UNFPA COUNTRY SUPPORT TEAM
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Needs and Trends in Population Education and IEC in the Pacific Region
The primary purpose of the UNFPA Country Support Team for the South Pacific based in Suva, Fiji, is to provide countries with high-quality technical support services to meet their needs, leading toweards national self-reliance in population field.
Among the functions of the Country Support Team towards this end, the injunction "to provide active and close backstopping to the local pool of national experts" implies more frequent interaction between CST Advisors and national counterparts than is afforded by the occasional in-country technical advisory visit.
This Discussion paper series has been initiated by the CST, Suva in an attempt to establish a dialogue among national population programme personnel on the multidimentional aspects of population programmes. The major objective of the series is to help in the conceptualization and development of a more holistic programme approach.
In the area of population education and IEC in the Pacific Region, most countries have embarked on UNFPA-funded population education projects in both the formal and non-formal sectors, and on IEC activities, mostly in the maternal and child health/family planning projects and through the family planning associations and other NGOs. But these efforts have been uncoordinated, and there is still much to do.
This paper, based on findings of the UNFPA Programme Review and Strategy Development mission in the Pacific, in which the author participated, discusses the issues, needs and trends of population education and IEC in the Pacific Region and makes recommendations on strategies for improving population education and IEC in the region.
Despite the crispness of the format, the paper is not mean to be didatic. To ensure a dialogue on the issues and challenges posed by the author, critical comments are specifically solicitated from readers.
While total population of the generally resource-poor Pacific Island countries is very small by world standards, all countries in the region are facing population-related problems, many due to high growth rates, in their attempts to foster socio-economic development. Only in recent years have most countries recognized the possible benefits of population education, both formal and non-formal, as an intervention strategy to address these problems. Through funding assistance from UNFPA and technical assistance from agencies such as WHO, UNESCO and ILO, most Pacific Island countries have implemented limited population education and IEC projects - limited in scope, substance and delivery channels, as most projects have been planned on an ad hoc basis with individual ministries without an overall IEC framework mandated by population policy. Hence, at this relatively early stage of population education development in the Pacific, the emphasis or focus of population education efforts has been on the formal system, especially in curriculum and instructional materials development for secondary schools, and in-service teacher training.
While secondary school population education has been established in most countries and institutionalized through integration into established and required subject areas, there is a dearth of evaluation studies to indicate how well the programmes have succeeded in achieving their objectives and goals. One of the major problems in evaluation, and all other aspects of population education development for that matter, is the critical shortage of qualified, committed staff. Often the entire development of population education depends on one person, often working part-time. Such staffing problems make it extremely difficult to develop national capabilities and to sustain population education programmes, much less expand them. This situation is exacerbated when a trained person is moved to another position, creating a hiatus until he/she is replaced and the replacement is trained.
After this initial period in establishing population education in most countries of the Pacific, it is an opportune time to suggest strategies for the future direction of population education in the region - strategies to consolidate what has been achieved and to sustain it, to expand programme coverage, to qualitatively improve programmes by more innovative activities, to review content and reconceptualize population education to reflect new developments and emerging population - related social concerns, and, of course, to establish programmes where none presently exist.
The goal of population education is, in general, to provide young people and adults with an awareness of the interrelationships between population and development, especially socio-economic aspects which fall under the rubric of 'quality of life', such as the environment, resources, health, education, employment and other social services, as well as traditional beliefs and practices. Through this, it is hoped that a critical understanding will be developed, enabling the individual to make reasoned and conscious decisions regarding family life, population-related issues within his/her community, and policy within the nation. The ultimate goal of population education, therefore, is not to indoctrinate people regarding issues which affect them at the most basic level, e.g., family size, but rather to pose realistic alternatives, to examine likely consequences, and to enable the individual to develop rational decision-making behaviour. It is only through these cumulative individual decisions that population issues, as well as a whole array of social and economic challenges posed in the process of development, may be surmounted. Thus, population education programmes must address the specific values, needs and priorities of the region and each country.
After its review of the experiences, development, problems and needs in population education in the Pacific, the UNFPA PRSD mission identified general strategies to further the development of population education in the region, as well as for individual countries. First and foremost among these is to strengthen national capabilities in all population IEC efforts in all countries by assigning qualified and committed individuals, full time, if possible, to IEC programmes and projects. Without this prerequisite, population IEC will not improve. The other strategic recommendations and actions are listed under the major categories of concern (issues).
