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Public Relations

and

Communication
Management

in Africa

Sunday Odedele, MCIPR, MPRII


sundayodedele@prforafrica.org
Sunday Odedele, MCIPR, MPRII
Petros-Faith Public Relations Consult
57, Cardoso Street, off LUTH gate,
Mushin, Lagos.
P.O.Box 1323, Mushin,
Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: 234-8034284651
e-mail: sundayodedele@prforafrica.org

ABOUT SUNDAY ODEDELE

Sunday Odedele was a speaker at the first World Public Relations Festival,Rome,2003 and the
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations annual conference,Abuja,2003.He is a co-author of the
'Evolution of Public Relations: Case Studies of Countries in Transition ' published by the
Institute for Public Relations, USA 2nd and 3rd edition(2004 & 2008). A paper presenter at the
EUPRERA2008 Congress, IULM University, Milan, Italy. He writes for Journal in the US and
UK.

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PREFACE

Public Relations and Communication Management is evolving in Africa, as African


nations seek political, industrial, and socio-economic growth. As international trade
increases in the continent, African nations are seeking industrial technological
development and their governments endeavor to improve their status in the world
community.
This evolution of Public Relations and Communication Management in the continent
has created room for breeding well trained professionals in Africa, in-order to meet the
demand in the labor market and the demand of the consumers of the Public Relations
and Communication Management products.
Books play an important role in education; good books are needed for the development
of PR education in Africa and other parts of the world.

From the series of research I conducted, it was discovered that most of the
Public Relations and Communication Management literature available are authored by
Americans and Europeans and they focused mostly on the practice in America and
Europe. This book is making me to join my professional colleagues in America and
Europe in the race of the development of Public Relations and Communication
Management literature.
In 2005, at the second World Public Relations Festival, Trieste, Prof. James Grunig (the
father of modern public relations) advised me to conduct research and write on PR
practice in Africa, this motivates me to produce this book.

The book is made up of twenty one chapters, mostly compiled case studies of previous
PR campaign taking from the five regions of the continent: North Africa, Southern
Africa, Central Africa, West Africa and East Africa, one chapter on the history of PR in
Africa, seventeen chapters of case studies and three chapters of overviews.
From my experience as a researcher and practitioner in Public Relations and
Communication Management, I feel that this book would be useful and be of value to
students, researchers, lecturers, practitioners and organizations that are interested in
knowing the public relations environment of African nations and also are with an
interest in the development of Public Relations and Communication Management
practice in Africa. The book can serve as a source of information to researchers on the
practice of Public Relations and Communication Management in Africa.
To my knowledge, no book on the practice of Public Relations and Communication
Management in Africa has yet appeared; this book is the first to be exclusively
dedicated to the practice of Public Relations and Communication Management in
African countries.

Sunday Odedele, MCIPR, MPRII

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Were it not for Prof. Toni Muzi Falconi (the first chair of the Global Alliance for Public
Relations and Communication Management:G/A) and FERPI, Italy, who spotted me out
and invested much on my international professional practice exposure, this book would
not have been written. What of the amiable British professor, Anne Gregory of Leeds
Metropolitan University (the former president of CIPR and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of
the Leeds Business School) who encouraged and assisted me to become a writer for the
Journal of Communication Management, this exposure has helped me a lot in writing
this book, what of her support in going through the manuscripts and making corrections
and giving advice on better ways to write the book, this also helped me in writing the
book.
What of James Grunig (the father of modern PR), who advised me in 2005 at the second
World Public Relations Festival to focus and write on African PR practice. What of
John Paulszek the chair of G/A for his support. What of Dr. Judy Turk and Dr. Linda
Scanlan, USA, the editors of Evolution of Public Relations: Case Studies of Countries
in Transition, who permitted me to co-author the second edition, the experience I gained
from it assisted me in putting together this book.
What of Jean Valin (the former chair of G/A) and Fraser Likely, Canada, who through
their efforts made my article ‘philosophy of PR’ to be placed on the G/A’s website, this
experience also helped me.
What of PR reporter, USA, which published my article ‘Inalienable Lubricant in The
Strategic Wheel of Management’ on June15, 1998 being my first international
publication, this has helped me a lot to improve in writing. Though late, I am
acknowledging his contribution to my success in the practice because he introduced me
to PR reporter, late Prof. Bill Adam of Florida International University. Were it not for
him, I might not be able to be writing for international journals.
What of EUPRERA, FERPI, and IULM University, Milan, Italy, who invited me as a
speaker at the EUPRERA 2008, Congress, the preparation has helped me in putting
together this book.
Thanks to G/A, PRSA, IPRA, IABC, CIPR, APRA, PRISA, PRII, CPRS, PRSK, NIPR,
IPRG, IPR of USA, PRWeek and University of Lugano, who in one way or the other
have contributed to the development of my career
My appreciation goes to all the authors and organizations who have contributed to the
existence of this book. The publisher also can not be forgotten for making it published.

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CONTENTS

PART I Page 7
The History

Chapter One: HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN AFRICA Page 14

PART II Page 28
CASE STUDIES
NON – GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs) Page 31
Chapter Two: GHANA: GRASS ROOTS SENSITIZATION AND CIVIC
EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE “WATER FOR ALL”
CAMPAIGN Page 33
Chapter Three: A PARTNERSHIP APPROACH TOADDRESSING VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN: CASE STUDY OF GHANA Page 38
HEALTH CAMPAIGN Page 46
Chapter Four: TRENDS IN TOTAL FERTILITY RATES AND CURRENT USE
OF FAMILY PLANNING: EGYPT GOLD STAR PROJECT Page 48
Chapter Five: PREVENTING, DETECTING AND TREATING MALARIA FOR
WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES: CASE STUDY OF CHEVRON NIGERIA
LIMITED Page 52
PUBLIC SECTOR Page 57
Chapter Six: PUBLIC AWARENESS ON WATER SCARCITY IN
EGYPT Page 59
Chapter Seven: THE STATUS OF E-GOVERNMENT IN
SOUTH AFRICA Page 66
Chapter Eight: THE STATUS OF CIVIC AND VOTER EDUCATION
IN ZAMBIA Page 80
MEDIA CAMPAIGN Page 84
Chapter Nine: CASE STUDY: MEDIA CAMPAIGN IN NIGERIA AND
CAMEROON TO KEEP POTENTIAL ILLEGAL MIGRANTS FROM TRYING
TO IMMIGRATE TO EUROPE Page 86
Chapter Ten: KENYAN STANDS UP AND SPEAKS OUT Page 92
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY (CSR) Page 96
Chapter Eleven: PARTNERSHIPS FOR MANAGING SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE
EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES Page 98
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME Page 106
Chapter Twelve: CASE STUDY ON COFFEE IN TANZANIA Page 108
COMMUNITY RELATIONS Page 115
Chapter Thirteen: CASE STUDY: MEETING EFA: EGYPT COMMUNITY
SCHOOLS Page 117
Chapter Fourteen: IMPROVING POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN
NIGERIA: ISSUES AT STAKE Page 128

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INTERNATIONAL PR Page 141
Chapter Fifteen: CREATING PRACTICAL AND SUSTAINABLE MEASURES
THAT WOULD HELP AFRICAN MEDIA IMPROVE THEIR COVERAGE OF
HIV/AIDS, TB AND MALARIA: CASE STUDIES OF BOTSWANA, KENYA
AND SENEGAL Page 143
Chapter Sixteen: FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION AND POVERTY
REDUCTION: THE CASE OF KENYA, LESOTHO, MALAWI
AND UGANDA Page 147
CRISIS MANAGEMENT Page 155
Chapter Seventeen: CRISIS CASE STUDY : THE PRESIDENT, HIS HEALTH
MINISTER, HER BOTTLE AND THE THEFT CONVICTION Page 157
Chapter Eighteen: CITY WATER CRISIS:
CASE STUDY TANZANIA Page 162

PART III Page 169


OVERVIEWS
Chapter Nineteen: THE ROLE OF NON GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS
(NGOs) IN THE PROTECTION OF SEA TURTLES IN EGYPT. - SAVE THE
SEA TURTLE PROJECT IN ALEXANDRIA Page 171
Chapter Twenty: INVESTMENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AND PUBLIC RELATIONS WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON
PUBLISHING NEPAD Page 175
Chapter Twenty One: OF CHARITY, PR AND THE CORPORATE
BOTTOM LINE Page 181

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PART I

HISTORY OF AFRICAN PR

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HISTORY OF AFRICAN PR

African PR is evolving, a peep into the tunnel of the practice would show that there is
light at the end of the tunnel.
There is no book on African public relations yet, this is the first book to be exclusively
dedicated to the practice of public relations and communication management in African
countries. This book deals with how public relations and communication management is
being practised in Africa.
The history of the profession in the continent, case studies of African nations and
overviews of the principles and practice of the profession are considered in the book.
The purpose of the book is to show the past and the present PR concepts and practices
which will enable the practitioners to project PR development into the future in the
continent and enable the students to understand how pr is being practised in the
continent. It will also help foreign practitioners, researchers and organizations who are
interested in African PR to develop and implement relevant PR campaigns which are
environmental compliant and effective.
The book describes the context and practice and gives case studies describing the sorts
of campaigns that are typical of the continent. The case studies are on
Non- Governmental Organizations, health campaign, public sector, media campaign,
Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development Programme, community
relations, international pr, and crisis management.
The overviews are on Non- Governmental Organizations, international pr and corporate
social responsibility.

History is the record of past events, usually with an interpretation of their cause and an
assessment of their importance. History is very important in sociological, economical,
educational, technological and political development. It is to people what the memory is
to an individual. The knowledge of the past is essential for the development of the
future. Therefore we need to know the past Public Relations practice in Africa to enable
us strategise for the present and future development of the profession in the continent.

Purpose of History of Public Relations


History of PR is studied with the aim of helping practitioners to know the past PR
concepts and practices which will enable the practitioners to project PR development
into the future. The power of a well defined PR program should be able to solve some
societal and organizational problems, because PR can be regarded as a powerful
instrument for the reconstruction, transformation of industrial, technological,
educational, political and socio-economical development.

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OVERVIEW OF AFRICA

Africa is the world's second-largest and second most-populous continent after Asia . At
about 30.2 million km² (11.7 million) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the
earth total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area. With about 922 million people
(as of 2005) in 61 territories, it accounts for about 14.2% of the world's population. The
continent is surrounded by the mediterranean sea to the north, and the red sea to the
north-east, the Indian ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic ocean to the west. There
are 46 countries including Madagascar and 53 including all the island groups.

Africa straddles the equator and encompasses numerous climate areas; it is the only
continent to stretch from the northern temperate to southern temperate zones. Because
of the lack of natural regular precipitation and irrigation as well as glacier or mountain
acquifer systems, there is no natural moderating effect on the climate except near the
coasts.

Geography
Africa is the largest of the three great southward projections from the main mass of the
earth's exposed surface.It is separated from Europe by the mediterranean sea, it is joined
to Asia at its north-east extremity by the suez canal (transected by the suez canal),
163 km (101 miles) wide. Geopolitics ,Egypt , Sinai peninsula east of the suez canal is
often considered part of Africa, as well. From the most northerly point, Ras ben Sakka
in Tunisia (37°21' N), to the most southerly point, Cape Agulhas in South Africa
(34°51'15" S), is a distance of approximately 8,000 km (5,000 miles); from cap-vert,
17°33'22" W, the western-most point, to Ras Hafun in Somalia, 51°27'52" E, the most
easterly projection, is a distance of approximately 7,400 km (4,600 miles). The coastline
is 26,000 km (16,100 miles) long, and the absence of deep indentations of the shore is
illustrated by the fact that Europe, which covers only 10,400,000 km² (4,010,000 square
miles) – about a third of the surface of Africa – has a coastline of 32,000 km
(19,800 miles).

Africa's largest country is Sudan, and its smallest country is the Seychelles, an
archipelago off the east coast. The smallest nation on the continental mainland is The
Gambia.

Politics

The African Union (AU) is a federation consisting of all of Africa's states except
Morocco. The union was formed, with Addis Ababa as its headquarters,on June 26,
2001. In July 2004, the African Union's Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was relocated to
Midrand, in South Africa, but the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
remained in Addis Ababa. There is a policy in effect to decentralise the African
Federation's institutions so that they are shared by all the states.

The African Union, not to be confused with the AU Commission, is formed by an Act
of Union which aims to transform the African Economic Community, a federated

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commonwealth, into a state, under established international conventions. The African
Union has a parliamentary government, known as the Assembly of the African Union,
consisting of legislative, judicial and executive organs, and led by the African Union
President and Head of State, who is also the President of the Pan African Parliament. A
person becomes AU President by being elected to the PAP, and subsequently gaining
majority support in the PAP.

Economy

Although it has abundant Natural resource, Africa remains the world's Poverty and most
human development continent, due largely to the effects of: tropical diseases, the
African slave trade, Corruption Perceptions, failed Central planning, the international
trade regime and geopolitics; as well as widespread human rigth violations, the negative
effects of history of colonialism,depotism,illiteracy, superstition, tribal savagery and
military conflict (ranging from civil war and guerilla warfare to genocide). According to
the UN's Human Development Report in 2003, the bottom 25 ranked nations (151st to
175th) were all African nations.

Widespread poverty,illiteracy,malnutrition and inadequate water supply and sanitation,


as well as poor health, affect a large majority of the people who reside in the African
continent, where 36.2% of the population is living on under $1 per day. Africa is by far
the world's poorest inhabited continent, and on average, in 2003 it was poorer than it
was in 1973.

Some areas, notably Botswana and South Africa, have experienced economic success.
The latter has a wealth of natural resources, being the world's leading producer of both
gold and diamond, and having a well-established legal system. South Africa also has
access to financial capital, numerous markets, skilled labor, and first world
infrastructure in much of the country and has one of the major stock exchange of the
continent, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Over a quarter of Botswana's budget (also a major diamond producer) goes toward
improving the infrastructure of Gaborone, the nation's capital, largest city, and one of
the world's fastest growing cities. Other African countries are making comparable
progress, such as Ghana, Cameroon and Egypt.

On the other hand, 80% of Zimbabwe are unemployed. Two million of the country's
residents have fled to Botswana and South Africa. Inflation rates, which fluctuate
wildly, average out to more than 1000% a year, and the Zimbabwean dollar has
depreciated against the U.S. dollar from 38 to 1 in 1999 to more than 5,000 to 1. Hunger
and starvation are widespread, and consumer shortages abound. Since 1998,
Zimbabwe's per capita gross domestic product has slid from about $700 to less than
$200. Death rates have skyrocketed, and school attendance has plummeted. Once a
country with a strong economy for Sub- Saharan Africa standards, natural resources
and a tolerant society, Zimbabwe is now one of the poorest and most bitterly divided
countries in the continent, brought to ruin in less than two decades.

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Nigeria sits on one of the largest proven oil reserves in the world and has the highest
population among nations in Africa, with one of the fastest-growing economies in the
world.

From 1995 to 2005, economic growth picked up, averaging 5% in 2005. However, some
countries experienced much higher growth (10+%) in particular, Angola, Sudan and
Equatorial Guinea, all three of which have recently begun extracting their petroleum
reserves or have expanded their oil extraction capacity.

Culture

African culture is characterised by a vastly diverse patchwork of social values, ranging


from extreme patriarchy to extreme matriarchy, sometimes in tribes existing side by
side.

Modern African culture is characterised by conflicted responses to Arab nationalism


and European imperialism. Increasingly, beginning in the late 1990s, Africans are
reasserting their identity. In North Africa especially the rejection of the label Arab or
Europe has resulted in an upsurge of demands for special protection of indigenous
amazigh languages and culture in Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. The re-
emergence of pan- Africanism since the fall of apartheid has heightened calls for a
renewed sense of African identity. In South Africa, intellectuals from settler
communities of European descent increasingly identify as African for cultural rather
than geographical or racial reasons. Famously, some have undergone ritual ceremonies
to become members of the Zulu or other community.

Much of the traditional African cultures have become impoverished as a result of years
of neglect and suppression by colonial and neo-colonial regimes. There is now a
resurgence in the attempts to rediscover and revalourise African traditional cultures,
under such movements as the African Renaissance led by Thabo Mbeki, Afrocentrism
led by an influential group of scholars including Molefi Asante, as well as the
increasing recognition of traditional spiritualism through decriminalization of vodou
and other forms of spirituality. In recent years African traditional culture has become
synonymous with rural poverty and subsistence farming.

Urban culture in Africa, now associated with Western values, is a great contrast from
traditional African urban culture which was once rich and enviable even by modern
Western standards. African cities such as loango, m’banza Congo, timbuktu, thebes,
Egypt, meroe, and others had served as the world's most affluent urban and industrial
centers, clean, well-laid out, and full of universities, libraries, and temples.

The main and most enduring cultural fault-line in Africa is the divide between
traditional pastoralism and agriculture. The divide is not, and never was based on
economic competition, but rather on the colonial racial policy that identified pastoralists
as constituting a different race from agriculturalists, and enforcing a form of apartheid
between the two cultures beginning in the 1880s and lasting until the 1960s. Although

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European colonial powers were largely industrial, many of the administrators and
philosophers, whose writings provided rationale for colonialism, applied quasi-scientific
eugenics policies and racist politics on Africans in experiments of misguided social
engineering.

Most of the racial recategorisation of Africans to fit European stereotypes was


contradictory and incoherent. However, because their legalism and laws that emanated
from these policies were backed by police force, the scientific establishment and
economic power, Africans reacted by either conforming to the new rules, or rejecting
them in favour of Pan-Africanism. All across Africa communities and individuals were
measured by colonial eugenics boards and reassigned identities and ethnicities based on
pseudo-science. The schools taught that in general Africans who resembled Europeans
in some physical or cultural aspect were superior to other Africans and deserved more
privileges.

The easiest way to divide Africans was along economic lines. Pastoralists,
agriculturalists, hunter-gatherers and Westernised Africans, all formed distinctly
identifiable cultures each of which came to play a different and disfiguring role in
Africa's modern politics. The Westernised Africans, specifically Senegal and Sudanese
Nubians from urban centers such as Dakar and Khartoum, were used to serve as the
bulk of colonial troops against the rural Africans. Pastoralists were radicalised by the
wholesale confiscation of grazing lands in favour of plantations. Agriculturalists came
into conflict for land and water with pastoralists after the traditional sharing
arrangements had been destroyed by colonial policies

Religion

Africans profess a wide variety of religious beliefs and it is difficult to compile accurate
statistics about religious demography in Africa as a whole. Estimations from World
Book Encyclopedia claim that there are 150 million African Muslims and 130 million
African Christians, while Encyclopedia Britannica estimates that approximately 46.5%
of all Africans are Christians and another 40.5% are Muslims with roughly 11.8% of
Africans following indigenous. A small number of Africans are hindu, bahai faith, or
have beliefs from the judaism. Examples of are the beta Israel, lemba peoples and the
abayudaya of Eastern Uganda.

Indigenous Sub-Saharan African religions tend to revolve around a pantheon (gods)" of


deities, and often involve animism and ancestor worship. A common thread in
traditional belief systems was the division of the spirit world into "helpful" and
"harmful" spiritual beings. Helpful , include ancestor spirits who can be called upon to
help their descendants, and more powerful spirits that protect entire communities from
natural disaster or attacks from enemies. Harmful spirits include the soul of murdered
victims who were buried without the proper funeral, and spirits used by hostile spirit
medium to cause illness among their enemies. While the effect of these early forms of
worship continues to have a profound influence, belief systems have evolved as they
interact with other religions.

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The formation of the old kingdom of Egypt in 3000 BC marked the earliest known
complex religious system on the continent, and one of the earliest in the world. Around
the ninth century, carthage in Tunisia was founded by the Phoenicians, and went on to
become a major cosmopolitan center where deity from neighboring Egypt, ancient
Rome and the etruscan civilization were worshipped. Today, many Jewish peoples also
live in North Africa, particularly in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

The founding of the orthodox church of Alexandria is traditionally dated to the mid-first
century, while the orthodox church of Ethiopia and the orthodox church of Eritrea
officially date from the fourth century. These are thus some of the first established
churches in the world. At first, Christian Orthodoxy made gains in modern-day Sudan
and other neighbouring regions. However, after the spread of Islam, growth was slow
and restricted to the highlands.

Many Sub-Saharan Africans were converted to western christianity during the colonial
period. In the last decades of the twentieth century, various sects of charistimatic
movements rapidly grew. A number of Roman Catholic African bishops were
mentioned as possible pope candidates in 2005, the most prominent of those being
Nigerian Francis Arinze

Islam entered Africa as Arab Muslims conquered North Africa between 640 and 710,
beginning with Egypt. They settled in Mogadishu, Melinde, Mombasa, Kilwa, and
Sofala, following the sea trade down the coast of East Africa, and diffusing through the
Sahara desert into the interior of Africa—following in particular the paths of Muslim
traders. Muslims were also among the Asian peoples who later settled in British-ruled
Africa. During colonial times, Christianity had success in converting those who
followed traditional religions but had very little success in converting Muslims, who
took advantage of the urbanization and increase in trade to settle in new areas and
spread their faith. As a result, Islam in sub-Saharan Africa probably doubled between
1869 and 1914.

