UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
|
| UN Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, with support from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
|
"ICPD 94"
January 1994
Number 11
Newsletter of the International Conference on Population and
Development, Cairo, Egypt, 5-13 September 1994
FAMILY PLANNING COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES EXAMINED
How to best convey family planning messages was a main topic at the
Round Table on Population and Communication, organized by the
Austrian Government in cooperation with the United Nations
Population Fund. The Round Table, the fifth in a series, took place
in Vienna from 2-3 December and served as part of the preparatory
process leading up to ICPD.
In his opening statement Jyoti Shankar Singh, Executive
Coordinator of ICPD, underlined the importance of communication to
create awareness of population issues and to convey family planning
and reproductive health messages. "Electronic media, print media
[and] interpersonal interventions", he said, were all part of "the
kind of comprehensive information, education and communication
(IEC) strategies we need in pursuit of population goals."
At the round table, family planning communications
specialists, film and radio producers, population experts and
government officials discussed how attitudes and beliefs could be
changed through the innovative use of traditional and mass media.
CASE STUDIES PRESENTED
The meeting featured case studies and presentations by
communication practitioners and covered a wide range of subjects,
such as: the use of folk tradition and drama to organize community
action in Egypt; the use of micro-communications to encourage
acceptance of family planning in the Philippines; the use of
traditional and modern media in Ghana; and the use of songs to
propagate family planning messages in Latin America. The success in
India and Mexico of radio and television soap operas and films on
family planning subjects was also discussed.
To place communication activities in a broader context,
Professor Charles Westoff of Princeton University lectured on
"Demographic Trends and the Factors Influencing these Trends"; and
Steven Sinding, Director of Population Sciences for the Rockefeller
Foundation, spoke on "Resource Mobilization."
In addition, the meeting heard about international cooperation
to support media from a representative of Inter Press Service, a
global news agency which focuses on developing countries.
Robert Lamb, director of the London-based TVE, Television
Trust for the Environment, discussed "Marketing and Advertisement"
films. Contrary to popular belief in this age of satellite
communication, Mr. Lamb said, television productions should target
local audiences and use material that reflects local realities
rather than conveying global messages.
Three panels covered the subjects of "Traditional and Non-
commercial Media", "Electronic Media" and "Strengthening Population
Communications."
Following a final discussion chaired by Peter Jankowitsch,
former Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the round table
adopted a set of recommendations resulting from the deliberations
and presentations. The 37 recommendations dealt with, among other
things, the linkages between IEC and family planning, the use of
both traditional and modern entertainment to convey population
related messages, and the effective use of different channels in
creating awareness and mobilizing action at both community and
national levels.
Dr. Nafis Sadik, ICPD Secretary-General, said in a closing
statement, "There are no easy answers, and no simple solutions to
the problem of change. We are dealing with human minds and there is
nothing more complex. The discussion here has shown that great
progress has been made in population communications, but the field
is growing with technology and with the changing needs of
population programmes and those for whom the programmes are
intended.
"We have to move ahead in a coordinated manner, programme
designers working with communicators, communicators working with
outreach personnel," she concluded. "With this kind of team effort,
taking advantage of all that modern technology has to offer, we
will succeed."