Population communication and sustainable development. An analysis of population information education (IEC) projects in Anglophone Africa.
Isaac Obeng-Quaidoo, Waithira Gikonyo · PubMed · 1995
Numerous data attest to the applied use of communication for development. The application of development support communication in the Philippines during 1973, for example, turned the country from a net rice importer to a net exporter, while UNICEF's information, education, and communication (IEC) intervention in its GOBI strategy and the World Health Organization's EPI have significantly reduced levels of childhood mortality through immunization against six of the major infectious diseases prevalent in developing countries. This paper considers the theoretical thought and interrelationships between and among communication, population, and development. It draws from basic data gathered from 29 UNFPA IEC project officers and managers to illustrate how population communication is used or underused to aid and facilitate sustainable development. The 12 men and 17 women from 16 countries of Anglophone Africa provided data on more than 29 population IEC projects in the region. Recommendations are made for the appropriate use of population communication projects to support behavioral change and development. Throughout the paper, a participatory model of development communication is endorsed. This participatory communication approach/model of development holds that audiences should be segmented and their opinions sought. Future beneficiaries should be involved in all facets of a project if they are to reap the maximum level of benefits.