Islam continued this tremendous growth into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Today, backed by gulf oil cash, Muslims have increased success in proselytizing, with a
growth rate, by some estimates, that is twice as fast as Christianity in Africa.

Source: Wikipedia encyclopedia .

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Chapter One

HISTORY OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN AFRICA

African public relations practice

PR practice in Africa can be classified into two: ancient and modern.


Ancient practice: This was the pre-colonial practice of PR.
• How to record and communicate information about religion and government.
Thus written scripts were invented that could be used to record this information
such as hieroglyphic and papyrus scrolls.
• How the scribes worked; writing hieroglyphs, keeping government records and
writing letters for kings.
• Using of communication tools and media; gong, talking drum, moon-light story
telling, folk tales telling, village square gathering, sporting activities.

Modern practice: It comprises the colonial and post-colonial practice of the profession,
• Press Agentry.
• Public Information.
• Two-way Asymmetrical.
• Two-way Symmetrical.

Press agentry describes the model where information moves one-way from the
organization to its publics. ……… it is synonymous with promotions and publicity.
Public relations people operating under this model are constantly looking for
opportunities to get their organization’s name favorably mentioned in the media.
Public information differs from press agentry because the intent is to inform rather
than to press for sales, but communication is still essentially one-way. Practitioners
operating under this model respond to queries from their various publics and become
proactive when they believe their publics need to know something important.
The two-way asymmetric model is best described as scientific persuasion. It employs
social science methods to increase the persuasiveness of its message. Public relations
practitioners use polls, interviews, and focus groups to measure public attitudes that
gain the support of key publics. Although feedback is built into process, the
organization is much interested in having the publics adjust to the organization rather
than the reverse.

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The two-way symmetric model represents a public relations orientation in which
organizations and their publics adjust to each other. It focuses on mutual understanding
and two-way communication rather than one-way persuasion.(James Grunig, 1992)

The practice of public relations in Africa can be traced to around 1700 BC in the ancient
Egypt.
Egyptian Life
Daily life in ancient Egypt revolved around the Nile and the fertile land along its banks.
The yearly flooding of the Nile enriched the soil and brought good harvests and wealth
to the land.
The people of ancient Egypt built mud brick homes in villages and in the country. They
grew some of their own food and traded in the villages for the food and goods they
could not produce.
Most ancient Egyptians worked as field hands, farmers, craftsmen and scribes. A small
group of people were nobles. Together, these different groups of people made up the
population of ancient Egypt. 1 (The British Museum)
Pharaoh: Lord of the Two Lands
The most powerful person in ancient Egypt was the pharaoh. The pharaoh was the
political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Two
Lands' and 'High Priest of Every Temple'.
As 'Lord of the Two Lands' the pharaoh was the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. He
owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against
foreigners.
As 'High Priest of Every Temple', the pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He
performed rituals and built temples to honour the gods.
Many pharaohs went to war when their land was threatened or when they wanted to
control foreign lands. If the pharaoh won the battle, the conquered people had to
recognise the Egyptian pharaoh as their ruler and offer him the finest and most valuable
goods from their land. 2 (The British Museum)

Writing
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to record and communicate
information about religion and government. Thus, they invented written scripts that
could be used to record this information.
The most famous of all ancient Egyptian scripts is hieroglyphic. However, throughout
three thousand years of ancient Egyptian civilisation, at least three other scripts were
used for different purposes. Using these scripts, the scribes were able to preserve the
beliefs, history and ideas of ancient Egypt in temple and tomb walls and on the papyrus
scrolls. 3 (The British Museum)
The Scribes
Two main duties of the scribes:
• Writing hieroglyphs that appeared on the tomb and temples
• Keeping government records and writing letters for pharaoh.
These scribes were the governments and the religious organizations public relations
executives, because they kept record and communicate information about religion and
government to the masses.

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Joseph in the Bible was the PR executive to the government of Egypt of his time. To
avert famine at that time, he used PR campaign to educate the Egyptians for gathering
food for seven years of plenty and to distribute food for the other seven years of famine.
He demonstrated PR prowess by analyzing trends, predicting their consequences,
counselling Pharaoh (the head of the government) and implementing planned program
of action which served the government’s and the public interest. This collaborated with
the IPRA’s definition of PR: PR practice is the art and social science of analyzing
trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organization leaders and
implementing planned program of action which will serve both the organization’s and
the public interest.

There were different means of communication in Africa as earlier mentioned before the
advent of the colonial masters; these include using the gong by the town crier to call the
attention of the target audience and announcing the message of the ruler, elder
consultative forum, age-group forum, moon-light story telling, folk tales telling, talking
drums, village square gathering, sporting activities, etc.

Development in North Africa


Despite the fact that one of the early history of PR practice could be traced to North
Africa , PR is still at low ebb in the region. There is only one PR association in the
region, ‘Arab Public Relations Society’ of Egypt. The ignorance of public relations
activities affect the perception of the people of the region of the power and usefulness of
PR. It is only Egypt that has a record of PR practice in the region.

Public relations as a separate business function is practically non-existent in Egyptian


and other Middle Eastern companies. Egypt's only major PR firm, RadaResearch and
Public Relations Co, caters mostly to foreign companies that understand the importance
of PR in the business environment. This situation is attributed to the lack of
understanding of the value of a favorable public image in the region. RadaResearch PR
Manager Halim Abou Seif also points to the differences between Western and Middle
Eastern business practices. He notes that Egyptian and Middle Eastern business
communicators need to improve on such areas as translating, informing clients as to
how they are perceived by the public, planning technical articles for the 'vertical' media,
and dealing with 'crisis' situations.
According to observers of the Egyptian business scene, Egyptian businesses do not
understand the contribution public relations can make, confuse it with advertising or
don't believe in it even while the private sector is growing in the new era of economic
reform toward privatization.
Business people in the Middle East don't know that in the U.S. and Europe, public
relations is much more than generating favorable publicity and knowing what kind of
story is likely to be printed or broadcast. They don't know that a strategic goal is to
project a favorable public image, one of good corporate citizenship. Nor, that allied with
that is the first responsibility of public relations: to persuade management that the
reality must correspond with the public image.
One Egyptian practitioner, who works with 15 foreign clients, sees his company's client
list growing in the next five years, but is pessimistic about any growth among Egyptian
companies working with the profession.

16
Halim Abou Seif, public relations manager for RadaResearch, says, "There is not
enough understanding among Egyptian companies about what public relations can do.
Whatever growth comes will come from international companies."
He notes that the Egyptian culture differs from the Western experience and that business
practices, financing, retail distribution and consumer tastes may appear unusual to a
foreign company doing business in Egypt for the first time.
He adds that Egyptian culture often requires an approach quite different from accepted
practice in North America and Europe.
RadaResearch, founded in 1982, is an Egyptian company, independently owned and
managed by Loula Zaklama, a dynamic executive who frequently travels through the
Western world to meet with clients, being invited into their corporate planning sessions.
For example, in July she was in Germany to meet with top executives of Upjohn, one of
the firm's clients.
She has been a public relations practitioner for a dozen years, teaches the subject at
American University in Cairo, and has taken numerous courses in the U.S. and U.K.
Zaklama is well known in the American Chamber of Commerce in Cairo as a member
of several international public relations associations that work to codify and uphold
ethical standards.
Understanding PR is rare
She says she is disturbed by the status of public relations in Egypt, which she
characterizes as a profession like engineering or architecture. She estimates there are
about 5,000 people in the country who have the title of public relations practitioner, but
they don't understand the concept of the profession at all.
In Zaklama's view there are no more than 50 skilled professionals in the country. Some,
she says, are employed by industry and hotels.
But, overall, she looks askance at the role of public relations in hotels.
"The hotels tend to dump public relations into the sales department or guest relations.
They do a lot of other things and it's just a side job."
Her firm employs 25 Egyptians, with five working on public relations. It is affiliated
with the international communication firms of Gallup International, Hill & Knowlton
and Charles Barker of London -- and its major clients include Boeing, Pepsi Cola,
Procter and Gamble and Glaxo, a British pharmaceutical firm.
RadaResearch -- which has done no advertising work for six years -- offers a classic
example of what a public relations agency can do for a client wherever the client is
located. Its wide range of professional services to help clients meet their corporate
relations and communication needs include these standard practices:
* Media relations, which includes issuing the news releases, following up with the
media on news releases, regular personal contact with media representatives,
preparation of media kits for news conferences and special events.
* Special events planning and coordination for inaugurations, seminars, open houses,
visits, exhibitions and conferences.
* Clipping and monitoring of Egyptian and Middle East media on matters concerning
clients. Articles are clipped daily and translated into English, Arabic and French and
faxed to clients on a regular basis.
* Marketing support of public relations programs including visits to factories and
offices and distribution of promotional material.
Market research a necessity for some

17
A major part of the company's overall operations is market research services which
handles both qualitative and quantitative research from small focus groups to national
surveys. These services are for attitude studies, new product development, product
testing, social research studies and market forecasting.
It is one of only several companies specializing in market research in Egypt.
Seif says that the media relations aspect of public relations in Egypt is "very tough."
"There is a big confusion among the news media people about advertising and public
relations. When we call on the media, they often think it's for advertising. For the media
to run a story based on a press release it has to be a strong, fantastic event.
"It's hard to get the name of your client printed. Our clients understand this. It takes time
to build an awareness of a product. In time, maybe you can get the name of the client
into the story rather than just 'pharmaceutical firm."
Seif recalls a major PepsiCo convention at Mena House, one of the five-star Cairo
hotels, attended by more than 300 company executives. The chairman gave a speech on
economics; some of the media mentioned the name of the company, some described
him as head of a "soft drink company."
Among the special events RadaResearch has worked on was General Motors Egypt's
official factory opening and Northrop Corporation's demonstration of its F-20 Tiger
Shark fighter aircraft to the Egyptian Air Force.
Seif says the best chance for publicity is via special events because of the "very difficult
reception" of news sent to the media in Cairo.
However, he notes that magazines are not as difficult as television, radio and the major
newspapers (which have severe limitations of space). Photos sent to the major daily
print media are "out of the question" whereas magazines will use a quality shot,
especially the business weekly Tissadi.
Technology lags, pace is slower.
A major difference between doing media relations in the Western world and Egypt is
that very little communication is done here via fax or telephone.
Seif says: "You have to go to the media person each time, explain, and follow-up in
person. There's a problem because many are only in the office one hour a day and the
trick is to find out what that hour is."
Another aspect of RadaResearch's media relations is having clients -- such as Boeing
and Upjohn -- invite Egyptian news reporters to their headquarters in the U.S.
There, they have an opportunity to learn some key aspects of public relations. These, he
says, include:
• Translating. Most executives do not excel at public speaking or writing in non-
business words -- so the public relations function is to translate the executive's
knowledge into intelligible information, without jargon, to an audience.
• Acquainting the client with public perceptions of that client so that information
disseminated is consistent with the real world.
• Preparing technical articles for what is called the "vertical" media (a term not
known in the Middle East).
• And, responding to "crisis" situations. The concept has not arrived in the Middle
East, with one exception, that when a disaster strikes, the public relations
practitioner's job, working with legal counsel, is to assess the situation, assemble
the facts, and organize the client's response. The exception was several years ago
when a Kuwaiti airliner was hijacked, and the Kuwaitis adopted a public
relations plan.

18
Seif, who has been with RadaResearch for two years, after working in market research,
says his section works closely with the public relations departments of its clients. For
example, he spent 10 days in Seattle, Wash., on a trip to the Boeing Company.
RadaResearch is planning now for two events this fall. One is prominent U.S. heart
surgeon Adel Matar's return to Egypt to perform several sophisticated operations and
participate in medical conferences and, the arrival of the new Boeing 737-500 for the
national airline, Egypt Air.
In summing up, Seif says the view of public relations by RadaResearch is remarkably in
sync with prevailing practice in the U.S. But, it's a loner in the Middle East.
Paul Spiers is a media consultant and freelancer in Cairo.
4 Source: International Association of Business Communicators

Development in Southern Africa

The development of PR practice is more advanced in South Africa than other countries
in the region. Although the practice is developing in Zambia, there is no PR association
in the country. Swaziland and Zimbabwe have national PR associations, while Namibia
is a member of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa, PR practice is also
developing in Lesotho, although there is no national PR association.
The era of modern PR in South Africa could be traced to the colonial era, this led to the
establishment of PRISA.

PRISA - the Institute for Public Relations & Communication Management was
founded in 1957 by a handful of public relations practitioners. Membership grew over
the years - today membership stands at 3 510 including students. “The institute
represents senior practitioners and consultants as well as student members. It is
dedicated to delivering dynamic, value-added services to members and to ensure
continued growth and professionalisation of the industry”. 7 Source: PRISA

Public relations is evolving in South Africa, according to Kate Bapela (PRISA former
president) the vision of PRISA is “Recognition of public relations professionals as role
players of significance in Southern Africa and beyond”. 5 (Bapela, 2003). This is not
just on the paper, it is being pursued logically for actualization.
According to Jane Weaver on his experience of PR practice in South Africa (which
portrays the level of the development of PR practice in the country):
Gone are the days of public relations being a stand alone tool as the method of
communicating an organization's message to its target audience.
In order to survive in the media noise of today, companies must consider implementing
an integrated communications strategy. Such a strategy needs to encompass all elements
of the traditional or classical marketing mix in addition to other, more innovative
tactics.

19
The evolution in the "classical" marketing world has led to a blurring of boundaries in
terms of what each service provider offers to its client base. However, it is this very
blurring of boundaries that has spearheaded the revolution in what is generally referred
to as the public relations space. Public relations has evolved to being a service involving
strategic thought and implementation across all elements of the communications mix.
An early definition, coined by Edward Bernay, held that: "Public relations was a
management function which tabulated public attitudes, defined the policies, procedures
and interest of an organisation, which was then followed by the execution of a
programme of action to earn public understanding and acceptance."
Evolving
Modern PR approaches are required to be far more integrated and dynamic. Not only
are they compelled to keep pace with an industry that is continually evolving with the
changing media landscape, but they also have to ensure that they are tuned into the
concomitant revolution in the marketing arena. Today, any self-respecting
communications consultancy that offers public relations as a tool, acknowledges that
public relations is - as Robert Heath says - a set of management, supervisory and
technical functions that foster an organisation's ability to strategically listen to,
appreciate and respond to those persons whose mutually beneficial relationships with
the organisation are necessary to achieve its mission and values.
Essentially, an organization that invests in PR is investing in a management function
that focuses on two-way communication and fostering of mutually beneficial
relationships between that company and its target audiences.
Because the essence of public relations, or rather - integrated communications - is so
deeply embedded in relationships (those between an organisation - its publics and the
media), a further enhancement to the modern approach is a focus on relationship
development and management. Communications is fast becoming an applied social
science where psychology, as well as knowledge of disciplines related to understanding
human behaviour is considered an essential skill for successful practice of the craft.
Strategic communications - PR - is no longer about disseminating press releases. It's a
'brave new world' which embodies a well considered strategic communications process
(which, by its very nature, must be dynamic and evolutionary). The thinking behind this
process has to go way beyond the perceived logical benefits of a traditional PR
campaign to a point where every customer touch point is optimised.
(Jane Weaver is client service director at HMC Seswa Corporate Communications).
6 Source: www.E:\allAfrica_com South Africa PR is Only One Part of Integrated
Communications (Page 1 of 1).htm

According to Margaret Moscardi (the executive director of PRISA) at the annual review
2003/2004.PRISA’ success can be summarized thus:
• Establishment of board for public relations and communication in the Business
chamber
• Representation on the Business Chamber of the services SETA Exco.
• Leadership within G/A and FAPRA
• ISO certification to new standard
• Positioning within Africa through EAPRA and FAPRA
• Hosting of 2006 FAPRA conference
• Launch of Progressions-CPD for the profession
• Expansion of skills development

20
• Benchmarked levels of practice
• Registration system aligned to levels of practice
• Expanded code of ethics and professional standards aligned with global protocol
• Standards generation
• Leadership development
8 ( Moscardi 2004).

Development in West Africa

The development of PR is more noticeable in Nigeria and Ghana being former British
colonies, couple with growth of civilization, industrialization and political development
in the two countries, although still at low ebb. Both countries have national PR
associations and have both hosted FAPRA’s conference, there are PR firms in the two
countries. There is no PR association in the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast,
Togo and other West African countries.

The development of modern public relations in Nigeria started in 1948 when the then
colonial administration set up a public relations department with offices in Lagos,
Ibadan, Kaduna and Enugu. In charge of the department was a public relation expert,
Mr. Harold Cooper, who successfully modernized government information services,
and initiated the policy of interpreting government policies to the people. The
department was designed to monitor the reaction of the people to official policies and
activities; serve as liaison between the mass media and the government and carry out
general public relations functions for the government.

---------- the activities of Mr. Cooper and his team of expatriates and Nigerians were
initially concentrated on publicity work dealing with problems arising from the second
world war such as shortages of goods, deprivation of the necessities of life and
imposition of an austere regime by the colonial government. A special section of the
department was engaged in publicizing and popularizing the work of the marketing
board which at time needed the support of the producers at the grass roots level.
Similar publicity activities were simultaneously taking place in such large organizations
as the Nigerian Railway which for example used the services of --- Ernest Ikoli, a
veteran journalist on a trainer basis.
In addition to ensuring a regular flow of information covering the facets of government
activities to the people and interpreting the prevailing policies, Harold Cooper
established contacts with selected leaders of thought whose views and attitudes were
calculated to be helpful to the overall communication efforts. One interesting novelty
was to address letter of welcome to all Nigerian returning from abroad offering them
assistance towards the finding of jobs or resettlement in other ways. Harold Cooper was
succeeded by his deputy, Mr.John Stocker, who was assisted by such Nigerian stalwarts
as Ayo Ljadu, and Mobolaji Odunewu consolidated and expanded government
information and public relations activities in the country.

The growing wave of nationalism which followed the end of the war, the emergence of
political parties, the fight for independence, ------ campaign for Nigerianization of both
the public and private sectors suddenly awakened the foreign firms which dominated
the economy of the country to the need for some form of public relations activities

21
calculated to meet press criticisms and misconception of their roles on the part of the
people. ----- the only form of pr practised by the trading firms consisted mainly in
occasional Hand-outs of specimen items of trade to customers directly or through
agents.
The next significant changes in the development of pr in Nigeria occurred between the
years 1950 and 1960.This period witnessed --- political, social and economical changes
in the country including the attainment of independence with all its implication s, the
discovery of oil and the shift of emphasis from general trading to industrialization...
Led by -------- Shell and U.A.C, the companies were compelled to launch planned
programmes covering government press and community relations.
They also helped to popularize the creation of pr departments in their various
companies, and the development of Nigerians to man such positions.
Simultaneously with these developments, the public relations group in the press club of
Nigeria in 1959 decide to organise its own separate activities beginning with lunches,
film shows, lectures, and such activities as are calculated to be in consonance with the
fundamental principles of public relations practice in a developing society.

Following these rapid and extensive spread of public relations activities during the
decade--------------, the activity gained professional identity in 1962 with the
establishment of the Public Relations Association of Nigeria under the leadership of
late Dr.Sam Epelle, a one time director of the federal ministry of information.
Association helped to draw together an increasing number of practitioners who over the
years had become members, associates of the British institute of public relations.
------- from the mid sixties to the mid-eighties, the association subsequently adopted the
more professional name of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.

Other contributors to the progress of pr in Nigeria include such as Dennis Buckle,


formerly of UAC, and John Stocker, one time regional director of information based in
Enugu, Eastern Nigeria...
---- , Mass Communication which provides the back-bone for effective practice of the
profession was introduced as a course in ------ the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the
University of Lagos and the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu. 9 (Offonry,
1985).

According to Dayo Duyile 10 (Duyile,2006), the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations


was chartered in 1990.

The evolution PR in Nigeria in the private and public sectors has resulted to the
establishment of public relations firms, this led to the formation of the Nigerian Public
Relations Consultants Association in 1983.

Public Relations is developing in Ghana , there is a national professional body.


The Institute of Public Relations, Ghana was established in 1972 as the Public Relations
Association of Ghana (PRAG) and registered as a professional body in 1972. PRAG
was re-organized and a new constitution and code of ethics were adopted on December
6,1991 which transformed PRAG into Institute of Public Relations, Ghana (IPR).

