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June 2006
World Congress on Communication for Development
25-27 October 2006
Rome, Italy
Background
The first World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD) jointly organized by FAO, World Bank and The Communication Initiative will be held in Rome from 25-27 October 2006 at FAO headquarters.
The focus of the Congress is to effectively promote the mainstreaming of communication into development policies and programmes and to promote strategic partnerships and alliances in this field. Its ultimate objective is to demonstrate that communication for development is essential for meeting today’s most pressing development challenges and, as such, should be more fully integrated in development policy and practice.
WCCD Structure
The Congress will be structured around four broad thematic areas: Health, Governance and Empowerment, Sustainable Development, and Emerging Sectors and New Frontiers. Each of these areas will be divided into subtopics that delve into various aspects or dimensions of these challenges. The Congress will also include a series of special events on particular areas of communication for development practice such as edutainment, documentary films and videos, music, and radio programs.
Communication for Sustainable Development Stream
FAO will be responsible for the organization of the stream on “Communication for Sustainable Development”. The stream will be structured around three main themes:
- Communication for Food Security, Rural Development and Livelihoods strategies;
- Communication for Natural Resources Management and the Environment;
- Communication for Poverty reduction and Equity Issues.
A “background paper on Communication for Sustainable Development” has been prepared to serve as the basis for discussions.
Furthermore, a session on “Regional perspectives” will be held under the first topic. The session will be based on the results of a series of regional studies and consultations, which have been jointly implemented by FAO and the World Bank, in order to obtain views and proposals of local practitioners and institutions for mainstreaming Communication for Development into sustainable development policies. The studies and consultations are carried out in the following regions: South East Asia, Near East, Sahel, Southern and East Africa, Latin and Central America.
The results of these consultations will be synthesized in a compendium of “Regional perspectives in Communication for Development”, which will be presented at the Congress under Communication and Sustainable Development Stream.
WCCD Participation
This 3-day Congress will bring together communication professionals engaged in development initiatives, policymakers, development practitioners, donor and NGO representatives, community representatives, and academics from around the world to share experiences and best practices in this growing field for a common understanding of what works, what doesn’t, and how best to measure impact. Congress participation will be by invitation, and it is expected to have about 500 attendees from over the world, including policymakers, academicians and communication for development practitioners.
A webpage on Regional consultations is now available at the WCCD website.
For related information, please see:
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