NEEDS AND STRATEGIES IN POPULATION EDUCATION1. Awareness and Commitment
Issues: One of the basic problems in trying to establish or initiate any population programme in the Pacific region is that people may not really see the need for it because of the simple reason that they are not aware of their country's demographic situation and characteristics and their implications - i.e., the relationship of population-related factors to their own quality of life. Often, population phenomena are viewed as something that one cannot (or should not) do anything about, like the weather. Hence, commitment to population education can only come through the realization that population education is an important and necessary educational pursuit in improving quality of life. This realization can come through awareness of real population problems or potential ones within the country, or through the conviction that knowledge and attitudes of population-related matters are important educational goals in themselves.The Needs: There is a real need to provide awareness and orientation programmes at the regional, national and local or provincial levels to bring about widespread and thoughtful attention to population-related issues and problems, as well as to clarify the concept of population education and dispel any misconceptions about the programme. Understanding is a prerequisite to real commitment.
Strategies: To promote and strengthen awareness and commitment to population issues and
population education to attend to these issues, the following actions are recommended:
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2. Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development
Issues: While most of the Pacific Island countries have integrated population-related units into their secondary school curricula and have produced teaching materials, few have consciously planned the inclusion of population education into their primary school curricula. Expanding coverage to the primary level is particularly important for those countries (especially in Melanesia) which have a high drop-out rate after primary schooling. In addition, more innovative materials and methods should be recommended, including more student materials. Curriculum development should be an on-going process and content requires periodic review and population education should be reconceptualised to reflect new developments and emerging population-related social concerns. The pre-service teacher training curriculum should also reflect school curriculum in order to prepare teachers to teach population education in schools. In the non-formal sector there is still a dearth of instructional materials focused on specific target groups, including the illiterate and neo-literate.Needs: There is a need for further development of curriculum and instructional materials for both secondary and primary education, as well as for teacher training institutions in the formal sector. In addition, emerging areas of concern, such as the environment, teen pregnancy, AIDS/STD, etc., should be integrated into the programmes.
In the non-formal sector, specific instructional materials need to be developed for a wide spectrum of target groups - general public, youth and women's groups, churches, chiefs, workers, policy makers and planners, community development workers, health-care workers, etc.Special attention should be given to the integration of population education into literacy programmes in the context of 'Education for All'.
Strategies: To expand programme coverage to include primary, secondary and tertiary levels
as well as new areas of concern, and to improve the instructional materials produced in
population education for both formal and non-formal sectors, the following actions are
recommended:
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3. Training
Issues: The effectiveness of population education programmes depends, to a large extent, on how competent the personnel are in carrying out their respective functions. Hence, training should be given high priority in any population education programme and should include groups such as curriculum developers, trainers, teachers, field workers and other communicators. Innovative modalities must be used for specific target groups.To date, most training of population education personnel have been through regional workshops for trainers and national in-service training workshops to prepare teachers to teach population education in schools and for non-formal community education leaders. Most training has been done through the traditional face-to-face modality and the organizers have assumed an undiminished 'multiplier effect'. But little has been documented to show that the intended effects, including messages, are reaching the target groups. Training of teachers at the pre-service level has not been wide-spread, although it would be more efficient than doing it through in-service courses or workshops.
Needs: There is a continuing need to train personnel at all levels in the development of population education, for example, in the formal sector, pre and in-service teachers, trainers, college instructors and curriculum developers. In the non-formal sector, trainers and supervisors, community leaders, field workers and instructional materials developers, especially in the development of innovative instructional materials and training strategies. In many cases in the Pacific, the same individuals service a variety of functions, e.g., one person develops materials as well as act as a trainer. Another target group for training in population education, which has largely been ignored to date, is all primary and secondary teachers as community leaders, whether they formally teach population education in schools or not. This training can more efficiently be done at the pre-service level.