22
Development in East Africa
The wave of growth in PR practice is moving across the continent. To strengthen PR
practice in the eastern region of Africa, the Eastern African Public Relations
Associations (EAPRA) was established on December 13, 2002, comprising the
Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK), Public Relations Associations of Uganda
(PRAU), Public Relations Associations Of Tanzania (PRAT) and Rwanda’s association.
According to Peter Mutie “ With the birth of EAPRA, Public Relations practice in the
region is expected to take deeper root and cross-border consultation expedited. EAPRA
will be seeking observer status in the East Africa Community and the preliminary
indication from the community show no objection to this status. The association will
also be seeking to play a leading role in building the image of the region and
supplementing the EAC’s endeavours in projecting the true face of the region’s
economic, socio-political and environmental status”. 11 (Mutie,2003).

PR is evolving in Mauritius, an independent Island republic in the Western Indian


Ocean, east of Madagascar, which is in East Africa. Although she is not a member of
EAPRA, she has a national PR association named Public Relations Association of
Mauritius, which is a member of FAPRA.

Development in Central Africa

The PR practice is noticed in Cameroon, there is a national PR association in the


country, while other countries in the regions have no PR associations.

AFRICAN PUBLIC RELATIONS ASSOCIATIONS (FAPRA)


APRA formerly FAPRA is a non–governmental-non–political and non–profit making
professional Association established to foster unity and interaction amongst Public
Relation Practitioners in Africa as a whole.
The Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA) was inaugurated in
Nairobi Kenya in the year 1975, as the umbrella body of all National Public Relations
Associations in Africa.12 (FAPRA’s website)
FAPRA is the continental body of the PR practitioners. It was established to improve
public relations co-operation and development in Africa.
It aims at functioning like European Confederation of Public Relations (CEPR), its
European counterpart but with focus on environmental adaptation to make modern PR
practice relevant to African nations.

MISSION

Our primary purpose is to help in creating an enabling professional environment for


accurate perception, goodwill and understanding of necessary and effective performance
of Public Relations practice in Africa.

FAPRA ( Federation of African Public Relations Assiociations )


The Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA) inaugurated in 1975,
Nairobi Kenya is the umbrella body of all National Public Relations Associations in
Africa.

23
The Association set out to achieve the following aims & objectives:
- To be the clearing house for public relations information in Africa

- To set standards of public relations practice through its code of ethics.

- To foster the establishment of national and sub-regional public relations organisations


so that the profession can flourish in the continent.

- To promote African Unity and Co-operation especially as consultant body to the


African Union and its various agencies.

- To publish bulletins and journals on public relations in Africa.

- To affiliate with all other similar international professional bodies.


These aims and objectives are complemented by a 17-paragraph Code of Professional
Conduct approved by its Council. 13 (FAPRA’s website)

Focus of FAPRA
• Collaborating with the higher educational institutions in providing
education/training
• Conducting research on African Union (AU) on PR affairs in the continent
• Establishing a Public Relations Education Training (PRETFUND) to promote
public relations education, training and research.
• Publishing of the professional journal, ‘Public Relations in Africa’
• Re-positioning Africa’s image and reputation, correcting the misperceptions and
misrepresentations.
• Exploiting the power of the mass media, establishing a continental broadcasting
network and encouraging the exchange of news stories between journalists and
PR practitioners.
• Transparency, trust, honesty and integrity should portray PR practice in the
continent.
• Forging partnership with NGO, private and public enterprises and governments
to galvanise change on the continent.
• Making the practitioners to intensify training, change orientation, update
knowledge of current issues, engage in peer review mechanisms, self-critique
and assess their contributions to Afro-optimism beyond rhetoric.
• Making the national PR associations to become more active and add impact on
the activities and image of FAPRA.

National PR Associations which are members of FAPRA

24
Nigeria
Nigeria Institute of Public Relations
28/30 Ajanaku Street, off Opebi Road,
Ikeja , Lagos.
Tel: (234) 1 497 5444

South Africa
Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa
ProComm House, 108 Hendrik Verwoerd Drive Ferndale, P.O.Box 2825, Pinegowrie,
2123, Randburg
Tel: (11) 326 1262, Fax: (11) 326 1259
E-mail: info@prisa.co.za

Swaziland
Swaziland Public Relations Association
Box 5374, Mbabane
Tel: (268) 40 47977, Fax: (268) 40 47977

Uganda
Swaziland Public Relations Association
P.O Box 3206, Kampala
Tel: (256) 77 405 759, Fax: (256) 41 233 818

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations
P.O.Box 445, Harare
Tel: (263) 4 795 031, Fax: (263) 4 792 516

Cameroon
Cameroon Public Relations Asociation
BP 7768, Yaounde
Tel: (237) 23 39 41, Fax: (237) 23 39 31

Egypt
Arab Public Relations Society
15, Emad Eldin Street,
P.O.Box821, Cairo
Tel: (20) 2 900 257
Email: rrpr@intouch.com
APRA Membership Network

Ghana
Institute of Public Relations In Ghana
No. 196/9 Fifth Estate Road,
Kanda. P.O.Box 15118,
Accra, Ghana.
Tel: (233) 21 228 337, Fax: (233) 21 225 879

25
Kenya
Public Relations Society of Kenya
99, Mucai Drive, Off Ngong Road, C/o Corporate Reflection Ltd. P.O. BOX 47711-
00100 Nairobi.
Tel: (254) 2 720014, 2 720670
Fax: (254) 2 723816
Email: prsk@prsk.co.ke

Mauritius
Public Relations Association of Mauritius
C/o Imagine Communications Ltd,
43, Ternay Street, Port Louis,
Tel: (230) 210 1631 Fax: (230) 210 5035
Email: imacom@bow.intnet.mu

According to Dayo Duyile,, “Today in Africa PR is being acknowledged as an


important communication tool to sustain democratic process and to help preserve the
economy, and preserve cultural history and to some extent the African political systems.
14 (Duyile,2006)
There are indigenous and foreign Pr firms in some African countries. Many
organizations and the government are employing PR practitioners to meet up with
challenges from the publics.
Public Relations Education in Africa
PR education is evolving in Africa, there are many universities in South Africa offering
degree course in PR. In Nigeria, the first University to offer a degree programme in PR
is the University of Nigeria Nsukka, (MSC Public Relations), some Nigerian
Universities are now offering first degree in PR.
The Ghanaian Institute of Journalism, Accra is offering public relations courses along
its 2- year Diploma course in Journalism.
African PR associations play important role in the development of public relations
course in many colleges and universities. They also organise seminars, conferences,
workshops, etc for the improvement and development of the profession and the
professionals.
PRISA and NIPR run professional qualifying courses and examinations, PRISA and
NIPR professional diploma exams

PRISA also conduct Accreditation programmes (APR) for standardization,


professionalism and education for the practitioners.

26
References

1. The British Museum


2. The British Museum
3. The British Museum
4. Source: International Association of Business Communicators
5. Bapela, 2003,Communika PRISA Journal
6. Source: www.E:\allAfrica_com South Africa PR is Only One Part of Integrated
Communications (Page 1 of 1).htm
7. Source: PRISA website
8. Moscardi 2004,Communika PRISA Journal
9. Offonry,H,K1985,Guide To Public Relations Practice In Nigeria,Lagos
10. Public Relations Practice-African Perspective(Duyile,2006)
11. PR Arena PRSK Journal (Mutie,2003)
12. FAPRA’s website
13. FAPRA’s website
14. Duyile,2006

27
PART II

CASE STUDIES

28
CASE STUDIES

Using PR in Africa grew out of relatively consistent research findings demonstrating


that focused, receiver oriented communication strategies could play a significant role in
accelerating the rate of technology transfer, whether it be process or product- or both.
The use of PR could accelerate awareness of, and adoption rates toward, recommended
technologies through information, motivational messages and training.

PR campaigns have been used in many African countries, with outstanding results.
According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO):
Certainly among the best documented campaign examples were those launched in
Tanzania during the 70's, namely, the 1973 health campaign, Man is Health, which ran
for a 12 week period, and the 1975 nutrition campaign, Food Is Life, which extended
over an 18 week period. Both campaigns, conducted on a national level, were built
around organized, village-based study groups. About 70 000 such groups, with 15
people in each, were targeted in the first campaign and 75 000 in the second. Basic
elements included a weekly half-hour radio broadcast, an accompanying text book with
a specific chapter reinforcing each radio lesson, and trained group leaders supplied with
study guide manuals. Radio was also used in a variety of ways to encourage enrolment.
Songs written especially for the campaigns were promoted (one written for the health
campaign quickly climbed to the top ten in the national hit parade), and catchy
commercials were aired frequently. Several speeches were carried by the Prime
Minister calling for full participation. Additional promotion materials included posters,
press releases, and T-shirts and dresses bearing the campaign logos.

The target for the first campaign was one million participants, and 1.5 million for the
second. Both campaigns exceeded these targets with some 2 million initially showing
up for the sessions. As a result, a number of problems arose which were not initially
foreseen. Chief among these were the supplies of both study texts and group leader
manuals; and because of the burgeoning numbers, some of the group leaders which had
to be quickly pressed into service were inadequately trained. Some critics have also
questioned the length of each campaign as being too short to expect many behavioural
changes, with the length of time between campaigns, i.e., two years, dissipating the
effects of one before the next began. And while positive results were recorded during
the first campaign, in terms of knowledge of causes and prevention of common diseases
and improvement in some health practices, no Before-after' impact evaluation studies
were conducted in the second. The more compelling legacies of these campaigns thus

29
rested in the guidelines they provided for orchestrating action on a national level to
improve the quality of rural life, and lessons for doing it better.

The case studies in this book, except those on crisis management are intended to shed
light on outstanding examples of effective use of PR strategies/tactics in achieving
organizational objectives and goals. This book examines the types of PR and
communication strategies/tactics used in some African countries for development and in
particular the role of PR as a catalyst to organizational success. On this ground, the
book will be useful to project planners, government-level decision makers, practitioners,
organizations, researchers, lecturers and students.

As you are studying these cases, you need to ask yourself the following questions at the
end of reading each case to show your understanding of the case:

• Who are the stakeholders in this case and their interest?


• What are the strategic tactics and techniques used in that campaign?
• What was the research methodology used to develop the plan?
• What are the methods of evaluation used to determine results?
• What are the reasons for the success of the program?
• What might have made the program more successful?
• What would you have done if you are the Public Relations Executive of the
Organization?
In your planning, take into account the following:
Strategic Communication Objectives: What are the organization’s strategic
operational objectives and how can we link them directly to our communication
objectives?
Audience Analysis: Who are the most concerned you are reaching? why do you
communicate with them?, what outcome do you hope for when you reach them?
Message Construction: What do you want to say to each of these audiences? will
your messages differ from one set of stakeholders to another?, how simple or
complex should the message be?
Medium Selection: How would you reach the stakeholders? would you consider
electronic means?, how about print?, would you deliver the message through the
press?, how would you like to communicate with one or more of the stakeholder
groups?
Measurement of Outcomes: How will you know if you have succeeded? what
criteria would you use to determine success?, if the campaign is not successful,
what would you consider changing first: medium, message, audience or
objective?

30
NON – GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)

31
NON – GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs)

The survival of any NGO hinges on effective PR and communication management,


because of the diverse audience and stakeholders which they deal with.
The two case studies are examples of PR activities in the NGOs.

32
Chapter Two

Ghana: Grass roots sensitization and civic education:


A case study of the “water for all” campaign
By Rudolf Amenga-Etego

This case study is on Not-for-Profit Organization.

BACKGROUND
The government of Ghana does not appear to have any coherent water sector policy of
its own. Basically, it has relied on the World Bank for policy direction. Two important
World Bank-backed policies have been key to setting the stage for the privatization of
water in Ghana: decentralization and separation.
Fiscal & budgetary decentralization
In 1988, the Government of Ghana began to implement this policy in order to devolve
certain fiscal, administrative and development responsibilities from the central
government to the district assemblies. Most rural districts have since indicated severe
distress, largely due to difficulties in raising sufficient revenue to address poverty in
these areas. The expectation that these rural communities will provide substantial
back-up funds for decentralized water projects has proved unrealistic. While
decentralization can increase participation, accountability and transparency,
World Bank-prescribed decentralization, at least in the case of Ghana, is driven
primarily by fiscal concerns – that is, the desire to reduce central government
expenditures and increase the revenue generation responsibilities at the district level.
The fundamental concern of the World Bank is to reduce the government’s deficits and
improve the government’s ability to pay back its loans. It has little, if anything at all, to
do with improving grassroots democracy and reducing poverty.
The decentralization process, therefore, set the stage not only for devolving to the
districts the responsibility for the provision of drinking water and sanitation services, but
also shifted some of the responsibility for the government’s international debt burden
repayment to the impoverished rural and semi rural areas.
Separation of rural and urban water services
In the 1993/4 fiscal years, the Government began to implement a World Bank-backed
policy to segregate the potentially profitable urban water supply systems from the
unprofitable rural water systems. The same policy also shifted responsibility for
sanitation and wastewater management to the impoverished local governments.
The World Bank prescribed the policy of separation or segregation [unbundling] in
order to create a segment of the water sector that would be attractive to, and profitable
for, foreign private investors. This process is sometimes called “cherry picking” or
“cream skimming.” Prior to the segregation policy, there existed an integrated water
and sewerage system, which ensured that drinking water and sanitation were managed
together. It also facilitated cross subsidies. The relatively better resourced metropolitan
and urban communities together with industry paid a small levy to support government
delivery of water to the relatively poorer rural
communities. The segregation policy has destroyed all that. The result is that less
endowed local governments are unable to meet the water and sanitation needs of their
people.
It is worth noting that the INFORMATION MEMORANDUM prepared for donors by
STONE & WEBSTER stipulates that the prospective investors will not be responsible
for providing water to low-income communities in the urban areas. This remains the
responsibility of the Government of Ghana. The privatization scheme is tailored to meet

33
the objectives of the multi-national corporations such Suez Lyonnaise, Saur and
Biwater who want profits without risks. Flipping through the memorandum it becomes
obvious that the urban poor are not likely to benefit from the expansion of water supply
in the urban area under privatization. Also, the segregation of rural water from urban
water ensures that the majority of the people who live in the rural areas will not benefit
from the expected “efficiency miracles” envisaged under privatization. This has been
made even more unlikely as a result of the imposition by the IMF of an automatic water
rate adjustment mechanism on the State regulator, the Public Utilities Regulatory
Commission (PURC), that ensures that water rates adjust automatically as the local
currency appreciates or depreciates against the US dollar. For quite obvious reasons
the rates have only been adjusting upwards since the process began. Therefore, it is
unlikely that the profit motives of the private operators, literally protected by IMF/WB
conditionality and anchored by the principles of full cost recovery, will be consistent
with the policy objectives of the Government to supply the poor.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The reform in the water sector must be aimed at achieving full protection of the rights of
all to potable water. The ultimate objective should be to achieve universal access. This
means that water must be identified primarily as a public good and a human right and
not simply as a commodity to be traded in the open market. In determining the
mechanisms of access, reforms must also take into consideration the gender inequities
and the power relations at the family, community, and state levels.

OBJECTIVES:

• Conducting a broad-based campaign to ensure that all Ghanaians haves


access to safe and affordable potable water.
• Ensuring that ownership, control and management of water services remain in
public/community hands.
• Promoting public awareness about the privatization process.
• Developing and promoting alternative solutions to the problems militating
against universal access to water including problems of public management
and efficiency.

METHOD

The emergence of National Coalition Against Privatization (CAP) of Water


In reaction to the above, a national campaign defending the right to safe, affordable
water and a broad-based dialogue on alternative water management options became
an urgent priority. In May 2001Integrated Social Development Coalition (ISODEC)
organized a National Forum on water sector reforms in Ghana and conducted two days
of strategizing that involved a broad cross section of civil society in Ghana. Out of this
forum was born the National Coalition Against Privatization (CAP) of Water based on
resolutions that participants were able to adopt together. These were then presented in
a document titled the Accra Declaration and addressed to the President, the
Parliament, the press
and the general public. The Accra Declaration spelled out the principles and objectives
for which the CAP would stand which included (1) conducting a broad-based campaign
to ensure that all Ghanaians haves access to safe and affordable potable water; (2)
ensuring that ownership, control and management of water services remain in

34
public/community hands; (3) promoting public awareness about the privatization
process; and (4) developing and promoting alternative
solutions to the problems militating against universal access to water including
problems of public management and efficiency.
The Coalition has since been functioning quite vigorously and has accomplished
incredible success in reaching communities throughout Ghana within a short time. The
coalition has not only succeeded in compelling the suspension of the signing of the
privatization deal but has also compelled the revision of the contract documents to
include public/community options, the Bank to improve its disclosure policy in Ghana
and the creation of a unit at the Ministry of works and housing to look at the critical
issue of access for the poor.

How we did it-the Engagement Strategy


Public Awareness
• Making educational videos for mass viewing
• T-shirts, car stickers, banners etc
• Develop educational materials with basic information about proposed
privatization
• Prepare concise, key campaign messages for leafleting

Educational Materials for Lobbying and Policy Debate


• Concise, tight critique of privatization
• Concise presentation of alternative models, i.e. community/public partnerships
• Good research on social impacts of water privatization in other countries
• Analysis of what went wrong with Ghana Water and Sewerage Corporation]
GWSC]

Community mobilization
Once the information was put in the public domain and citizens began to relate and to
react to the issues, the next step was mobilizing the communities to demand safe and
affordable water as a matter of right. This naturally placed them against privatization,
which implies full cost recovery and high water rates. The direct result of this strategy
has been the emergence of Local Action Committees [LACs] as centers of mobilization
at the grassroots level.
Linking with organized labour
What is new in Ghanaian civil society engagement culture is the link that emerged
between community activists operating within the local action committees and
organized labour. This created the critical mass needed to engage other stakeholders.
Another important link has been the link with the faith -based organizations particularly
the Christian Council of Ghana who stated their opposition water privatization and the
Catholic bishops conference who issued a cautions statement in support of water for
all. This created the needed climate for us to reaching out to many more people.
Media Campaign
Articles for newspapers, Radio shows, Television shows
Lobbying Government and World Bank
The main thrust of this strategy has been to argue for greater transparency and public
participation thus challenging the WB to own declaration to full information disclosure,
transparency and participation. We therefore insist that documents such as the
Transaction Advisor’s report are put in the public domain.
We try to explain to the WB officials why in a poor country it is inappropriate water
privatization as conditionality for granting loans.

35
We constantly maintain contacts with government through the Water Sector
Restructuring Secretariat of the Ministry of Works and Housing to ensure that there is
always a corridor left open for dialogue.
Promoting International Solidarity
Together with our partners, collaborators and sympathizers we design and distribute
Sign-on letters to key persons in government, the WB, IMF and the UN bodies
demanding an end to the involvement of multi-national corporations in Ghana water
and the freeing of our government from privatization conditionalities. To facilitate this
we built international networks of communication through e-mails and tele-conferencing
and attend international conferences and meetings.
Credible Research
• Social Impact Assessments of water privatization in other countries
• Research in countries where WB claims privatization has been a success
• Surveys identifying basic obstacles to access to safe, potable water
• Research documenting public health, gender and other impacts of decreased
access to safe water
• Researching alternative models to water privatization.

RESULT

The Coalition functions well and has been able to reach communities throughout
Ghana within a short time. The coalition succeeded in compelling the suspension of the
signing of the privatization deal and also compelled the revision of the contract
documents to include public/community options, the Bank to improve its disclosure
policy in Ghana and the creation of a unit at the Ministry of works and housing to look
at the critical issue of access for the poor.

LESSON LEARNED

Difficulties/Challenges
• Misrepresentation and mis-information of our intentions
• Difficulties of translating key policy documents into local languages for mass
dissemination
• Difficulty of obtaining information from both government and the bank
• The reluctance of some CSOs to state their views publicly thus leading to
confusion in the minds of their constituents.
• Funding constraints
Conclusions
• A vibrant civil society is essential for the survival of democracy and for the
protection and promotion of Rights. There is the need for constant networking
among civil society in pursuit of human rights and the general well being of the
citizenry.
• There should always be enough space to facilitate dialogue among
stakeholders
• Consensus building should always be pursued
• There is the need for global solidarity on the commonalities
• Always be transparent, accountable and honest with your constituency.
• Listen to the voices from the grassroots particularly when it comes to the
alternatives.

Source: Integrated Social Development Coalition (ISODEC).

36
QUESTIONS

1. What is a Civil Society Organization?. I s it different from NGO?. What roles


can they play in improving the living standard of a community or country?.
2. What are the objectives of the National Coalition Against Privatization in
Ghana?, Are they achieved with the campaign?.
3. Outline the public relations strategies used in the campaign, are they effective?
Comment.
4. What are the difficulties/challenges faced in the campaign?, how will you
address them , if you are to plan a public relations programme in an African
country.

