better conditions for the profession through: Respect of the deontological code, systematic sanctions for violations of the existing legal framework, increased security and application of the ‘collective agreement’ as well as united efforts of lobbying for improving the conditions – all this through initiatives of improving quality management among senior management of media outlets and media associations.
The activities will include a preliminary assessment and evaluation, notably analyzing the market and legal situation – including regulatory framework, legislative mapping but also economic systems and political constraints - in coordination with the main international professional media organizations. This analysis will be followed by the elaboration of a sustainability plan for the sector. A media mapping undertaken by Search for Common Ground has recently been launched, and is designed to – in the long term – provide information to key stakeholders on how the media can improve the role it plays in development and how it can enhance positive communication between the state and the Ivorian population. The parallel process of the two projects will facilitate gathering data during the process on the media context, the role of the media, government communication but also on consumer aspects of information as well as perceptions and trusted channels of delivery for messages on reform. The continued research will allow recurrent information to policy makers and civil society on communication recommendations and will additionally be important in terms of monitoring and evaluating the ongoing impact of the current project.
The latter will be followed by a training period, bilateral working sessions, a conference, study tours, while additional international experts as well as media representatives from countries with similar experiences (such as Sierra Leone or Liberia) will complement the process, and a local consultant will provide ongoing mentoring and support.
Component 2: Support of outreach and information activities for Civil Society Organizations
One of the ways to support the media to perform its role as facilitator of critical discourse in the public sphere is through cooperation from civil society. In this regard, the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and the budget process presents important learning and reform opportunity. The project therefore supports specific information, awareness building and outreach activities of CSO and private sector organizations in relation to the EITI and budget process in order to emphasize the deployment, strengthening and sustainability of accountable relationships with key national constituencies such as Parliament, Media, local authorities and other CSOs. A stakeholder mapping will help identify the appropriate CSOs (and upcoming champions for reform) for undergoing capacity building to increase knowledge of relevant instruments and approaches such as advocacy, networking, outreach and information work, technical assistance, mentoring and capacity building on specific mechanisms of social accountability and economic governance.
Additional funds for action learning will be available to the trained CSO’s, this aspect will allow the stakeholders to apply the tools and principles that have been learned throughout the process. Particular programs to strengthen the governance of the three main priority sectors of public expenditure, cocoa/coffee, and the oil/energy sector will thus be supported (e.g. through talk back radio shows, public forums, governance awareness raising programs, investigative journalism pieces, etc.) Local lessons sharing and further training of network members of the chosen CSO’s will also be supported to the extent possible.
Component 3: Enhancing government communication capacity
The absence of consistent information on economic issues is amongst others due to a lack of reliable sources and absence of systematic diffusion of economic data from policymakers to defined audiences. As a support to the existing Governance and Institutional Development project, which will support institutional restructuring of the communication departments of the Ministry of Finance, the current project will in close cooperation with the Ministry of Communication and the Prime Ministry provide media and communications training for civil servants. Communication channels should in that regard be created on multiple levels with the aim of: i) Creating communication channels between the government and the media and civil society. As well as additional support and training once a new government is in place in order to: ii) Ensure better coordination and enable synergies between the ministries; iii) Increase the flow of information from line ministries in Abidjan, through parliamentarians, governors, mayors, sub-prefects and prefects in order to better reach the people in remote districts that currently have no access to accurate “official” information. The project thus further supports the work of the existing World Bank Trust Fund for Post Conflict Governance Framework in promoting the common objective of increasing transparency in policy elaboration and implementation through linking civil society and government in that effort.
The above will be done in close cooperation with the Ministry of communication and the Prime ministers office and will consist of 9 workshops for senior officials. A needs assessment will precede 2 back-to-back workshops for the 32 Cabinet Ministers (16 in each workshop). Then technical training to the Government Communication Officers as well as targeted training to Director Generals specifically involved in Economic Reform. Additionally, local seminars will be held to gather governors, mayors, sub-prefects and prefects. Out-reach activities such as a bi-monthly ministerial review and other government communication activities deemed important for transparency and national/local information on the three main subjects of public finance and natural resources; the petroleum sector as well as the coffee/cocoa sector, will be further supported by the project.
Component 4: Opinion Research and Coalition Building
In order to understand how specific target groups and the public at large perceive messages on economic reform issues, much needed Public opinion research will be undertaken in Cote d’Ivoire. Such public opinion research will facilitate the task of designing specific communication activities that accurately build upon (or counter) existing perceptions in regards to economic governance issues. A final opinion research will additionally be important for determining the outcomes and results of the project as well as for designing the continued communication support and future interventions.
The research will test alternative messages and methods of delivery to ensure the highest possible impact of the communications done on the defined key economic subjects such as, extractive industries, national budget matters and corruption as well as the coffee/cocoa sector.
The steps will include: i) Focus Groups (Qualitative research), ii) Public Opinion Survey (Quantitative Research) and iii) Analysis and Presentation of Research Findings to the Ivorian government.
Additionally, a horizontal approach for supporting Coalition Building on the mentioned economic governance issues will be introduced in parallel to the opinion research. Feeding of the experience of former World Bank experiences in post-conflict situations, it will constitute a joint communication effort gathering a group of approximately 20 Ivorian media experts and representatives from civil society organizations, members of Parliament, private sector associations and academia as well as representatives of government and political parties . The working sessions will be moderated and facilitated by international consultants - with the objective of increasing the information on economic issues to the people on all levels through several communication channels and stemming from multiple stakeholders. Through a series of workshops, the group will form a network of reflection and dialogue for introducing comprehensive and all-round solutions to communicating the issues of economic governance identified via the public opinion research. The local and international actors will examine the complex ways media can be interconnected to the broader development and reconstruction efforts in Cote d’Ivoire. The findings will be presented during a closing conference to key stakeholders such as; media-owners, government, political parties, international organizations, donors, CSO’s, private sectors organizations etc, and will include a networking plan for linking the efforts to other countries in Africa and internationally, (e.g. through ANSA in South Africa. One might add that the coalition building group will not only be helping conceive the opinion poll and provide ongoing feedback, but will also constitute a monitoring mechanism.
The component will furthermore support out-reach and information campaigns for knowledge sharing and development on improving the communication and media system in Cote d’Ivoire. This will include supporting the awareness building on economic issues in terms of anti-corruption and governance through reinforced radio-diffusion. The component will thus introduce innovative solutions for communication and governance and will, among others, include support to The United Nations Operation in Cote d’Ivoire (ONUCI) programming as well as broadcast of the World Bank Istitution (WBI) Africa Good Governance Program on the Radio Waves – Governing Municipalities without corruption. The latter supports local government capacity building and community empowerment through a learning program that focuses on anti-corruption, civic participation and fiscal decentralization. The program builds on the great oral tradition of knowledge exchange in Africa, relying on participants’ engagement and will present much needed capacity building for radio as well as local knowledge sharing.
|
|