Strategies: To further strengthen and support training activities in population education, the
following actions are recommended:
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4. Research and Evaluation
Issues: One of the long range goals of population education, whether formal or non-formal, is to lead learners to clarify their own attitudes and values in the hope that they will eventually make rational and responsible decisions regarding population-related issues. However, there are very few studies in the Pacific on population-related knowledge, attitudes and values, or even baseline data on teen pregnancies, etc. upon which to base population education curriculum and materials. Almost all instructional materials development, whether for the formal or non-formal system, depends on the individual perception of the developer in relation to what is needed, what will work, and what will be acceptable. There is also a scarcity of studies to determine population-related topics and methodologies appropriate for each age/grade level, and for different non-formal development programmes to attain the intended change in learners' attitudes and behaviours.Even where population education programmes have been in existence for several years, impact studies have not been done. In short, research and evaluation, for a variety of reasons already mentioned, are very weak components of population education in all countries in the Pacific. This is true of education in general, if national examinations are not considered.
Needs: There is a need to initiate a variety of evaluation and research activities, including KAP surveys of various target groups, evaluative research studies on the effects of population education on the target groups, longitudinal studies of the impact of population education programmes, etc. in addition to the pretesting and formative evaluation of instructional materials some project do.
Strategies: To promote research and evaluation of population education, in both the formal and
non-formal sectors, the following actions are recommended:
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5. New Areas of Concern
Issues: In recent years most of the Pacific Island Nations have been faced with (or at least alerted to) new areas of concern which might have a tremendous impact on the quality of life of the people, many of which are directly or indirectly related to population. Such issues as the destruction of mangroves, pollution of the lagoons, over fishing, and erosion can be attributed directly to population factors. Other environmental concerns like the greenhouse effect, driftnet fishing etc. largely attributed to outside forces, are also being discussed. Other emerging areas of concern in the Pacific include teen pregnancy, AIDS/STD, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, health problems due to change in diets and lifestyles. Some of the Pacific Island countries, for example, have about the highest STD and diabetes rates in the world.With the exception of AIDS, which has received wide media coverage and special attention through WHO and a regional UNESCO project on school AIDS/STD education funded by WHO, educational efforts to address the other areas of concern have been sporadic, at best.
Other than a few posters and pamphlets meant for the general public,, few teaching/learning materials specifically for certain target groups in the Pacific are in evidence.It is not clear who decides and how the new areas of concern are integrated or introduced into the formal and non-formal educational programmes in countries in the Pacific. But these areas of concern should be addressed through education and other services.
Needs: Resources need to be mobilized to address the new areas of concern.
Strategies: To strengthen and support educational efforts to address new areas of concern in
the Pacific countries the following actions are recommended:
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Given the diverse population problems in the Pacific Island countries, there is, obviously, a great need for population communication in the Pacific region. MCH/FP IEC activities are being pursued in most countries, and there is a wide range of individual communication efforts in health and development communication. There are projects targeted to women, youth, workers, and the general public. However, these are inadequate to address the increasing population-related problems in the region - e.g. teen pregnancy,rapid population growth, maternal and child health, STD/AIDS, urban drift, scarcity of land, deterioration of the environment, law and order, etc.
Population information and communication activities in most countries in the Pacific region are an example of fragmented efforts undertaken by Governments and NGOs. There is nothing in any of the countries that can be termed a 'population communication programme or strategy', in spite of the wide array of channels and systems used for population communication in the region. There are several reasons for this. First and foremost is the fact that at most, only five of the countries have a population policy as such. Without a national population policy, there is no clear direction for a population programme, which would include a population communication strategy. Even with a population policy, individual sectors are left, more or less, to 'do their own thing' without coordination, or monitoring of their efforts. Hence, a major gap in population communication is the lack of support of population programmes in general, which may indicate a need for population communication for high level policy makers in the first place, even if there is a national population policy (one problem connected to this is the frequent changes in Government and key personnel).Another problem in most countries is the underdeveloped communication and transportation infrastructure to carry population messages. For example, few countries in the region have their own live broadcast television, and where they exist, only urban/suburban dwellers have access to it. With vast distances between islands, and poor transport facilities and infrastructure even within large islands, print media (newspapers, pamphlets, posters etc.) may be accessible, again, only to the urban areas. The general low level of information available coupled with high illiteracy rates, especially in Melanesia, are also impediments in communication through print media. Under these constraints, radio remains the most useful and widely accessible medium of communication. Even then, reaching vast distances, linguistic diversity, replacing batteries, etc., present major problems.