37
Chapter Three

A PARTNERSHIP APPROACH TOADDRESSING VIOLENCE AGAINST


WOMEN : CASE STUDY OF GHANA

BACKGROUND

Ghana is located on the west coast of Africa and shares boundaries with Burkina
Faso,Côte d ’Ivoire and Togo. Ghanaian social structure is based on kinship, which also
determines the traditional political and social organization of many groups, and the
relationships and institutions around which social life is built.
The kinship system also determines, to a large extent, property rights as well as the
inheritance and succession system and residence patterns of many Ghanaians,
particularly in rural areas, and is key to understanding the rules, duties and obligations
of individuals in a variety of social settings.
Available data on poverty indicate that 60 per cent of Ghanaians in four out of ten
regions live on less than $1 a day. In general, inhabitants of the northern savannah are
poorer than their counterparts in the south, and women are generally poorer than men.
This is due to a variety of factors, among which are the low literacy levels of women
and the limited range of employment opportunities available to them. According to the
Ghana Living Standards Survey of 2000,65 percent of Ghanaian men are literate,
compared to only 37 percent of Ghanaian women.
Women dominate the informal sector of the urban economy, but are underrepresented in
the formal sector, where incomes are generally higher and more secure.
Violence against Women in Ghana
In 1999,the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre, a non-
governmental organization (NGO),published findings of a nationwide study on violence
against women and children in Ghana.
The study revealed high levels of gender-based violence, including physical
psychological, economic and sexual violence. One in three women reported that they
have suffered physical abuse most often inflicted by an intimate partner.
Marriage provides an added level of social status for women in Ghana among almost all
ethnic, social and economic groups and classes. According to the Ghana
Demographic and Health Survey of 2003,about 23 per cent of marriages in Ghana are
polygynous. While younger and better educated women are less likely to be in
polygynous unions, t is also likely that because of economic hardships and greater
personal insecurity, many women may be involved in informal unions with married men
to gain access to resources.
The division of labour within the family unit in Ghana means that men usually provide
for the larger expenses and women take care of daily provisions for the family. They do
this with financial support from their husbands, known as ‘chop money ’,which may
range from a lump sum per month to a weekly or daily amount. The refusal of men to
provide an adequate household allowance to their partners can lead to altercations and
violence against women. This in fact, constitutes one of the major complaints presented
at family tribunals and other adjudicating bodies in communities around Ghana.

38
GHANA AND CEDAW
Since 1975, attention to women issues has been institutionalised in Ghana —initially
through the National Council on Women and Development, which played an advisory
and advocacy role on gender issues .In 2001,a Ministry of Women ’s and Children ’s
Affairs was established, headed by a female minister with full cabinet status.
The 1992 Constitution guarantees fundamental human rights. In theory ,men and
women in Ghana are equal before the law. However, Ghana ’s legal system is
pluralistic, and consists of laws and statutes inherited from British colonial rule,
legislation passed by successive Ghanaian parliaments, as well as the customary laws of
various Ghanaian communities. Exemptions and discrimination based on customary or
personal laws are held not to contravene the non-discriminatory clause in the
Constitution. The consequence of this provision is the continuation of a number of
gender disparities in women ’s access to a range of personal, public and productive
resources. This is reinforced by neo-traditional customary systems and practices,
religious doctrines, socialization and education processes that define women as having a
lesser status than that of men.
As a result of women ’s activism and some compliance with international conventions
that Ghana is party to, such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),signed by Ghana in 1980,and the Beijing
Platform of Action, amendments were made to the Criminal Code in 1998
to criminalize harmful traditional practices. These include cruel and degrading
widowhood rites, female genital mutilation/cutting and ritual servitude or bondage,
known as the trokosi system .In addition, the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana
Police Service was established to deal with abuses of women and children occurring in
the domestic arena. However, as pointed out in a ‘Women ’s Manifesto ’ developed by a
coalition of civil society organizations, here are several areas where there is strong need
to follow up closely the implementation of the country ’s commitments under
CEDAW,the Beijing Platform of Action and other international conventions.

THE UNFPA COUNTRY PROGRAMME

Since 1985,UNFPA has been working with the Government on reproductive health,
gender equality and sustainable development. Over the last decade, UNFPA ’s work has
been guided by the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population
and Development (ICPD).A key ICPD achievement was creating a consensus on the
links among poverty, women ’s rights and reproductive health, and population and
sustainable development. The Programme of Action advocates the enjoyment of good
physical and mental health by men and women, which presupposes the absence of
gender-based Violence .It is premised on a holistic platform that makes gender equality
and equity central to human development generally and ,in particular ,to those aspects
related to sexuality and reproduction.
The first three UNFPA Country Programmes for Ghana focused on integrating
population issues into the development planning process, and the re-formulation and
implementation of the 1969 population policy. The ICPD document influenced the
content of the population policy, which was revised in 1994,and the manner in which it
was implemented. Thus, since the ICPD advocated that reproductive rights are part of
women ’s rights, spousal consent was no longer required for a woman in Ghana to avail

39
herself of family planning services In addition, after the Beijing conference, women ’s
rights were recognized as fundamental human rights and programmes were designed for
women ’s empowerment, mainly through micro-credit schemes.
Work on eliminating female genital mutilation/cutting in Ghana also became central,
since it was seen as an abuse of women ’s fundamental human rights. There was also
dialogue with the Ministry of Education to extend the focus of girls ’ education beyond
basic education and also to revise the curriculum in population
and family life education to include components on sexual and adolescent reproductive
health.
The Fourth Country Programme (2001-2005)has two components: population and
development, and reproductive health. In addition, gender concerns, which are seen as
cross-cutting, were integrated as far as possible into each of these components. Funding
was provided to a variety of organizations working on the reduction of gender-based
violence in the country.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

UNFPA ’s current strategy in addressing violence against women is to support existing


programmes ,many of which are working effectively at the grass-roots level. The
following section details the mechanisms by which these partnerships were developed;
the processes through which projects are designed and implemented; the issue of
cultural sensitivity in programming; the achievements and limitations of the projects;
and an assessment of lessons learned and good practices.

OBJECTIVES:

• To create a consensus on the links among poverty, women’s right and


reproductive health, and population and sustainable development.
• To enhance the enjoyment of good physical and mental health by men and
women, free of gender-based violence.

METHOD

PARTNERS
In the area of gender-based violence UNFPA has worked with the following agencies:
the National Population Council; the UN System Gender Programme; African Youth
Alliance/Federation of Women Lawyers(AYA/FIDA);Ghana Association for the
Welfare of Women ;International Needs-Ghana; Rural Help Integrated; and the Women
and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service.
National Population Council
The National Population Council (NPC)works with UNFPA to decide on the strategies
to be adopted to achieve the specific goals of the National Population Policy. UNFPA
provides financial support to ensure that the strategies are implemented. In this manner,
UNFPA and the Council have collaborated on a number
of gender-based violence projects. In 2001,the NPC, in collaboration with UNFPA and
with funding from DANIDA, conducted an in-depth study of the practice of ritual

40
slavery. The results of this study led to UNFPA support of International Needs-Ghana,
whose work is described in Part I of this chapter. UNFPA has also provided funding
through the NPC to build the capacity of staff at the Women and Juvenile Unit of the
Ghana Police Service.
Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service
A major problem confronting this unit has been the lack of police personnel
knowledgeable about gender issues and sensitive to issues related to gender-based
violence. Funding was therefore provided by UNFPA for training on these issues, along
with human rights, drawing on resource persons from NGOs working in
these areas. Beyond the training, UNFPA provided the unit with about $3,000 on a
quarterly basis to run an awareness campaign in markets, lorry parks, hospitals, schools
and churches in ten regions. The Unit ’s success is due in no small measure to its
collaboration with civil society organizations and the networks they
have jointly created, which include professionals in various fields, such as medical
officers, psychologists and counsellors.

UN System Gender Programme


Three UN agencies (the UN Development Programme, UNIFEM and UNFPA)that are
part of the UN Development Assistance Framework and working closely to harmonize
their programmes came together to fund a gender programme in 2001.UNFPA provided
about a third of the funds, which were designated for specific projects with the Ghana
Association for the Welfare of Women and International Needs-Ghana.
Collaborative Work with Other Donor Agencies
Beyond the UN Development Assistance Framework, there is a gender equality and
stakeholder ’s forum where donor agencies such as the World Bank ,UNFPA and the
Canadian International Development Agency meet on a monthly basis to keep each
other on track with respect to their gender programming. Sometimes, the forum picks up
on specific issues that they want to work on together. According to UNFPA ’s advocacy
and resource mobilization officer ,donor agencies that are part of the forum recently
pledged that in all their programme activities for the upcoming year, financial
support would be provided for advocacy towards the passage of the Domestic Violence
Bill.
Partnerships with NGOs
Most of the NGO partnerships that were formed in the area of gender-based violence
have been with organizations working on the more flagrant forms of abuse, such as
ritual slavery and female genital mutilation/cutting, rather than daily acts of violence,
such as domestic abuse.

PROJECT DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION


Organizations that work on gender-based violence generally offer two kinds of services:
information, education and communication (IEC)programmes or direct services.
Organizations that run IEC programmes develop many behaviour change
communication materials, such as posters and flyers. They conduct sensitization
workshops and seminars, hold durbars ,show films and run radio or television
programmes/advertisements as funds allow. Direct service providers offer shelter
,counselling, training, legal aid and other forms of support to the survivors of gender-
based violence.

41
UNFPA has worked with implementing partners that offer both kinds of services.
Two of the activities undertaken by implementing partners were explicitly included in
the Fourth UNFPA Country Programme for Ghana.These were projects undertaken by
the African Youth Alliance/Federation of Women Lawyers and Rural Help Integrated.
The AYA/FIDA project sought to broaden access to legal aid, which was previously
confined to individuals residing in and around Accra and Kumasi, where the two FIDA
offices are located. The project provided paralegal training to 800 individuals selected
from 100 communities in 20 districts across the country.
In each community ,the individuals selected included two traditional authorities (a chief
and queen mother), two religious leaders (one Christian and one Muslim), an
assemblyman/woman, a teacher, a health service professional, a youth activist and one
young person. Paralegal training covered the following areas: knowledge of adolescent
sexual and reproductive health issues; skills in communication, counselling, mediation;
human rights conventions at the global level and legalconventions at the national and
regional level.UNFPA also provided funding to Rural Help Integrated,an NGO located
in the Upper East region that conducted IEC campaigns around reproductive health. As
part of its community sensitization programmes, the NGO leads discussions on the
harmful effects of female genital mutilation/cutting.
Both of these projects had UNFPA personnel working closely with them. UNFPA ’s
work with other organizations, such as the Ghana Association for the Welfare of
Women, which conducts IEC campaigns, and International Needs-Ghana, which is a
direct service provider, was covered through UNFPA ’s contribution to the UN system
’s Gender Programme. These organizations did not have a close working relationship
with UNFPA. Moreover, these two organizations focused on the more flagrant forms of
gender-based violence (that is, female genital mutilation/cutting and ritual slavery).
ENSURING CULTURAL SENSITIVITY
To change attitudes towards gender-based violence in Ghana, organizations take the
local context into consideration. Local languages are used to ensure that organizations
are not seen as elitist and that the message is understood by both those literate in
English and otherwise. Organizations gain entry into the communities in which they
work by seeking the permission of the chiefs. In addition ,durbars are held with the
consent of community leaders such as chiefs and queen mothers, who are seen as the
custodians of culture. This serves to legitimize the organizations ’ messages.. Finally, as
far as possible, perpetrators of gender-based violence who have come to acknowledge
the inhumanity of their actions are used as spokespersons in these campaigns. This
serves to make the message more credible because the spokespersons are recognized
and accepted members of the community. Organizations use different mechanisms to
get communities to condemn all forms of gender-based violenceand to commit to
working to eliminate it. This process is outlined in the analysis of the work of the Ghana
Association for the Welfare of Women below.
Eliminating Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
The Ghana Association for the Welfare of Women is working towards the elimination
of female genital mutilation/cutting. With support from UNFPA, the association
conducted an educational campaign in the Upper West region that sought to sensitize
the community to the harmful effects of the practice and the law that prohibits it. The
Upper West region was chosen because of the prevalent nature of the practice in most
parts of the region. The campaign was carried out in two phases. The first phase
consisted of training programmes for targeted groups of people:178 health personnel,95

42
traditional birth attendants,35 school health teachers, and a one- day seminar each for
the following groups: police and other security personnel, media representatives,
religious leaders ,youth leaders and women ’s groups .Behaviour change materials,
Including posters, fliers and question-and-answer booklets were provided to the trainees
for distribution in their communities.
Training took the form of lectures, discussions, videos, group work and demonstrations
using a model. The training was conducted in collaboration with various state and non-
state agencies, including the Ghana Health Service ,the Ghana Education Service ,the
Ghana National Commission on Children, he National Council on Women and
Development and the Regional House of Chiefs. The second phase was targeted at the
community at large. It took the form of radio programmes and jingles in the local
languages, which were aired for a six-month period (December 2003 –May 2004)and
community durbars that were held in all five districts in the Upper West region: Jirapa,
Lawra, Nadowli, Tumu and Wa.
These durbars were held under the auspices of the chiefs of the various communities.
Support from these
custodians of culture was crucial since they served as a legitimizing force for the IEC
campaign message.
The two phases of this educational campaign were extremely useful because they raised
awareness of the issue. In addition, they convinced various members of the community
to acknowledge that since female genital mutilation/cutting was a harmful practice, they
would resolve to help eliminate it.
A nurse who was participating at the Wa workshop and worked at the Loggu Health
Centre announced that a village health volunteer had informed her that genital cutting
had been performed on three children in Billiuu. Officials from the Ghana Association
for the Welfare of Women, together with four police officers, took the issue up, traced
the children to their home and eventually located the woman who performed the
circumcision.
The woman was detained and put before the court, where she was found guilty upon her
own plea, and sentenced to five years ’ imprisonment.. The case was discussed
extensively in the electronic and print media, which served to further increase
awareness about the law on genital cutting. The case also highlighted the limits to the
law, since it only allows for the prosecution of the cutter, but not the parents who
request the circumcision and/or the community members who witnessed it —a point
that was raised by various callers to the radio stations. This suggests that some members
of the community are willing to see a much more concerted attempt on the part of the
state to stamp out the practice.

RESULTS

Cultural
Despite cultural norms, people are beginning to recognize that violence against women
is unacceptable.
This has come about largely through IEC campaigns. Even some perpetrators, such as
the priests who enslave young girls in their shrines, have come to acknowledge that
such a practice has no place in Ghanaian society.

43
Legal
There is now general recognition that ritual slavery and female genital
mutilation/cutting are violations of women ’s rights and a form of violence against
them. The state has gone so far as to criminalize these acts.
Individuals also acknowledge that the formal legal system is best suited to address
certain acts of violence against women, such as physical violence that results in injury.
The paralegal training project undertaken by AYA/FIDA has broadened the access of
people living in rural areas to legal redress. The fact that paralegals are people of some
standing in the community who have an understanding of both the human rights
dimensions and specific forms of gender-based violence makes it easier for individuals
to trust them and to come to them with their legal needs.
Some organizations that provide legal aid have helped to avert gender-based violence
.For example, between 2003 and 2005,the 800 paralegals trained under the AYA/FIDA
project handled a total of more than 2,500 cases, of which more than a third involved
child maintenance/neglect —an area of family controversy that often leads to physical
or psychological abuse of the wife .The work of these paralegals has helped stem the
tide of domestic violence, although more remains to be done.
Social
Many more people are now aware of the opportunities for redress that are available to
women survivors of violence beyond traditional forums (such as family tribunals and
other adjudicating bodies or resorting to pastors and other religious leaders).The Police
Service ’s Women and Juvenile Unit, for example, known as WAJU, has become a
household word, and its existence provides victims of violence with a legal option for
addressing their grievances. The provision of training for community leaders who
traditionally settle cases has raised awareness about the ways in which customary laws
may infringe on the rights of girls and women. In some cases , the victim might be
appeased with a token gift of restitution and asked to forget about the whole incident .In
other cases, where more severe sanctions are imposed, the fines paid by the perpetrators
are offered to the parents of the victim, especially if the victim is a child. As a result of
training, it is claimed that traditional rulers in some communities now acknowledge
their limitations in settling gender-based violence cases and refer them to the
appropriate agencies for settlement instead .In the Effiduase Sekyere district of the
Ashanti region, for example, we were informed that a chief, after undergoing paralegal
training, referred a defilement case to the courts. Eventually it led to the prosecution and
imprisonment of the teacher involved.
To some extent ,the IEC campaigns conducted by both the Ghana Association for the
Welfare of Women and International Needs-Ghana have been successful. The
IEC campaign against female genital mutilation/cutting ,conducted with funds from
UNFPA, has led to awareness that the practice is a violation of the law that can result in
the arrest and imprisonment of those who perform circumcision. International Needs-
Ghana has also conducted awareness campaigns in communities in five districts (Ketu,
Akatsi, South Tongu, North Tongu and Dangme East)that practise the
trokosi system.In addition, Instructors at the vocational centre run by the organization
have been provided with information on violence against women so they can better
understand and support the population with whom they work.

44
LESSONS LEARNED
National and district authorities must understand and accept UNFPA-supported
programmes if they are to be effective. This will avoid the frustration and waste of
resources that typically accompany programmes developed without liaising with
structures at the national or district level ,and ensure that coordinating and
implementing agencies are able to do their work properly. Both traditional and modern
authority figures in Ghana are yet to publicly commit to the creation of a country free
from gender-based violence. The Domestic Violence Bill has been subjected to one of
the most intensive consultation processes involving legislation ever witnessed in Ghana
.After two years of consultation ,it still has not been passed into law .A similar lack of
commitment prevails at the level of traditional authority. For four years now, the
National Population Council has been trying without success to have a seminar on
domestic violence with the National House of Chiefs.
PRACTICES THAT WORK
Using audiovisual aids to combat the more flagrant forms of gender-based
violence,such as female genital mutilation/cutting.
Such aids are an especially effective communications tool, and make the harmful nature
of the act apparent without verbal description. Personnel from the Ghana Association
for the Welfare of Women have noted that it is not uncommon for men to walk out of
sessions where a film on genital cutting was being shown because they found it so
painful to watch. Encouraging networking among civil society organizations working
on gender-based violence.
This allows organizations to harness the strengths of individual partners and save
money by not duplicating the efforts of other organizations. Already there is
considerable sharing, on an informal basis, of information and resources (counsellors,
health personnel)among the Ark Foundation ,Women ’s Initiative for Self-
Empowerment and the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service.

Targeting young people in IEC campaigns.


Education and the nurturance of a democratic culture in young people is the best way to
promote the development of new attitudes and shifts in power and gender relations.

Source: UNFPA

QUESTIONS

1. Of what importance is partnership with other organizations is to an NGO?,


discuss.
2. For any PR programme to succeed, some factors which could hinder its success
should be identified and tackled, do you agree with this statement?, if yes, what
are the factors tackled by the campaigner in this case study?.
3. Design a PR programme for eliminating violence against women in any African
country of your choice.

45
HEALTH CAMPAIGN

46
HEALTH CAMPAIGN

Health is wealth, every human being needs good health to survive and enjoy life while
alive. The PR’s role of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) in health
delivery cannot be undermined, if any society wants to enjoy good health.

The two case studies are examples of the important role PR plays in health programmes.

47
Chapter Four

TRENDS IN TOTAL FERTILITY RATES AND CURRENT USE OF FAMILY


PLANNING: EGYPT GOLD STAR PROJECT

This case study is on health campaign.

BACKGROUND

The Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (MOHP) and Ministry of Information
(MOI) are showing the world how to put quality of care at the top of the national health
care agenda.
The Gold Star Quality Program is the largest public sector family planning (FP) quality
improvement program in the world.
It aims to upgrade the quality of Egypt’s family planning services while creating
among the public and service providers an expectation that services will meet the
new standard of higher quality.
It stimulates the supply of quality services through better training and supervision of
health care providers and it stimulates demand by promoting these higher quality
services to the public.
This USAID-supported Quality Improvement Program (QIP) helped increase the public
sector’s role in providing family planning services from 30% in 1992 to 40% in 1997.
Between 1995 and 1997 the country’s overall contraceptive prevalence rate increased
from 47.9% to 54.5%.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The public sector’s role in providing family planning services is a little below average.
It needed to be improved.

OBJECTIVES:

• To upgrade the quality of Egypt’s family planning services.


• To create an expectation among the public and service providers that services
will meet the new standard of higher quality.

METHOD

The Gold Star Quality Program


The Gold Star Program applies the PRO Approach (Promoting Professional Providers)
to position, publicize, promote, and recognize individuals and work teams that provide
higher quality services and to encourage all service providers to make higher-quality
services the norm.
The three-step Gold Star strategy entails:
(1) Promoting quality family planning service providers as a means of enhancing their
self-image and job performance;
(2) Promoting certified clinics as sites for high-quality services;

48
(3) Associating these high-quality sites and services with an easily recognized symbol.

Linking two important ministries, the innovative Gold Star Program partnership
combines the extensive FP service delivery capacity of the MOHP with the strong
communication skills of the MOI’s State Information Service (SIS).

The MOHP offers a national network of over 3800 outpatient service units, ranging
from one-room rural units to multiple-room complexes in large urban hospitals.
The MOHP system provides service access to the least well served, the poorest of the
poor. Providers include nurses as well as physicians who may range from general
practitioners to gynecology specialists.
The MOI’s SIS is recognized as a leader in family planning Information, Education, and
Communication (IEC).
It conducts campaigns using an effective mix of communications, ranging from
counseling support materials at the clinic level, to spot advertising and entertainment
formats in the mass media, to community outreach programs conducted through its
national network of 62 local information centers.

The Gold Star


Focus groups and pilot testing revealed that the Gold Star was an appropriate symbol
for a high-quality health program.
Thus a Gold Star now appears on accredited clinics and all promotion materials as a
mark of quality.
Clinics are supervised and rated each quarter according to a comprehensive checklist of
101 quality indicators. A clinic earns a Gold Star by attaining a 100% quality standards
certification score for two consecutive quarters and retains its Gold Star by maintaining
that score at successive quarterly evaluations. An MOHP clinic that earns and displays a
Gold Star is considered among the best of the best.

Gold Star Communication Campaign


In the multimedia communication campaigns, catchy television and radio spots call
attention to the Gold Star clinic sites and providers. Family health weeks, clinic
openings and other community events highlight the services available. Signs and
displays show clients exactly where to go. Within the clinics, Gold Star posters, desk
plates, and lapel pins reinforce the Gold Star image.
And for individual counseling sessions, flip charts and method-specific procedures help
clients make informed choices.
The initial campaign unfolded in two phases. A first wave of messages, aired
when qualifying Gold Star sites were few, invited consumers to try the service. To
encourage communities to place their trust in these services, the MOHP developed
the slogan “Behind every door are friends and family who care about you and your
family.”
The second wave was launched after a critical mass of Gold Star clinics had begun
to operate nationwide. It highlighted the Gold Star mark-of-quality and invited clients
to use the nearest Gold Star clinics regularly. Communication workers from the SIS
conducted Family Health Weeks, intensive week-long community mobilization and
advocacy activities designed to build a sense of community partnership with the
improved clinics.

49
RESULT

Impact

The success in the MOHP quality initiative to date can be measured in at least six
different ways:
• by the number of certified Gold Star clinics —1,450 by early 1998 .
• by the increase in the proportion of users of MOHP FP services from 30% of all
FP users in 1992 up to 40% in 1997;
• by contributing to the increase in contraceptive prevalence from 47.9% to
54.5%, over a two year period, for the first time exceeding half of the eligible
population;
• by the high levels of client satisfaction, especially with regard to waiting time,
staff courtesy, and the amount of FP information provided (El Zanaty
Associates, in press) ;
* by the high levels of exposure to the campaign after eight months, as reported
by87% of women ages 15-49 and by recognition of the Gold Star logo by 45%
(Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics—CAPMAS,
Egypt,1998);
* by the high levels of understanding among women (70%) and men (90%) that
the Gold Star represents high-quality services and well-trained providers.

In addition to these quantitative measures, the success of the Gold Star approach
is anecdotally confirmed at the political and community levels.
State governors increasingly want to be involved as keynote speakers at the high profile
Gold Star certifications and ceremonies. They too want to participate in the media
coverage, movie star appearances, and performing arts celebrations that have made
Gold Star clinics a source of community pride. And, in the few cases where clinics have
lost their Gold Star status, village elders reportedly demanded an explanation from local
health officials and clinic personnel for this decertification and insisted that their clinics
be brought back to the high-quality levels of a Gold Star clinic.
From every point of view—clients, communities, health care providers, and
policy-makers—the MOHP Gold Star program is a win-win story for quality of care.

LESSON LEARNED

A well planned PR campaign with a set of workable goals and objectives based on
thorough research of the audience and the stakeholders, method and media of reaching
them and effective qualitative and quantitative evaluative method will produce a good
result as this Gold Star Project does.
The Ministry of Information’s(MOI) State Information Service(SIS) conducts
campaigns using different communication mix ranging from counselling materials at the
clinic level, to spot advertising and entertainment formats in the mass media, to
community outreach programs conducted through its national network of 62 local
information centres.

50
For any PR campaign to succeed, it is essential for the practitioner to identify relevant
effective communication mix that will breed the achievement of the set goals and
objectives of the campaign.
Clinics are supervised and rated each quarter according to a comprehensive checklist of
101 quality indicators. A clinic earns a Gold Star by attaining a 100% quantity standards
certification score for two consecutive quarters and retains its Gold Star by maintaining
that score at successive quarterly evaluations. An MOHP clinic that earns and displays a
Gold Star is considered among the best of the best.
The success in MOHP quality initiative can be measured in at least six different ways.
In addition to these quantitative measures, the success of the Gold Star approach is
anecdotally confirmed at the political and community levels.
The evaluative methods used are result oriented, therefore practitioner should set
effective evaluative method that will help in determining the success of a campaign.
.
SOURCE: COMMUNICATION Impact! ( Johns Hopkins University Center for
Communication Programs)

Appendix I

The Gold Star Program is implemented under the USAID Population/Family


Planning III Project with technical assistance from the Population Project
Consortium of Egypt.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the reasons for the success of the Egypt’s Gold Star Project?.
2. What are the communication mix used by MOI’s State Information
Service(SIS) in the campaign ?.
3. What are the evaluative methods used?.
4. How will you rate the communication mix and the evaluative methods
used by MOI’s State Information Service?.

51
Chapter Five

PREVENTING ,DETECTING AND TREATING MALARIA FOR WORKERS


AND THEIR FAMILIES: CASE STUDY OF CHEVRON NIGERIA LIMITEDi
By Peter De Young se
T This case study is on health campaign.
BACKGROUNDTT
Company ChevronTexaco is a large, international, integrated oil company.
ChevronTexaco, the second largest US-based integrated oil and gas company,
engages in oil and gas exploration, production, refining, supply, transportation and
marketing around the world, with operations in nearly 180 countries and territories. In
2001, ChevronTexaco's sales were US$104 billion and income was US$3.3 billion.
ChevronTexaco has upstream (extraction) operations in African countries including
Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo,
Equatorial Guinea, Namibia and Nigeria. In 2001, the company directly employed more
than 55,000 people worldwide.
ChevronTexaco’s upstream (extraction) operations in Nigeria produce 517,000 barrels
per day from 39 field operations and six shallow-water fields. In Nigeria,
ChevronTexaco employs approximately 1,800 employees and 3,000 contractors (90%
Nigerian nationals). Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) is ChevronTexaco’s largest
operation in Nigeria.
The aim of CNL’s malaria control programme is to reduce the impact of malaria
on employees, their families and the communities in which they live.
* In Nigeria’s July 2002 grant application to the Global Fund to Fight Aids,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, the government outlined the national impact of malaria
across four dimensions: (1) malaria accounts for 25% of infant mortality, 30% of
childhood mortality and 11% of maternal mortality in Nigeria; (2) malaria accounts for
63% of all reported diseases in Nigerian health facilities; (3) less than 1% of the total
Nigerian population uses insecticide treated bednets (ITNs); (4) the Nigerian economy
loses US$ 1.1 billion annually due to absenteeism and treatment costs; according to the
CIA factbook, this corresponds to approximately 1% of Nigeria’s 2001 gross domestic
product.
* Warri, one of CNL’s three main locations in Nigeria, is in the Niger Delta Region.
This region is one of the world’s largest wetlands with a correspondingly high malaria
rate.
* CNL focuses on malaria control because of three main reasons: (1) high burden of
malaria on employees, their families and the surrounding community; (2) corporate
commitment to the principles of corporate social responsibility; (3) high level of
malaria-related direct and indirect costs borne by CNL.
* In 2001, CNL’s anti-malarial drug budget was US$ 22,000, which corresponds to
US$ 12 per employee per year. This is much lower than CNL’s US$ 54,000 budget in
1999 and 2000 because CNL removed Halofantrine from the recommended anti-
malarial drug list. CNL does not currently track the other direct and indirect malaria-
related expenses such as diagnosis, other malaria treatment costs and malaria-related
absenteeism.

52
PROBLEM STATEMENT

CNL’s malaria prevention efforts focus on raising awareness, provision of


subsidized ITNs, rapid responses to increases in incidence and prophylaxis.
CNL has implemented around the clock availability of one day ‘rapid diagnosis’
tools to encourage early definitive diagnosis. Employees, dependants and
contractors have access to free treatment through CNL medical facilities.
Programme Evaluation
CNL regularly tracks malaria diagnoses and adapts the programme to address
unexpected changes.
• The malaria programme is managed by a CNL staff physician and overseen by
CNL’sMedical Director. The team acts proactively to the changing environment
through interventions such as the subsidized ITN programme, and reactively to
local increases in incidence.
• In 2002, CNL treated 3,436 patients for malaria, which is up from 2,115 in
1999.Approximately 20% of the diagnosed malaria cases required a hospital
stay. During the same time period, CNL experienced no malaria-related
mortalities.CNL believes that the sharp increase in diagnosed and treated
malaria cases is driven by a combination of factors: (1) improved definitive
diagnosis availability: longer laboratory operating hours and the option to use a
‘rapid test’; (2) increased employee awareness; (3) increased physician
awareness.
In the future, CNL plans to extend its activities into the community and
integrate its programme more closely with Texaco Nigeria.
• CNL is developing a pilot project to partner with school teachers in the Lekki
area, Lagos to raise malaria awareness. In collaboration with Roll Back Malaria,
CNL recently developed project proposals focusing on community prevention in
the Niger Delta area.

OBJECTIVE:
To reduce the impact of malaria on employees, their families and the communities in
which they live.

METHOD

Prevention CNL’s malaria prevention focuses on raising awareness, provision of


subsidized ITNs, rapid responses to increases in incidence and
prophylaxis.
• CNL works to raise awareness through posters, periodic staff e-mails, staff
‘town hall’ meetings, flyers at health clinics and through the efforts of a full-
time health education supervisor. This supervisor provides health education for
malaria, HIV/AIDS and healthy hearts. Whenever a non-immune employee is
transferred to Nigeria, ChevronTexaco ensures that the employee receives a pre-
arrival malaria briefing.
• In 2002, at an employee town hall meeting, in conjunction with theemployee
credit union, CNL began offering a range of subsidized ITNs. These ITNs cost
the employee between US$ 4 and 5, and approximately 310 nets have been

53
distributed, which corresponds to one ITN for every six employees. This
estimate does not include ITN’s purchased by employees prior to this agreement
and/or through other sources.
• If CNL observes a sudden increase in malaria cases in a particular
neighbourhood, the company dispatches a health practitioner to suggest and
implement additional preventative measures. These measures often include
domicile spraying, elimination of potential mosquito breeding spots and
preventative behavioural counselling.

Detection and Treatment


CNL has implemented around the clock availability of ‘one day’ rapid diagnosis
tools to encourage early definitive diagnosis. Employees, dependants and
contractors have access to free treatment through CNL medical facilities.
• CNL focuses on early definitive diagnosis to ensure appropriate medical
treatment. In 1999, 2% of malaria tests performed by CNL were ‘rapid
diagnosis.’ Starting in 2000, CNL started offering a ‘one-day’ rapid test using
the Immuno Chromatographic Technique (ICT) at health stations 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, which in 2002, was used for 8% of all CNL malaria
diagnosis tests. The remainder of tests were conducted during normal business
hours using the ‘Qualitative Buffy Coat Technique’ (QBC).
• CNL provides the drugs required for malaria treatment through CNL
medical facilities. CNL also encourages all non-immune employees to take
malaria prophylaxis based on the CNL guidelines described in the appendix. The
number of non-immunes on prophylaxis varies between 40% and nearly 100%,
with the higher compliance often occurring immediately after an employee is
diagnosed with a severe case of malaria. Although these free treatments are
available, frequently when semi-immune employees experience malaria
symptoms, they self-medicate with over-the-counter (OTC) anti-malarial drugs.
• In 2002, CNL medical practitioners conducted 14,720 malaria tests,
corresponding to eight tests per employee per year. These tests diagnosed
3,436 malaria cases corresponding to 2 cases per employee per year. This
estimate should be used as a relative guide, not a measure for incidence because
dependants and contractors may also access CNL diagnosis and treatment
facilities. Other cases may be self-diagnosedand self-treated through OTC
medicines.

Private sector intervention case example Company:


CNL MALARIA DIAGNOSES

Qualitative Buffy Coat Technique Parasight F Immuno


(QBC) (Rapid Diagnosis) Chromatographic
Technique(ICT)
Year No. Total No. No. Total No. No. Total No.
Positive Tested Positive Tested Positive Tested
(% (% (%
positive positive positive
out of out of out of
total No. total No. total No.

54
Tested) Tested) Tested)

1999 2,034 7,072 81 170 - -


(28.8%) (47.6%)

2000 1,433 6,837 - - 254 599


(21.0%) (42.4%)

2001 3,015 12,973 411 532 822


(23.2%) (77.3%) (67.8%) 1,212

2002 2,882 13,383 37 53 517 1,284


(21.5%) (69.8%) (40.3%)

RESULT

CNL treated 3,436 patients for malaria in 2002, which is up from 2,115 in1999.
Approximately 20% of the diagnosed malaria cases required a hospital stay. During the
same time period, CNL experienced no malaria-related mortalities. CNL believes that
the sharp increase in diagnosed and treated malaria cases is driven by a combination of
factors: (1) improved definitive diagnosis availability: longer laboratory operating hours
and the option to use a ‘rapid test’; (2) increased employee awareness; (3) increased
physician awareness.
In the future, CNL plans to extend its activities into the community and integrate its
programme more closely with Texaco Nigeria. CNL is developing a pilot project to
partner with school teachers in the Lekki area, Lagos to raise malaria awareness. In
collaboration with Roll Back Malaria, CNL recently developed project proposals
focusing on community prevention in the Niger Delta area.

LESSON LEARNED
Public relations is a catalyst, when properly used by any organization in providing
solution to any organizational problem, there will be solution. Although medical
programmes are planned for the employees and the physicians, there would not have
been the sharp increase in diagnosed and treated malaria cases.

Source: World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org/globalhealth).

55
QUESTIONS

1. Are there public relations strategies to increase the effectiveness of malaria


prevention in endemic environments?, discuss.
2. What are the public relations strategies used in the employees and physicians
awareness campaign , are they effective? discuss .
3. What role does the employees and physicians awareness campaign play in the
success of the programme?.

56
PUBLIC SECTOR
Private sector intervention case example

57
PUBLIC SECTOR

PR in the public sector has these functions to perform:


• Giving regular information on policy, plans and achievement of the department.
• Informing and educating the public on legislation, regulations and all matters
that affect the daily life of citizens.
• Advising the government of reaction and potential reaction to current or propose
policies.

The three case studies are examples of the sensitive role of PR in governance.

58
Chapter Six

PUBLIC AWARENESS ON WATER SCARCITY IN EGYPT

This case is on Public Awareness Campaign.

BACKGROUND

From 1995 to 1998, GreenCOM assisted USAID and Egypt’s Ministry of Public Works
and Water Resources (MPWWR) in initiating a participatory communication program
to educate different segments of the public about water conservation and water pollution
prevention. The MPWWR is responsible for managing the waters of the Nile, including
irrigation canals, drains, and groundwater. Its mandate is of the utmost importance, as
water sustains the social and economic well being of Egypt. In the mid-1990s, however,
the country’s limited water supply was under great strain from population growth,
increasing use of intensive agricultural practices, and industrial development

Although the MPWWR traditionally focused on the engineering issues related to water
delivery, the late minister Dr. Mohammed Abdel Hady Rady recognized that
engineering expertise had to be matched by careful consideration of people’s needs and
behaviors. He requested USAID’s help to build his ministry’s ability to involve water
users in formulating and implementing new policies promoting efficient delivery, use,
conservation, and protection of water resources.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

In the mid-1990s, Egypt’s limited supply was under great strain from population
growth, increasing use of intensive agricultural practices and industrial development.
Although the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources traditionally focused on
the engineering issues related to water delivery, the minister of Public Works and Water
resources recognised that engineering expertise had to be matched by careful
consideration of people’s needs and behaviours.

OBJECTIVES :

• To build the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources’ ability.


• To involve water users in formulating and implementing new policies.
• To promote efficient delivery, use, conservation, and protection of water
resources.

59
METHOD

Establishment Of The Water Communication Unit

GreenCOM’s first step was to develop a water communication strategy for the
MPWWR. Included in this strategy was a recommendation to create a special
department within the ministry that would be dedicated solely to communication. One
month Establishment of the Water Communication Unit after GreenCOM’s strategy
was presented to the minister and his senior staff, a ministerial decree was issued to
launch the MPWWR’s new Water Communication Unit (WCU). The decree
encouraged all departments of the ministry to cooperate with the WCU.
.
One of GreenCOM’s primary objectives was to build the WCU’s capacity to carry out
its critical mission within the ministry. A two-week training course was designed for
unit staff and introduced them to development communication in theory and practice.
Specific topics included:
* Development communication for behavior change
* Tasks of a development communicator
* Assessment of MPWWR communication needs
* Planning and implementing communication campaigns
* Project and personnel management
* Producing communication materials

After the WCU was established, its staff members collaborated with GreenCOM on a
pilot research activity in the village of Manshat Essam in the governorate of Menoufia.
Research was focused on mesqa (irrigation canal) clean up and consisted of focus group
discussions and in-depth interviews to determine the issues facing village farmers.
Following this initial practicum, GreenCOM and the WCU expanded their research to
three other governorates—Aswan, Fayoum, and Damietta— before developing the
WCU’s first national public awareness campaign.
Research indicated that many people did not realize the gravity of Egypt’s water
shortage, nor did they trust the MPWWR because they perceived past experiences with
the ministry in a negative light. Despite their lack of awareness about water quantity,
they were very anxious about quality,
voicing a high level of concern about pollution in the mesqas and other sources.
Research indicated that many people did not realize the gravity of Egypt’swater
shortage.

First National Campaign

After GreenCOM helped the WCU staff conduct formative research and learn basic
development communication skills, they were ready to implement their first national
public awareness campaign on water scarcity. This campaign concentrated on four
themes:
* Egypt’s water comes from other countries and a treaty limits the amount Egypt can
use.

60
* As the population increases, the amount of water available per person will decline.
* Farmers use the most water and can conserve the most.
* MPWWR field staff are in frequent contact with farmers and play an important role in
shaping farmers’ water conservation behaviors.

Target Audience
Farmers were the main target audience of this campaign, but GreenCOM and the WCU
also targeted MPWWR field staff and the mass media.
Campaign tools and products included:

* Media Exposure
The WCU arranged 19 radio or television appearances for senior MPWWR staff, who
were interviewed about the campaign. As relationships were built between the WCU
and major media outlets, the two groups began to work together, identifying key
MPWWR officials to be interviewed, developing interview questions, and preparing
ministry staff for their television appearances. The WCU also arranged workshops in
Cairo, Port Said, and Alexandria to brief media representatives about the campaign and
introduce them to the roles and responsibilities of the ministry.

* Communication Support Materials


GreenCOM guided WCU staff in preparing a set of print materials for distribution to
MPWWR field staff, media representatives, and schools.
Important links with other government agencies were built, as the WCU collaborated
with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture on these materials.

Products included a special issue of the WCU monthly newsletter for field engineers to
highlight the awareness campaign and a briefing folder for fact sheets, reports, and other
written products for ministry field staff and media representatives. For schools, the
WCU created a teacher guide on water scarcity issues and a wall chart to illustrate
proper and improper uses of water. Students also received a colouring book calendar
and an irrigation calendar to take home to their parents.

*Public Service Advertisements


Another important aspect of the WCU’s first campaign was the use of television, radio,
and print advertisements on water scarcity.
GreenCOM helped the WCU contract an Egyptian advertising agency to develop five
radio and six television spots, two newspaper ads, and a set of promotional handouts
(hats, bumper stickers, and pocket calendars) for MPWWR field staff and other groups.
The reach of the campaign was extensive. During a three-month period, the television
spots were broadcast free of charge more than 1,000 times and were viewed by almost
26 million Egyptians.