In population communication, other than the periodic messages produced by the health education sections of the Ministry of Health over the radio in many countries, the population communication capacities of current efforts are generally weak, and programmes produced lack consistency, and are, at best, sporadic. This is due, not because the media are not supportive, but mainly because people connected with population programmes make so little use of them. The media, for their part, have shown themselves to be receptive. Hence, training and support for population communication development, including message development, materials, technique, etc., are urgently needed.Successes
While population communication efforts in the Pacific can be characterized as fragmented, there have been a few notable success stories. For example, high-level seminars, including the use of modern population projection programmes/techniques such as RAPID II, have been instrumental in stimulating the development of population policy in at least three countries, as well as awakening awareness to population issues in leaders and policy makers. Community based outreach programmes like those organized by the NGO, Solomon Islands Development Trust (SIDT), with trained mobile teams, have done impressive work in population awareness, primary health care and rural development. The Wan Smolbag Theatre troupe in Vanuatu has been very well received by villages in conveying family health/family planning messages and are in great demand by various organizations and Government departments. The Soqosoqoo Vakamarama, a Fijian women's organization with a network throughout Fiji, has conducted workshops on family planning/family health, and for the first time, targeted males in order to develop an understanding of family planning, STD/AIDS, etc., as well as to find ways for men to work with women, and for youth to realize the social and financial implications of teenage pregnancy. The Soqosoqo Vakamarama won a WHO Award for Health Education in 1988, and some of it activities are funded by UNFPA.These individual success stories have at least two things in common: they all employ direct face-to-face methods and they are localized. The most important traditional mode of communication in the Pacific, deeply rooted in the cultures, is by word of mouth. Hence, these localised approaches to population communication should be further developed, and would be most effective in most, if not all, Pacific countries given their socio/cultural diversities, scatteredness, and problems already described. The success of these limited approaches might be replicated throughout the Pacific countries. Their potential has not been fully explored for population communication.
NEEDS1. To Develop an Integrated Communication System
Plans and the necessary support need to be given in:
One of the most serious constraints on population communication in the Pacific Island countries is the general paucity of information generated through systematic research and evaluation.. This lack of research-based information is due to both the inadequate utilization and dissemination of existing research-based data and findings, and the lack of systematic research and evaluation efforts. There is an urgent need for:
ii. careful evaluations of the effectiveness of current population communication efforts and
iii. systematic research of the communication needs, audiences, message contents and presentation, and channels for population communication3. To Maximize Available Communication Channels
Different communication channels may serve unique roles for different population segments. Knowing what types of communication channels and systems are available and their relative effectiveness in a given community is vital for designing and implementing efficient strategies and programmes for population communication. A wide array of channels and systems are used for population communication in the region. The most important channels for population communication in the Pacific Island countries appear to be the community-based outreach networks and the radio. Nevertheless, use of multiple channels, whenever appropriate and feasible, is more effective than relying on any single channel. For instance, mass media are often found to be more effective when used in a complementary combination with interpersonal channels than when they are used alone (e.g., a radio forum). Given the pervasiveness and effectiveness of radio and videotapes found in many Pacific Island countries, the potential of radio forums, video forums, and possibly audio tape forums should be explored. In developing and implementing strategies and programmes for population communication in the South Pacific, efforts need to be made to find the most efficient 'mix' of the existing communications systems, networks and channels in a given community, whenever feasible.4. To Identify and Reach Neglected Audiences
In most Pacific Island countries, much focus is put on women and youth groups both as special audience groups and effective channels for population communication. An on-going effort should be made to identify (and subsequently give attention to) audience groups that were previously overlooked or neglected in each community, as well as in each country. In most Pacific Island countries, one such group now appears to be men. Recent experiences by the Soqosoqo Vakamarama and the Fiji Red Cross Society, for example, have revealed a growing interest among men in family planning related information. The findings from the recent study of three reproductive health videos also manifest the interest among men in more information on family planning. Appropriate strategies need to be developed in each country to reach this 'neglected' audience group.
STRATEGIES FOR POPULATION COMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT IN
THE PACIFIC
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