Building MPWWR Capacity


After GreenCOM had assisted the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources in
establishing the Water Communication Unit and developing the WCU’s first public
awareness campaign, USAID asked the project to provide further assistance to the
WCU under the auspices of the Agricultural Policy Reform Project. There were two

61
specific objectives for this next phase. The first was to increase water users’ awareness
of the need for water conservation and pollution prevention. The second was to build
better relationships between water users and the MPWWR field staff, especially
the district water engineers .To design appropriate training interventions,
GreenCOM conducted a knowledge, attitudes, and practice study with more than 1,000
farmers and their wives. The objective of this study was to help the MPWWR
understand the concerns and perspectives of this critical segment of the population.
Allowing the research was a remarkable step for the ministry, which was used to
operating in a highly centralized, top-down manner, dictating from Cairo how much
irrigation water each farmer received and even which crops the farmers could plant.
* Demand for the resulting research report was so high that a second printing was
required.
The research found that farmers were distrustful of the MPWWR and its district
engineers, who worked in the field on managing irrigation water. Likewise, a survey of
183 district water engineers revealed that they perceived the farmers as ignorant and
tended to blame them for all water problems. Thus, GreenCOM and the WCU’s main
task was to help each group appreciate the perspective of the other, build trust and open
communication channels between farmers and engineers, and demonstrate the potential
benefits accruing to each side from greater collaboration through such innovations as
water user associations.
GreenCOM and the WCU implemented a comprehensive communication training
program for district engineers and other MPWWR employees. By the end of this
program, 180 engineers had been trained in communication and customer service
skills and 125 senior and mid-level ministry staff had taken part in seminars on
management and problem solving. Eighty ministry inspectors also received
management training. In addition, WCU representatives made nearly 20 visits to district
engineer sites to help the engineers facilitate partnership meetings with farmers. The
WCU staff and engineers also hosted four educational meetings with about 5,000
schoolchildren.
To complement the district engineer training, GreenCOM continued to strengthen the
skills of WCU staff to enable the unit to support both the engineers and farmers as the
MPWWR implemented new policies. GreenCOM provided training for the WCU in a
variety of areas including technical writing, graphics software, video production,
materials pretesting, evaluation, and customer service.
For example, GreenCOM purchased video and audio production equipment and trained
staff members in producing short videos. One product was a14-minute video illustrating
aspects of field engineer staff training and meetings with farmers. Other videos
documented the implementation of MPWWR policy initiatives such as the formation of
water user associations. Staff members also gained experience by videotaping all
training events during the first six months of 1999 and covering the MPWWR’s Nile
2000 Conference.
During this phase of the project, GreenCOM not only engaged in capacity building
activities for ministry staff but also developed a second public awareness campaign on
water scarcity.

*Television and Radio Spots


Six television spots on Egypt’s growing water scarcity were broadcast in the summer of
1998.

62
Selected national and regional stations aired them more than 300 times per month for a
total of 1,028 airings. It is estimated that the spots were seen at least once by 90 percent
of the rural population (or 13,310,000 people) and by 87 percent of the total population
(or25,838,000 people).
A follow-on campaign of twelve television and radio spots was produced to exemplify
the theme of government and farmers as partners, joined in a common endeavor to
confront water scarcity. In this series, farmers were portrayed as successful businessmen
who recognize that water is an essential resource upon which their prosperity depends.
The benefit/rationale for behavior change was financial security and increased income
for farmers who adopt recommended water management practices.

*Documentaries
Two 15-minute video documentaries were produced as part of the campaign that
focused on specific water conservation practices in certain geographical areas and
particular agricultural sectors. These documentaries were designed for use in farmer
meetings conducted as another part of USAID’s Agricultural Policy Reform Project.
The first featured a water saving method for sugar cane irrigation. The second
encouraged farmers to plant a new variety of rice that consumed less water due to a
shorter growing season. The need for such a video was underscored by data from the
KAP study of farmers, which revealed that only 36 percent of farmers believed they had
sufficient information to select new, water-saving crops.
WCU media personnel cooperated with a commercial producer to create the videos,
which provided additional on-the-job training.

*News Programs
Twenty-six episodes of a 10-minute television show called Water News for Farmers
were produced with the cooperation of a television station that covered the entire Delta
in Lower Egypt, where agriculture is intensive.
Viewership for that channel was estimated at more than three million. The program
featured news about water developments, recommendations and schedules for irrigation
water delivery, and interviews with local farmers. The program was very useful for
disseminating water messages and also served as a model for future co-production with
regional broadcasters.

*Other Video Productions


GreenCOM and the WCU also collaborated on educational/instructional videos, water
announcements based on verses from the Koran, and two other documentaries. Training
and experience provided through GreenCOM gave the MPWWR a strong foundation
for future media campaigns. By the end of the project a new facility had been designed
and constructed and an annual budget secured for the WCU, thus enabling the group to
produce materials on its own.

*Print Materials
GreenCOM and project partners produced an extensive library of print materials,
including fact sheets to convey core campaign messages to a wide variety of groups
including senior staff of the MPWWR, donor agencies, water specialists, and
journalists. Such widespread information sharing was not a standard practice
in Egypt, so it was a very significant part of the campaign.

63
Other print and electronic materials (posters, booklets, leaflets, brochures,
wall charts, calendars, notebooks, coloring books for children, t-shirts, and an
assortment of promotional giveaways) were also produced after extensive pre-testing
with target groups to ensure message comprehension. Post distribution reports from
field staff, trainers, and farmers confirmed the appeal and usefulness of WCU print
materials, and in many cases, the MPWWR provided funding to increase print runs.

*Community Mobilization
In addition to the materials produced with GreenCOM, WCU representatives made
visits to meetings organized by district engineers to build partnerships with
approximately 500 farmers. The WCU staff members helped engineers distribute
educational materials and collaborated with them on educational sessions with nearly
5,000 school children.

RESULTS

From 1995 to 1998 GreenCOM played a significant role in helping USAID and the
Egyptian government reshape the relationship between a major water user group—
farmers—and the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources. One important result
was the formation of the MPWWR’s Water Communication Unit, which reflected the
ministry’s commitment to a better relationship with farmers.
Through training in research and a wide variety of communication tools, GreenCOM
also sharpened the professional skills of ministry staff. The WCU, for example, gained
the ability to implement research based communication interventions to help other
MPWWR departments carry out their work more effectively. One concrete result was
the creation of Egypt’s first national communication campaign on water scarcity. The
WCU participated in all stages of this campaign, from the formative research to
message development and materials production. WCU staff also began to make regular
visits to the field to meet with district engineers, a necessary step for improving internal
ministry communications.
Another major outcome for GreenCOM and project partners was an increase in district
engineers’ knowledge about water-saving techniques and the importance of water user
associations. An evaluation at the end of the project found that engineers’ knowledge of
water-saving techniques for farmers increased by more than 100 percent; the percentage
of engineers who could define a water user association jumped from 53 to 100 percent;
and the percentage of engineers who could cite at least two reasons why a farmer would
join a water user association increased from 51 to 76 percent.
After participating in GreenCOM’s training workshops, the engineers began to hold
community meetings with farmers to discuss water scarcity issues (representing an
almost 200 percent increase in the number of meetings held) and built a framework for
creating water user associations in the future, a long-term goal of the MPWWR.
LESSON LEARNED

USAID and Egypt’s Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources used GreenCom in
providing solution to the masses’ needs. This shows the importance of using a PR firm
(external practitioners) in providing solution to PR problems.
Engineering expertise of the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources was to be
matched with careful consideration of people’s needs and behaviour.

64
Research indicated that many people did not realize the gravity of Egypt’s water
shortage. It points to the importance of research as a public relations tool, which should
be used in diagnosing the organizational problem before the prescription of a solution.
Relevant PR strategies were used by GreenCom which led to the success of the
campaign.

Source: GreenCom.

QUESTIONS

1. Is it important to employ the service of a PR firm by an organization,


even if there is a PR department in the organization?, discuss.
2. What are the functions of the Water Communication Unit of the Ministry
of Public Works and Water Resources?.
3. Is the establishment of the Water Communication Unit necessary?,
comment.
4. What role does research play in the success of the campaign?.
5. Identify the audience and the stakeholders reached in this campaign.
How would you these audience and stakeholders if you were the PR
executive of the Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources.

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Chapter Seven

THE STATUS OF E-GOVERNMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

By Maria FARELO and Chris MORRIS

This case study is on government public relations and the role of institutionalising PR in
governance.

BACKGROUND

E-government in South Africa is at a formative stage and a


snapshot of progress is taken by asking the 10 questions posed by the
“Roadmap for E-government”. There is a strong political will driving the
vision and the readiness assessment discusses legal frameworks, governance
models, infrastructure and human resource development as key success
factors. Alignment of projects with the vision is demonstrated through a
number of case studies showcasing innovation in service delivery and
customer focus. The crucial issues of corruption, human resource
development and monitoring and evaluation are highlighted.
1. 1. Introduction
In the developing world the use of ICTs have been identified as important tools for
reform and transformation and for leveraging second world economies up to first
world economies. Government plays a critical role in supporting and enabling this
process and in the creation of a socially inclusive information society.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) plan of action foresees the
formation of a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information
Society, where everyone can access, utilise and share information and knowledge.
South Africa has made great strides towards meeting the commitments of the WSIS
Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action to which the country is a signatory.
This paper describes the status of E-government in South Africa and takes a look
at the progress of e-government initiatives by asking the 10 questions posed by the
“Roadmap for E-government” developed by the Pacific Council on International
Policy. The purpose of this exercise is to build on lessons learned in the
implementation of E-government in the developing world and to highlight issues and
challenges that government should address.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The South African government understands the need to develop an Information


Society and harness the power of ICTs for economic and social development for the
benefit of the country and its citizens. Government understands the need for reform
and the transformation of its core activities to make processes more effective and
efficient and more citizen oriented. Recognising that this transformation is not easy,
government has identified the need for change in how officials think and act, how they

66
view their jobs how they share information between departments, with businesses with
citizens and with their own employees It requires re-engineering the government’s
business processes, both within individual agencies and across government.
E-government and ICT are seen as elements of a larger government modernization
Program. Focusing only on the computers will not make officials more service-oriented
toward government’s “customers” and partners. Leaders should think about how to
harness technology to achieve objectives for reform. ICT is an instrument to enable and
empower government reform.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the level of success of the South Africa government in the implementation
of the The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) plan of action that foresees
the formation of a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented Information
Society, where everyone can access, utilise and share information and knowledge.

METHOD

2. What is E-government?
Defined broadly, e-government is the use of ICT to promote more efficient and
effective government, facilitate more accessible government services, allow greater
public access to information, and make government more accountable to citizens.
Egovernment
has emerged beyond electronic service delivery and is part of the ongoing
reform and transformation of government enabling participatory governance and
partnerships to improve efficiency and effectiveness [1].
E-government is about transforming government to be more citizen-centred.
Technology is a tool in this effort. E-government successes require changing how
government works, how it deals with information, how officials view their jobs and
interact with the public. E-government is also within the South African context split
up into different sectoral areas such as e-health, e-education, SMME (Small and
Medium Enterprises) and local content.
Achieving e-government success also requires active partnerships between
government, citizens and the private sector. The e-government process needs
continuous input and feedback from the “customers”— the public, businesses and
officials who use e-government services. Their voices and ideas are essential to
making e-government work. E-government, when implemented well, is a
participatory process.

3. The Roadmap for E-government in the Developing World


The Roadmap, developed by the Pacific Council on International Policy [1], seeks to
leverage e-government lessons already learned in the developing world to maximize
the chances of success for future projects. The “Roadmap for E-government”
highlights issues and problems common to e-government efforts. These 10 questions
provide indicators to guide e-government implementation.
The Roadmap presents ten questions that e-government practitioners from around
the world (including South Africa) believe are crucial to successfully conceiving,

67
planning, managing and measuring e-government. The Roadmap Working Group
suggests that e-government officials ask themselves these ten questions before they
embark on the e-government path.
The 10 Questions:
1. Why are we pursuing e-government?
2 Do we have a clear vision and priorities for e-government?
3. What kind of e-government are we ready for?
4. Is there enough political will to lead the e-government effort?
5. Are we selecting e-government projects in the best way?
6. How should we plan and manage e-government projects?
7. How will we overcome resistance from within the government?
8. How will we measure and communicate progress? How will we know if we are
failing?
9. What should our relationship be with the private sector?
10. How can e-government improve citizen participation in public affairs?

4. How does E-government in South Africa measure-up to the


Roadmap?

4.1 Why are we pursuing E-government?


The South African government understands the need to develop an Information
Society and harness the power of ICTs for economic and social development for the
benefit of the country and its citizens. Government understands the need for reform
and the transformation of its core activities to make processes more effective and
efficient and more citizen oriented. The need to manage information, internal
functions as well as serving business and citizens is core to their strategy.
E-Government is part of Public Service transformation guided by the principle of public
service for all and Batho Pele.
Recognising that this transformation is not easy, government has identified the
need for change in how officials think and act, how they view their jobs how they
share information between departments, with businesses with citizens and with their
own employees It requires re-engineering the government’s business processes, both
within individual agencies and across government.
E-government and ICT are seen as elements of a larger government modernization
program. It is well understood that simply adding computers or modems will not
improve government, nor will only automating the same old procedures and practices.
Making unhelpful procedures more efficient is not productive. Focusing only on the
computers will not make officials more service-oriented toward government’s
“customers” and partners. Leaders should think about how to harness technology to
achieve objectives for reform. ICT is an instrument to enable and empower
government reform.

4.22 Do we have a clear vision and priorities for e-government?


In South Africa, the Vision 2014 describes an inclusive Information Society, one in
which the use of ICTs will be harnessed to ensure that everyone has fast, reliable and

68
affordable access to information and knowledge that will enable them to participate
meaningfully in the community and economy [2].
The Vision further aspires to move the country from being a consumer of ICT
products and services to being a major player in the production and innovation of
these products and services. The cornerstones of this Inclusive Information Society
are a vibrant and thriving ICT sector, an enabling policy and regulatory environment,
accessible ICT infrastructure and broadband connectivity, and an appropriately skilled
and knowledgeable citizenry.
The vision for e-Government expressed in the approved E-Government
Discussion document entitled, “Electronic Government, The Digital Future: A Public
Service IT Policy Framework”, published in 2001 by the Department of Public
Service and Administration recommended that an e-Government initiative should
address three main domains:

* E-government : the application of IT intra-governmental operations


(Government to government or G2G)
* E-service : the application of IT to transform the delivery of public services
(Government to Citizens or G2C)
*E-business : the application of IT to operations performed by government in
the manner of G2B transactions (e.g. procurement)
The vision for achieving e-Government in South Africa is to render services
around life episodes of the citizens that follow a series of events, from cradle to grave.
Such services must be accessible to all citizens anytime, anywhere and through
different access devices and media. All stakeholders – government and nongovernment
- were invited to participate in defining the vision. Continuous buy-in and
participation from critical role-players is recognised as a key priority. This is achieved
through a series of intergovernmental consultative workshops and working together
with the Government Chief Information Officer Council.

The Department of Home Affairs promote the vision on re-defining the


relationship between government and citizens. A smartcard-ID is under development
that focuses on the automation of finger prints and the development of an electronic
Population Registry. Through its Home Affairs National Information System
(HANIS) project citizens can access birth and death registration forms online. To the
extent that increased transparency, accountability and predictability (of rules and
procedures) are made priorities, e-government may offer a weapon against corruption.
The vision of e-government is the optimisation of services so that government
can achieve its goals. One especially sensitive issue, which may prevent or delay
service delivery, is the issue of fraud. Within the e-government policy and strategic
framework, there is no particular focus at how government will address the issue on
non-delivery of services or inefficient service delivery to citizens. Although there is
no explicit reference to corruption in the South African E-government vision, a
number of important strategies are in place. To address the specific problems of
corruption, Government launched South Africa’s National Anti-Corruption
Programme followed by Public Service and National Anti-Corruption Summits. Late
in 1999, Government also co-hosted the 9th International Anti-Corruption
Conference. At the beginning of 2002, Government adopted the Public Service Anti-
Corruption Strategy.

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The e-government vision is informed by the growth and development
priorities expressed in Vision 2014 as well as the Millennium Development Goals
whereby ICT’s are regarded as an enabler for the achievement of these goals within a
broad and integrated developmental approach, rather than just as an infrastructure.
E-government is firmly seen as an integral pillar for developing a South African
Information Society and within this, e-education, e-health, and the development of
small and medium enterprises within the ICT sector.
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has developed an e-procurement
system that allows for open and transparent bidding of government tenders aimed at
preventing corruption.

South Africa’s Electronic Communications Transactions (ECT) Act, No. 25 of


2002 and its Chapter X11 on Cyber Inspectors and X111 on Cyber crimes governs
internet crime. Unfortunately no regulations have been implemented which are a
factor that is undermining international co-operation to eradicate IT viruses, denial of
service attacks, identity theft, child pornography, and other forms of cyber crimes.

4.3. What kind of e-government are we ready for?


The South Africa E-government vision sets out the priorities and key objectives of
government in terms of G2G, G2C, and G2B transactions. Co-ordination of
government departments is happening and enjoying ministerial support and
participation. A number of projects in these fields have been implemented and the
need for a monitoring and evaluation system has been identified. Although there are
some shortfalls in certain areas, South Africa mostly has the required legal framework
and governance model, infrastructure, and human capital needed for e-government.

4.3.1 A legal framework and governance model


In South Africa information policies enable the sharing of information with the public
and across government departments. The Promotion of Access to Information Act
enables the constitutional right of access to information. A person is entitled to
request information from a public or private body. A request may be made where the
record is required to protect or exercise a right; the procedures have been complied
with, there is no ground for refusal; and a request includes request for personal
information.
A number of policy measures have been identified as critical in creating an
enabling environment for the implementation of e-Government and include:
Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS), Handbook on Minimum
Interoperability Standards (MIOS), Electronic Communications Transaction Act of
2002, and the Law Commission Issue Paper on Privacy Public Service Act The
Convergence Bill which is now called The Electronic Communications Bill, is the
proposed new legislation that will transform South Africa’s telecommunications
industry, should be signed into law before the end of April 2006. The Public Service
Regulations of 2001 has also enabled e-government implementation. There is a Draft
Protection of Information Bill which is at present undergoing consultation. An Open
Source Software Strategy and Policy has been in place since 2003 and an
implementation strategy and plan is going to be presented to Cabinet in the near
future.

70
The ICT responsibility for national and provincial government resides with
the Minister of Public Service and Administration and the necessary legal framework
and functional bodies were created including the State IT Agency (SITA), formed as a
central, shared service provider to government departments and provinces, the
Government IT Officer’s Council (GITOC), formed to encourage and facilitate a
forum for consultation and deliberation of ICT related issues by the then newly
appointed Government IT Officers (GITOs). The GITOC is an advisory body to the
Minister of Public Service and Administration of ICT related matters, the Office of
the Government CIO was created within Department of Public Service and
Administration. (DPSA) to act as a policy making, regulating and strategy
formulating body with the specific purpose of coordinating E-government activities
across government and The Department of Public Service and Administration was
also tasked to ensure proper measurement of ICT effectiveness in Government
working together with National Treasury.

4.3.2 Infrastructure
Although the telecommunications landscape is dominated by the Telkom monopoly,
government, through a process of managed liberalisation, is now introducing
competition through the Second Network Operator (SNO) and a third cellular
operator was licensed in 2002. Despite this, broadband access is limited and according
to the ITU 2003 comparative study, South Africa performs poorly in this vital
indicator of preparedness for e-commerce.
Mobile penetration has risen to over 50% of the population increasing
opportunities for multi-access to information. South Africa has leveraged the tools of
multi-access government to promote “free and fair” national elections in 2004. The
Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) developed partnerships with cell phone
service providers, which enabled voters to short message service (SMS) their identity
number and in return receive a message back indicating their eligibility to vote and
voting station details. Custom-designed handheld scanners captured information from
bar-coded ID books and greatly streamlined the process of voter registration. (is there
a role of Sentech and USA in infrastructure)
A further strategy employed to increase affordable universal access is that of
granting Under-serviced Area Licenses (USALs). The licensees are Small Medium
Enterprises (SMEs) that provide telecommunication services in areas designated as
under-serviced

4.3.3 Human capital


South Africa faces significant human capital development challenges in building the
Inclusive Information Society. One of the key challenges is the shortage of skilled
ICT people in the country exasperated by the “brain drain” of skilled ICT personnel
and other professionals to developed countries, and from public to private sector.
Currently the education and training system is unable to produce the essential and
technical management skills that most employers seek. The School Register of Needs
(SRN) survey of 2000 reveals that schools that used computers for teaching and
learning in 2000 was 12.3 percent and those that had access to email and internet was
6.9 percent. This has a direct link to the quality of ICT related qualifications produced
by universities and technikons.
According to the HRD review of 2003, trends over the past ten years indicate that

71
very few graduates (12 % in 1999) obtain postgraduate qualifications and that has
serious implications for the supply of high-level ICT workers.

4.4. Is there enough political will to lead the e-government effort?


The President of the Republic of South Africa has committed South Africa not only to
participate but to compete internationally in the Information Society. The Presidential
National Commission on Information Society and Development (PNC on ISAD) was
established in 2001 by the President of the Republic of South Africa to advise and to
broadly coordinate ICT initiatives. The establishment of the PNC on ISAD gave
effect to the President’s commitment to promoting the use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs) to increase the pace of service delivery,
economic growth and development in the country. To this end, the PNC on ISAD
works closely together with the Minister of Communications to work on ICT
strategies for the Information Society as a whole. The Minister of Public Service and
Administration was tasked specifically with the coordination of e-government as well
as the governance of ICT’s within government.

4.5. Are we selecting e-government projects in the best way?


It is important to match projects with the vision. South Africa has achieved a number
of successes including an e-Government information portal, called Batho Pele
Gateway launched in 2004; 355 Multi Purpose Community Centres (including
Telecenters and cyber labs in schools) have been established to provide people in
villages with access to ICT and ICT related services; all universities in the country
and about 6000 schools are ICT enabled; about 800 Public Information Terminals
(PITs) have been established; over 80 per cent of health centres are connected with
ICTs; all provincial and national government departments and many local
governments have websites and e-mail addresses; an educational portal, Thutong, has
been established to help educators and learners to access curriculum related
information; a language portal using all 11 official languages has been established;
and .an Open Source Software desktop application has been translated into South
African Official languages
A study on Inventory of Government-wide Information Systems (IGIS) in 2001
giving recommendations for implementation has been completed. Recommendations
included monitoring of expenditure, achieving economies of scale, minimum
interoperability standards, security, architecture, management of projects and
marketing of the E-government vision. At the present time, and Electronic Inventory
of Government Information System is being developed and will be launched in May
2006. This system will require all CIO’s (Chief Information Officers) to fill in
information on departments, IT systems, application and projects which will assist in
terms of reporting requirements and the necessary compliance with the Public Service
Regulations.
The horizontal integration of E-government services (across agencies and
departments within the same level of government) has long been a goal of many
countries, even while many have struggled with the challenges of connecting across
various department and agency systems. Government has implemented a number of
transversal projects such as the financial, personnel management systems and supply
chain management systems (Persal, Bas and Logis). The transversal systems are in the
process of being improved through the Integrated Financial Management Systems

72
Project (IFMS). The case management systems used by the Police, the motor vehicle
registration systems used by Transport, the pensions and unemployment insurance
systems used respectively by Welfare and Labour, and the subsidy management
system used by housing are all examples of transversal initiatives within government.
The Batho Pele Gateway Portal was launched in 2004 and is in its first phase as an
information portal providing information on government services and other
information such as legislation, policies and all other information of government. At
present it is undergoing enhancement by translating information on the portal into all
11 languages.
The South African Post Office’s Paymaster to the Nation project promises to
make life considerably easier for recipients of pensions, particularly those who live in
remote rural areas. Under the scheme, welfare grants and pensions are paid into a
Postbank account that is linked to a smart card containing a magnetic strip and a chip,
which contains the beneficiary’s fingerprints and photo to eliminate fraud. In the
government to business (G2B) domain the South African Revenue Services (SARS)
e-filing already provides a means to conduct transactions related to tax returns on the
internet
4.6. How should we plan and manage e-government projects?
The approach outlined by the E-government framework proposed by the DPSA
includes the management of all e-government projects to be managed by a systems
development life cycle which requires that all application implementation have to go
through a process from conception, through design and development phases and final
implementation. A monitoring and evaluation capability will be implemented to
ensure that best practices and lessons learnt are shared.
An e-government governance framework has been proposed by the DPSA and has
recently undergone extensive government-wide consultations to achieve approval and
buy in from senior officials. The ICT governance structure consists of the DPSA, the
State Information Technology Agency (SITA), the National Treasury and the
Government Information Technology Officers Council (GITOC). These three
interrelated entities are in the main responsible for government’s ICT responsibility
and service improvement using ICT’s.
The governance model also recognises an inter-departmental forum consisting of
relevant government stakeholders, specifically those who are at present managing
transversal e-government projects that will impact on the efficiency and effectiveness
of government as well as have the necessary effect of improving service delivery to
citizens. These projects include the Home Affairs National Identification System,
(HANIS), Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS), South African Social
Security Agency, and the Integrated Justice System (IJS).
The Governance framework outlines the responsibilities of specific committees
responsible for e-government data-related projects, specifically citizen-data,
application-related, access channel projects such as service centres, etc.,
infrastructure-related matters. It is envisaged that a programme office, namely that of
the Office of the Government CIO, based at DPSA will play a coordinating role to
ensure that large e-government projects are well planned.
Criteria for identifying ICT projects include increased productivity in terms of
quantity and quality of ICT implementation, better cost effectiveness in terms of
duration, complexity and possible reduction or duplication of tasks, and improved

73
service delivery. All these are measured by interoperability standards, security of
documents and systems, economies of scale in supporting the accelerated growth
strategy in supporting the development of a vibrant ICT sector and Open Source
Software usage and development, elimination of duplication of ICT functions,
projects and resources, thus ensuring that access to ICT infrastructure is paramount.
E-government management is more than implementing projects; it means
planning for capacity-building. The E-government strategy has raised a number of
relevant issues to capacity building. These include the necessity for skills transfer
from ICT vendors during system implementation. That ICT re-training and reorientation
should be a continuous part of the development plan for public servants
and that ICT literacy has to be part of the general education curriculum. Digital
inclusivity must permeate solutions formulated as part of the e-government
programme. An example would be that citizens will get general ICT training at
general service centres, such as a Multi-purpose Community Centre (MPCC’s).

4.7. How will we overcome resistance from within the government?


The South African government has following a consultative process in terms of
achieving “buy-in” from all government stakeholders. E-Government has generally
been accepted as the term governing general aspects of modernising government’s
business’s processes and it has been mandated by the Governance and Administration
Cluster of Cabinet to the Department of Public Service and Administration to forge a
common approach to the understanding and implementation of e-government. There
is general acceptance and buy-in at Cabinet level but resistance if any will be at
interdepartmental,
possibly at senior management level as it may be perceived that turf is
being trampled upon. Resistance to an E-government governance model and plan will
only come about if relationship building is not cultivated at this point in time.

4.8. How will we measure and communicate progress?


The assessment of the contribution of ICTs to the development of the Information
Society requires detailed analysis which is based on statistical and qualitative data
about purpose, intensity and value of ICT use and application. Official statistics
relating to the connectivity of SMMEs, health institutions, public funded institutions
are not widely available and thus need to be developed and collection strengthened.
South Africa lacks a comprehensive and easily accessible evidence base to
support strategic policy decision making and programme design to leverage ICTs for
South Africa’s Information Society development. This negatively affects timeous
detection of service delivery challenges for the purpose of effecting corrective action,
thereby impinging on the ability of the state to deliver effectively and efficiently in
terms of the ICT for development agenda. It further hampers international
development reporting obligations on ICTs such as reporting requirements on the

Millennium Development Goals and progress made towards the implementation of


the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Plan of Action.
The WSIS Plan calls on all countries and regions to develop and set up coherent
and internationally comparable indicator systems and tools to provide statistical
information on the Information Society, with basic indicators and analysis of its key
dimensions.

74
4.9. What should our relationship be with the private sector?
In South Africa there are a number of examples of Public Private Partnerships in ICTs
for development. The corporate sector plays an important role in providing support to
community programmes. However, the relationship with vendors remains problematic
and government must remain vigilant in not getting “locked in” to proprietary
solutions from a single vendor. For example, government is promoting the use of
nonproprietary solutions such as Open Source Software.

4.10. How can e-government improve citizen participation in public affairs?


E-government is evaluated through public participation. Access to public services is a
necessary part of e-government, but not sufficient. Facilitating, broadening and
deepening openness and citizen involvement is fundamental to e-government.
Evaluate the effectiveness or success of e-government through participatory dialogue
and interaction. Such participation can either be discreet, one-time participation or
ongoing participation by individuals or community groups (e.g., some kind of “citizen
steering committees” for e-government projects). The important thing is to ask the
public for feedback, and ask regularly. Such interactive dialogues create greater
accountability.
The government has established a process through which the public can comment
on draft legislation. Green papers, draft laws and regulations are posted on
government web sites. Citizens can review policy proposals and documents online
and submit comments, even before a policy issue reaches the Green Paper stage. This
kind of participation allows citizens to contribute directly to public policymaking.

RESULT

5. Challenges and Next Steps


The 10 questions posed by the “Roadmap for E-government” has highlighted the
positive progress South Africa has made in E-government but also raised some
interesting issues. Although the E-government vision is articulated in various policy
documents there is no common theme or consensus. Reference to corruption in the
vision is notably absent. The general principles of Batho Pele are evident in
government’s strategies which is important in creating a citizen centred service.
Government has noted the absence of G2E (government to employee) in its
strategies and is addressing this issue realising the crucial role employees play in the
process. On the technical front there are many challenges particularly with legacy
systems, and the need to implement transversal systems in order to achieve horizontal
integration required for cross-departmental integration. Technological solutions can
easily be found but government needs to manage carefully its role with the private
sector in forming Public Private Partnerships.
However, it is the human resource development issue within government that
needs prioritisation. The education system needs to be aligned with the ICT demands
of the country and scarce ICT skills need to be attracted and retained particularly
within government.
How will government know if it fails or succeeds without an integrated
monitoring and evaluation system? Government has demonstrated its understanding

75
between outcomes and cost-benefit but formal monitoring and evaluation procedures
need to be put in place. Emphasis should be placed here on the impact on service
delivery and the customer. There are issues regarding implementation of the public
service regulation in terms of ICT which are being addressed with further
amendments to the Act requiring reporting mechanism to be put in place to report
back on ICT spending and project implementation to the Public Service Parliamentary
Committee.
Change always brings with it the possibility of unexpected outcomes and
difficulties. Some which have been experienced in the e-Government arena include a
high turnover of staff, inadequate resourcing, underachievement of project work, lack
of leadership in terms of financial planning, lack of ICT expertise, a ‘relatively’ weak
ICT industry, poor recognition of the emerging Information Society and a weak
educational system.
E-government in South Africa needs to develop service and customer maturity.
Service maturity measures the level to which a government has developed an online
presence—the most critical service delivery channel in terms of driving down
delivery costs. Service maturity takes into account the number of services for which
national governments are responsible that are available online (service maturity
breadth), and the level of completeness with which each service is offered (service
maturity depth). Service maturity overall is the product of service maturity breadth
and service maturity depth.
Customer service maturity measures the extent to which government agencies
manage interactions with their customers (citizens and businesses) and deliver service
in an integrated way. Important measures of customer service include customer
relationship management, citizen-centered strategies, multi-access for services,
crossgovernment
service delivery and creating awareness and educating customers .

6. Conclusions
E-government in South Africa is in the formative stage of development. Key
challenges facing government include creating access, internal efficiency and human
resource development. With advances in technology improved access needs to be
created for citizens, particularly in rural areas and a supportive telecommunications
policy needs to be in place. Internal efficiencies need improvement not only from a
technological point of view but also from a people perspective. Training and creating
a common purpose are key issue. Government has already added G 2 E (Government
to Employee) in its strategies
Key policies and governance frameworks have recently been developed and the
role of leadership, amongst its many agencies, has been defined. South Africa has
taken the first tentative steps in creating on-line access but its breadth and depth of
services requires significant development. This needs to be seen in the context of
relatively low tele-densities, especially in rural areas, and high telecommunication
costs.
Government’s current plans include revamping the E-government portal to
improve public access to government services, through public information terminals
in post offices and multi-purpose community centers, and to provide streamlined
government services online to present government as a single entity to consumers of
its services. These plans point to a positive movement in customer service for the

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country
A consultative process has been followed in developing E-government in South
Africa but achieving buy-in, particularly within the ranks of government departments,
remains a challenge. The next phase of E-government should focus on
implementation guided by the citizen focused Batho Pele principles in terms of online
service delivery and customer service.

LESSON LEARNED

According to Otis Baskin:


Using technology to communicate with the publics is not new in the government public
relations, but the possibilities of the new computer based technologies make
inexpensive two-way communication a reality for the low operating budgets prevalent
in government public relations.

Websites can accomplish several objectives:

1. Communicating with the public: With the web you can bypass the media . The
website can supplement your media relations efforts and may eventually replace
much of the media effort.
2. Communicating with the researchers, activists, specialists, and journalists.
People will use your site for information they need.
3. Distributing large volumes of information. Web users can pick and choose what
they want from the information provided. A good website, though, routes users
to information that interests them.
4. Publicising anything from a new policy to an upcoming event. A website is
accessible all over the world, and it can be updated easily. You can also use
other media to invite the public to your website.
5. Soliciting public comment. The web provides a two-way communication
medium. You can build in an e-mail option with a click of the mouse. (Otis
Baskin et al, 1997).

The e-government of South Africa is a demonstration of the government public


relations.
It portrays the main objectives of government PR which are:
• To gain support for new laws or initiatives.
• To stimulate citizen interest and relieve public confusion about government
agencies, processes and programs.
• To facilitate voter decision making by providing factual information.
• To enable citizens to use government services fully by providing continuous
information.
• To open channels of communication with government officials.
• To serve officials by helping interpret citizen attitudes and public opinion.
• To gain voluntary obedience with laws, regulations, and rules.
• To build generalized support for agencies or programs so that conflicts or
negative events can be overcome.

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QUESTIONS

1. What is e-government?
2. What is the use of e-government in governance?
3. I f you are the PR executive of the government, how will
you institutionalise PR on the government’s website?
4. Design the features of the government’s websites as the
PR executive of the government

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References
[1] The Working Group on E-Government in the Developing World, “Roadmap
for E-government in the Developing World, 10 Questions E-Government
Leaders Should Ask Themselves”, April 2002.
[2] Presidential National Commission on Information Society & Development,
“Towards An Inclusive Information Society for South Africa, A Country
Report to Government”, November 2005.
[3] Department of Public Service Administration, “South African E-government
Conceptual Framework”, 31 October 2005.
[4] Department of Public Service Administration, “South African E-government
Governance Framework”31 October 2005.
[5] Department of Public Service Administration, “South African E-government
Policy Framework”31 October 2005.
[6] Accenture, “Leadership in Customer Service: New Expectations New
Experiences”, April 2005.
[7] Gillwald, A, Esselar S, “South African 2004 ICT Sector Performance
Review”, December 2004.
[8] http://www.home-affairs.gov.za/projects.asp
[9} http://www.gcis.gov.za/mpcc/index.html
[10} http://www.dpsa.gov.za/
(11) Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice, Otis Baskin et al, 1997, USA.

Appendix I

Maria FARELO, Chris MORRIS


Department of Public Service & Administration, Private Bag X916, Pretoria, 0001,
South Africa Tel: +27 12 366 1410, Fax: +2712 366 1821
Email:mariaf@dpsa.gov.za
Meraka Institute, CSIR P.O. 395,Pretoria 0001, South Africa
Tel: +27 12 841 2509, Fax: + 27 12 841 4720, Email: cmorris@csir.co.za

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Chapter Eight

THE STATUS OF CIVIC AND VOTER EDUCATION IN ZAMBIA

This case study is on political campaign.

BACKGROUND

The Electoral Commission of Zambia under Article 76 of the Constitution has


the following Constitutional functions;
• To supervise the registration of voters and review the voters registers/roll
• To conduct the Presidential and Parliamentary elections; and
• To review the boundaries of the constituencies into which

Zambia is divided for the purpose of election to the National Assembly.


In addition to the Constitutional functions the Commission has the following
Statutory functions to perform;
• To supervise a referendum (Referendum Act CAP14)
• To conduct and supervise the Local Government Elections (Local
Government Elections Act CAP 282);
• Formulation and review of Electoral General Regulations
• The Commission may perform any other statutory function that the
National Assembly may call upon it to undertake.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia is not mandated by legislation to conduct


voter education. However, due to the high levels of voter apathy especially in
by-elections leading to the 2001 elections, the Commission took an initiative to
carry out voter education administratively by establishing a committee called the
National Voter Education Committee (NVEC).
The establishment of Committees is provided for under the Electoral
Commissions Act. No.24 of 1996 section 9 and it allows the Commission to
establish Committees that it considers appropriate for a certain function. NVEC
which was established in May 2001 is charged with the responsibility of
spearheading a national, non-partisan voter education programme to sensitise
the electorate on the importance of exercising their right to vote.
NVEC comprises 11 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and is chaired by
a representative from one of the member NGOs. The Commission acts as a
secretariat providing technical, financial and other support. The Committee has
similar structures at district level in all the 72 districts of the country.
In order to enhance capacity and to strengthen voter education activities the
Commission and NVEC members with the help of Consultants from University
of Zambia, Curriculum Development Centre and Anti-Corruption Commission of
Zambia came up with a syllabus and manual for voter education. The
Commission was also privileged to have expertise from Ms.Illona Tipp of the

80
Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) who also had some immeasurable
input to the voter education curriculum.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

There was a high level of voters apathy during the by elections leading to the 2001
election. This led the Electoral Commission of Zambia to establish the committee
called the National Voter Education Committee (NVEC) in May 2001. To
sensitize the electorates on the importance of exercising their right to vote.

OBJECTIVES:

• To sensitize the electorates on the importance of exercising their right to


vote.
• To increase the number of registered voters.

METHOD

Voter Education Activities


The Commission’s efforts of carrying out voter education activities are
supplemented by the use of Zambia information Services a multi-faceted public
media organization.
The role that NVEC plays in the electoral process can not be over emphasized.
NVEC helps in identifying appropriate strategies and programmes to improve
voter turnout.

It also helps to build and maintain voter confidence through the dissemination of
relevant information at every stage of the electoral process.

Since the Committee was formed, it has embarked on various activities


throughout the country to educate the public on the need to vote, the
importance of their vote and the right for a voter to vote for a candidate of
his/her choice other than being influenced by favours or gifts from candidates.
The Committee also widely publicises the requirements for one to register as a
voter and requirements to vote especially in the pre-election period prior to
general elections and during by-elections.
For instance prior to the 2001 tripartite elections the Committee embarked on a
massive voter education campaign for the registration of voters exercise. The
campaign saw an increase in the number of registered voters. From a targeted
4.3 million eligible voters, 2.6 million votes were captured as compared to about
2.2 million that were captured during the 1996 voter
registration.
The team conducted more voter education campaigns during
publication/collection of voters’ cards period when people were required to
verify their particulars in the voters register and collect their voters’ cards.
During the elections NVEC was again deployed throughout the country to
encourage those who had registered as voters to exercise their right to vote.

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The Committee also realises the need for gender balance in the electoral
process. It encourages women’s independent participation in voting for
candidates of their choice without being influenced by anyone e.g their spouses.
During the campaigns the Committee also ensures that it makes the
electorate aware of corrupt practices and educates them on electoral offences.

Status Of Voter Education


The team, alongside Zambia Information Services periodically conducts voter
education during by-elections using the same mechanisms that are used for
major elections, such as the mobile public address system, drama groups,
posters, brochures, fliers etc. Voter education activities and material are
disseminated in English and the seven main local languages.
Although a great amount of effort in voter education is confined to the
Commission and NGOs at the moment, it is worth noting that political parties as
major stakeholders are being encouraged to carry out voter education among
their members and the electorate. For instance parties are expected to conduct
awareness on the importance of their members to register as
voters and to exercise their right to vote.
It is envisaged that with the help of donor funding to supplement the
Commission’s voter education budget for next year’s tripartite elections, voter
education efforts could be doubled to even include door to door campaigns and
other activities in which the Commission has fallen short in the past.
It is the wish of the Commission to carry out continuous voter education but this
has not been possible due to inadequate funding.
However, it is hoped that funding for voter education will improve especially if it
is legally recognised as a function of the Electoral Commission. To this effect,
the Commission together with other stakeholders recommended to the Electoral
Reform Technical Committee (a body that was reviewing existing
electoral laws and regulations with a view to amendments.) to legally empower
the Commission to conduct voter education.
The Commission has also recently recruited a Voter Education and Training
Manager who will run a fully fledged Voter Education Unit in liaison with
Elections and Public Relations Departments.

RESULT

The Committee embarked on a massive voter education campaign for the


registration of voters exercise before the 2001 tripartite elections. The campaign
saw an increase in the number of registered voters. From a targeted 4.3 million
eligible voters, 2.6 million votes were captured as compared to about 2.2 million
that were captured during the 1996 voter
registration. There is an increase of 400,000(four hundred thousand) registered
voters, that is 18 percent increase. 60.4 percent of the targeted eligible voters
registered, that is more than half of the eligible voters.

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LESSON LEARNED

Conclusively, voter education has proved to play a key role in the capturing of a
large number of potential voters, which is one of the key factors in the
successful conduct of elections.
Therefore, it is ideal that countries adopt or enhance their voter education
programmes to promote wider participation in elections by the electorate.

Source: Electoral Commission of Zambia

QUESTIONS

1. What do you understand by voter education?, is it a public relations function?,


comment.
2. Of what importance is voter education in Africa ?, discuss.
3. What are the communication mix used in this voter education?, are they
effective?, discuss.
4. Design a voter education programme for your community or country.

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MEDIA CAMPAIGN

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MEDIA CAMPAIGN

The strategic role of the mass media in PR campaigns can not be overemphasized .
Mass media are tools, when properly used, their could be change in the attitudes of the
target audience and the stakeholders, as deliberately planned by the practitioner before
the execution of the campaign.

The two case studies are examples of the use of mass media in achieving PR goals and
objectives.

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Chapter Nine

MEDIA CAMPAIGN IN NIGERIA AND CAMEROON TO KEEP POTENTIAL


ILLEGAL MIGRANTS FROM TRYING TO IMMIGRATE TO EUROPE.

This case study is on media campaign.

BACKGROUND

African countries are developing countries with lower per capital income. Most of them
are ravaged by poverty, hunger, unemployment and diseases. One of the banes of Africa
is the bad leadership of her leaders, many of them are corrupt. Corruption has eaten
deep to the fabric of African lifestyles. This has affected the economy and socio-
political operations of the continent.
Some African believes that it is better to seek greener pasture in the western world. This
has prompted many of them to immigrate to the western nations either legally or
illegally.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Some Africans are entering. Europe illegally, while some notorious human traffickers
are trafficking children and women for cheap labour and prostitution, likewise men also
are being brought also for cheap labour.
Most of these people are being brought o Europe on the premise that they are offering
them good jobs. Some of these African migrants pay thousands of dollars to smuggling
networks who promise them that life in European countries will be easy, without
warning them of the risks of exploitation, poverty and deportation they will face. Many
others die in their attempts to flee African countries by water.

OBJECTIVE:

To give a more balanced view of irregular migration networks.

METHOD

Introduction
The European Union and Switzerland have started a television, radio and poster
campaign in African countries to keep potential illegal migrants from trying to
immigrate to Europe.

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Switzerland’s migration authority initiated and directed the campaign, which has
included producing a promotional film during the past few months meant to scare away
potential illegal immigrants, It was reported by a German newspaper on
November 26,2007.
The Geneva-based International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it had actually
produced the campaign, which was funded by the Swiss migration office.

Purpose
People-Smuggling Networks
The aim of the campaign is to “give a more balanced view of irregular migration
networks,” IOM spokesman Jean-Philippe Chauzy told AFP news agency.
Some African migrants pay thousands of dollars to smuggling networks who promise
them that life in Switzerland or other European countries will be easy, without warning
them of the risks of exploitation, poverty and deportation they will face, Chauzy said.
Many others die in their attempts to flee African countries by water.

METHOD

Message
“Stay home, since Europe is not the continent of milk and honey. No one’s waiting
for you there,” Handelsblatt summarized the message of the film to be. “Fleeing does
not mean starting a new life,” the last sentence of the film states.
Bleak outlook
A sequence of images in the film includes a telephone ringing with an older, black man
in a cozy apartment picking it up to hear his son on the other end. The father asks his
son if he’s found a home and how his studies are going. The son is then shown in a
grungy camp under a bridge, but answers that everything is fine. More images appear,
showing him sitting on the side of the street and begging, and then later being picked up
by police.The film continues along the same vein for almost two more minutes.
Handelsblatt reported that the film is part of a 250,000-euro ($371,000) campaign by the
European Union and Switzerland to stem illegal emigration where it starts.
The film is to be shown on the TV and at special events.
Film shown during soccer games
The film was shown on Nigeria’s state television channel during half-time of an
international soccer match between Nigeria and Switzerland last week. There are a huge
number of potential immigrants in these countries and we want to show them that
Europe is no paradise,” the spokesperson for Switzerland’s Migration Office told
Handelsblatt.
The IOM has produced similar campaign in Senegal and Niger, funded by Spain and the
European Union respectively, Chauzy told AFP.
He also said such campaign were a “useful tool” in trying to combat people-smuggling.

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Switzerland’s right-wing justice minister Christoph Blocher, whose ministry controls
the Migration Office, supports the campaign. He, too, told the Swiss paper
SonntagsBlick that “we must show the Africans that Switzerland is not paradise.”
RESULT
10 Responses to the TV Campaign in Nigeria and Cameroon,

1. Tony Ishiekwene on November 30th, 2007 1:22 pm

I think it is proper to show this Scary TV messages to would be victims of


illegal immigration from Africa and developing countries of Asia where the
young think that Europe or American streets are paved with Gold and flowing
with milk and honey.
But whether or not the message will get across is another matter. With most
African governments enmesshed in horrible corruption and lack of service to
their populations, more unemployed young people will continue to “look for a
way out” by scrambbling to go to Europe to become slaves or whatever it takes
to survive, even at the risk of death on their journey.

2. Suma John on November 30th, 2007 1:32 pm

Why are they so particular in blacks?


Are blacks the only immigrants in Europe? Or there is a hidden agenda behind
it.God save the black race from extinction.

3. Chidi on November 30th, 2007 1:43 pm

I think every government has the right to do whatever it feels to protect its
interest. But whether the campaign is effective, only time will tell.
I just wonder why it’s only Switzerland that is leading the campaign with EU.
Why not other countries like Germany and others where people dream to go?

4. George Obiazi on November 30th, 2007 2:20 pm

However big the campaign of African illegal immigrants through any media
heading for promised lands- Europes, America, anywhere.
African have began to realize what they will go through in their sojourn, could
they be stopped? A hungry man could go miles in search of keeping his mind
and soul together, do not forget Africans have responsilities and they need to
account for what they are leaving behind, some year behind was to escape
poverty, but today is to be on the hideout somewhere, that’s why many African
still believe of employing such trip with risks.
Anyhow, Swiss and other Europeans countries might embark on any means for
combatting the illegal attrocities they believe the Africans are committing, not
their fault, I put the blames on my fellow entire Black African Nation.
Somehow, someday, LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURN might apply. Strenght
of Europe nations and others are increasing while Africa still at slumber.
Good, having said all- mother AFRICA and PAPASLAND might shine come
rain or high water.

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Keep calm and your fingers crossed. Pray for our Motherland and very soon we
might soon leave European and others alone.

5. Francesca Müller on November 30th, 2007 3:38 pm

As long as going home with empty hands is a shame for those “lost” young
people who spent such a lot of money and risked their live to come in the so
promised Eldorado it might be might be part of a strategy to show that kind of
videos to avoid illegal immigration. But I am still missing the other part: The
serious trial to balance out the welfare on earth in a way that young people have
a real and sustainable perspective by staying at home!
As long as Europe, America and more and more Asia take economically profit
out of the bad governance in most African countries by exploiting their raw
materials this kind of anti propaganda has the smell of hypocrisy!

6. Mbinglo Nsodu on November 30th, 2007 5:32 pm

Overseas Traffic Jam, is it divine or Ambition? is one of my books that I


recently published that look at the pro and cons on migration trends from
W/Africa. One of the question this book seem to asks is whether geographical
location have any role to play in one’s blessing? However, laws of the land, sea
and desert have no sympathy for ambitious migrant.
In our organisation, we had show and still showing documentaries of the
challenges some African migrants face while abroad in Ghana. Some would-be
migrant’s agreement is that documentaries are just images of computer world
and not the reality. Beside we have seen the success of some migrants and
nothing can stop us, they say.
So TV campaign on irregular migration is not the solution. Our organisation has
been working on this issue for some years now and our strategies have seen six
out of ten would-be migrants stay home in Ghana after listening to us during our
programs and visiting our office. The EU and the Swiss migration office need
migration offices such as ours to effectively reduce the number of irregular
migrants, so that the brain drain can be drain gain.

7. Mallami Kayode on November 30th, 2007 9:08 pm

Mr. Suma John have said it all: “why are they particular about the blacks
alone?”… Let the Swiss tell us how many Black Africans are in their country.
This news was just about the topic I was discussing with a working colleague (a
British man)at the office today, that: Britain and Nederland are the the most
lenient countries in Europe, where freedom thrived and discrimination was very
minimised.
Switzerland must always remember that they have also migrated to some
European countries before (especially Poland), let any Swiss man countered this,
if he or she is well versed in history.
What goes around, comes around. Africa will soon be well o.k. and God willing,
some Europeans will come there also to work (looking for Eldorado in Africa)

89
and even to seek for assylum. It is not a joke, it will happen by the special Grace
of God.
Thank God we have so many representatives in Europe that are making the eyes
of our leaders become open on many wrong things.

Every day and night, my thinking is to get out of Europe. I`m tired of living here and as
a matter of fact, I don`t belong here. I believe so many of you thinking the same way
and if so what are we waiting for? Some of our mates in Africa are making it down
there. Isn`t it?

8. Bernard on December 1st, 2007 9:15 am

Let them also make adverts targeting those who steal government money, telling
them that any money brought to Swiss and EU banks will be seized and returned
immediately to the African Governments. It’s a big pity,guys never give up
hope, now it is the Asians who are shining, soon it will be the Africans for sure
nothing last for ever. I know they will soon come knocking on Africa like they
do now in Asia.May God help us.

9. Shehu on December 1st, 2007 12:23 pm

Hmm, even though I read this new with mixed reactions, let me start by using
aliteral conotation for this piece, which is a good music made popular by a
musician with bad voice, so they are doing adverts to discourage people from
coming abroad, why have they forgotten to do adverts that will stop people from
bringing our stolen monies to their banks , or they don’t know that poverty is the
root cause of the migration, and curruption causes poverty, at least we are still
vast with the ABACHA loot from Nigeria.
Also, these people called Europeans should not forget that they raped us of our
manpower through slavery, colonialism, neo colonialism and imperialism and
today they want to avoid us …ha ha ha ha !, interesting , I live the rest to history.
Lastly , only irrational governments , and radio and T.V outfits will allow their
citizens or their race to be humilated on their own Tv stations . America will
never allow such, besides there are beggers every where , did we not see it in
the hurricane Katrina experience?

10. Victor Edeni on December 3rd, 2007 8:32 am

The fact of the matter is that the answers to most of our questions and
arguements lies in the hands of our so-called leaders of Africa, e.g brothers and
sister, take your minds back to the 70`s,how many people do u know left the
country for better life in Europe or America?. Like I said before, the solutions to
our problems is just in front of us. We can say what ever we like, but the fact
still remains that this is their Europe and it belongs to them.

LESSON LEARNED

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The campaign is okay, such campaign should not only be for the urban dwellers
who have access to TV but should also target the audience in the rural areas
where majority of the people live . Also identified relevant stakeholders should
be properly targeted in-order to achieve the aims and objectives of the campaign.
Evaluation by quantitative assessment of reduction in the rate of migration from
Africa to Europe should have been put in place to enable the campaigner
evaluate the success of the campaign.

Source: African News Switzerland

QUESTIONS

1. What are the causes of African illegal migration to Europe?, could there
be solutions to these causes?, discuss.
2. Design a PR plan for averting African illegal migration to Europe .
3. Some Africans are against using their mass media for the campaigns, do
you agree with such view?. What are the benefits and limitations of using
the mass media for such a programme?.
4. Enumerate other means or media of reaching the targeted audience and
stakeholders.

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Chapter Ten

KENYAN STANDS UP AND SPEAKS OUT

This case study is on media campaign.

BACKGROUND

Kenya is a developing country with a low per capital income and with a high level of
poverty.
The cities of Kenya have been growing partly because of emigration from the
countryside. Most salaried jobs in the cities are in the government bureaucracy, in
industry, and in occupations such as sales and domestic services. Kenya's industries
include food processing, brewing, clothing and textiles, transport equipment, and
refined petroleum and petrochemicals. The majority of companies are located in or near
Nairobi, but the government is encouraging new firms to locate in other towns so that
more of the country can benefit from industry. Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, is
located on the railway line at the junction between the lowlands and the highlands.
More than 60 percent of Kenya's salaried workers live in the city, which dominates the
nation's economy. It is an important commercial center and many foreign firms base
their east African operations there. Most government employees also work in Nairobi.
The Kenyan economy is supported by one of the best transportation systems in Africa.
The railway links the main towns and paved roads reach all but the most inaccessible
towns. The main roads to Tanzania and Uganda are paved and the one to Ethiopia is
almost completely paved. Nairobi's modernized airport is one of Africa's busiest. Flights
connect the city to other African cities, and to Europe, the United States, and Asia.(
encyclopedia: Britannica 2003) .

PROBLEM STATEMENT

There is a high level of poverty in Kenya, it is a country with a low per capital income.
She is one of the countries being targeted for the United Nations Millennium
Development Goals.

OBJECTIVES:

• To create awareness about the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.


• To lobby support for the stand up campaign.

METHOD

Kenya Media Campaign


To create awareness about the Millennium Development Goals and lobby support for
the Stand Up Campaign, Kenya Television Network carried in-depth features on the

92
eight MDGs and on October 17th, the station interrupted normal transmission to read
the Stand Up Pledge at exactly 12 noon. In addition, Citizen Television and the
government owned Kenya Broadcasting Station (KBC) carried several mobilisation
stories for Stand Up. Two leading newspapers Nation and East African Standard carried
editorials on Stand Up.
A host of radio stations targeted at grassroots communities among them KBC radio,
Kameme FM, Mulembe FM and Musyi FM stations carried in-depth programmes to
demystify the Millennium Development Goals to ordinary Kenyans. Even the faith-
based radio stations such as Iqra FM, Waumini FM and Family FM participated in the
campaign.

Kenya Prison Service


For the first time ever the Kenyan Prison’s Service participated in a global advocacy
campaign by mobilising over 90,000 prisoners, prison warders and schools they run to
Stand Up Against Poverty.
Prisoners in 93 correctional centres across Kenya broke with their normal tradition to
come together with their carers to stand together in solidarity with the poor.
At Ruiru Prison Training School, the head of the prison lead over 2,600 students and
staff in singing and dancing in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
“In our quest to combat poverty, there is need to embrace the strength we can draw as a
unified community. This cannot be viewed as an individual endeavour,” said Mr. Okello
the college commandant as he emphasised on the need to communally shoulder the task
of combating poverty.
During the event the prisons fraternity were briefed on progress made towards the
achievement of the millennium development goals and applauded for accepting to
participate actively in the Stand Up Campaign.
“The decision by the Prisons family to participate within the Stand Up and Speak Out
Campaign, bespeaks of the essence of our shared common vision on the issue of
poverty,” said Mwaura Kaara of the UN Millennium Campaign.
“This historic event casts out the stigma held upon the prison fraternity, and offers an
opportunity for prisoners to contribute positively to the fight against poverty,” he added.
Slum dwellers across Kenya Stand Up Against Poverty and call for urgent policy
changes
Over 88,000 slum dwellers across Kenya yesterday put their governments on notice for
ignoring their plight and demanded that pro-poor policies be urgently put in place to
ensure the fulfilment of basic rights by the poorest of the poor.
Participating in various ‘Stand Up’ events in Nairobi, slum dwellers in Nairobi’s biggest
slums including Kibera, Mathare, Korogocho and Kariobangi told Presidential
aspirants campaigning for upcoming elections in Kenya to propose workable solutions
to forestall the numerous challenges faced by Kenya’s slum-dwellers.
“We would like to urge political parties to ensure that their party manifestos and vision
statements take into consideration the debilitating conditions in which slum-dwellers
live when making their party manifestos.
In a series of events hosted by the KUTOKA Network and the Kenya Network of
Grassroots Organisations (KENGO), the slum dwellers accused their leaders of paying
lip-service to their situation noting however that they could no longer be ignored as they
now form sixty percent of the Kenyan population.

93
“As we stand tall against poverty today we want to urge the government to begin
listening to slum dwellers, needs particularly with respect to the allocation of resources
towards the improvement of the living conditions in slums. Father Daniel Moschetti, a
Catholic parish priest in Korogocho said.
Father Daniel who hosted a Stand Up concert attended by over 7,000 people, noted that
the Millennium Development cannot be achieved without addressing the challenges
faced by slum-dwellers. During the event whose theme was “Artists United for a New
Kenya”, he called for a radical change in government policy and attitudes when dealing
with slum-dwellers.
Speaking at the event, UN Communications Coordinator, Ms Sylvia Mwichuli said.
“Poverty is savagely biting thousands of people who live in squalid slum conditions in
Kenya. We must all rise up and combat poverty with by developing and implementing
realistic policies and programmes and allocating sufficient resources.”
Kora Award winner Eric Wainana joined other leading Kenyan musicians Gidi Gidi
Maji Maji and Ras Luigi in reading the Stand Up Pledge and signing the song “One
Love” by Bob Marley in solidarity with the poor.
“By standing here today, we are sending a strong and clear message to our policy
makers that the poor can no longer afford to die needlessly. We want to go to bed
knowing that our leaders cannot ignore us and there is more to life not just survival,”
Eric said.

Kenyan Media Stands Up


In an unprecedented turn of events, the Kenyan media took up the challenge to mobilise
people to Stand Up and Speak Out on October 17th, by not only reporting on Stand Up,
but also holding their own Stand Up “moments” at their places of work.
Business came to a halt at Nation Media Group’s Nation Centre, East African Standard
Group’s I&M building offices and Kenya Broadcasting Corporation’s Broadcasting
House complex, as journalists took a break from reporting to “make news” by standing
up in solidarity with the poor.
“We decided to support this campaign because we want the issue of poverty to be
placed at the top of the national priority agenda. We believe strongly that all Kenyans
have a right to their basic needs and should not be forced to languish in poverty,”
Nation’s Corporate Communications Officer Fred Gori said.
In a rare show of unity, all leading media houses in Kenya joined hands together to rally
support for the Millennium Development Goals calling on all and sundry to Stand Up
Against Poverty. The Nation Media Group’s Easy FM, Capital FM, Simba FM carried
special breakfast shows urging the public to be get on board the Campaign. NTV also
carried an hour long breakfast show focussed on the issue of poverty with Nobel
Laureate Wangari Mathaai as the chief guest.

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RESULT

After final counting the number was adjusted to 43.7 million. About 700,000
Kenyans participated in breaking the Guinness World record during the 24-hours of
Stand Up. Among them were slum dwellers, prisoners and journalists, who raised
their voice against poverty. The final figure of people Standing Up is a massive total
of 43,716,440 participants in at least 6,540 events around the globe spanning 127
countries. They broke the world record - set last year at 23.5 million - for the largest
number of people to “Stand Up Against Poverty” in 24 hours. A number of 38.8
million was announced in an online press Thursday with Mary Robinson, President
Realizing Rights, the ethical global initiative, Salil Shetty, Global Director of the
UN Millennium Campaign and Kumi Naidoo, Chair of the Global Call to Action
against Poverty (GCAP).

LESSON LEARNED

Mass media are powerful tools of communication , their effects on audience and
stakeholders is noticeable in this campaign. Getting relevant stakeholders involved
in a PR campaign will breed success.

Source: Guinness Book of World Records Global Call to Action Against Poverty End
Poverty 2015

QUESTIONS

1. Was the ‘Kenyans stand up and speak out’ (media campaign)


successful?, what are the reasons for your answer?.
2. Who are the targeted audience and stakeholders of the campaign?, were
they reached?, what was the result of reaching them?.

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY (CSR)

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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILTY (CSR)

For any organization to stay strong and efficient in order to achieve its corporate goals
and objectives, it must show itself as a good citizen and a good social leader .Which is
not out only to make profit out of the community but to contribute to the development
and survival of the community of operation, this is the essence of Corporate Social
Responsibility ( a PR programme).

The case study is an example of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

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Chapter Eleven

PARTNERSHIPS FOR MANAGING SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE


EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

By Rory Sullivan & Michael Warner

Case Study
Development in Kahama District, Tanzania
Location …Tanzania Operator …Kahama Mining Corporation Limited
Investment …Unknown Partnership …Infrastructure Providing safe, reliable and
affordable water supply to the Kahama District.

This case study is on Corporate Social Responsibility.

BACKGROUND

This case-study examines the partnership approach underpinning the social


development programme of Kahama Mining Corporation Limited (KMCL), the
developers of the Bulyanhulu gold-copper mine in the Shinyanga Region of Tanzania.
The mine started production in April 2001.
The Tanzanian government recently opened its mining industry to the private sector.
This process has been accompanied by public expectations that the granting of mining
concessions will lead to local community benefits beyond employment.
Another important element of government policy is also for political and administrative
decentralisation, although this process has been impeded by the limited financial
resources available to local government. For example, although Kahama District
Council has committed 25% of its locally derived income to implement a District
Development Plan, this represents just 2% of the overall anticipated expenditure. With
central government likely to contribute only a further 12%, the District Council is
looking to NGOs, donors and, in particular, KMCL, to fill the void.
To generate community benefits in this complex working environment, KMCL
instigated a social development programme (SDP), centred around the provision of
infrastructure for water supply, health care and primary education. The primary business
drivers were the broader need to ensure the acceptability of the mining industry and the
specific KMCL objective of reducing its expatriate workforce by 70% over five years
(which requires that KMCL needs to construct housing and related infrastructure of a
quality sufficient to attract Tanzanian managers to the region). This infrastructure will
be extended to the local community, thereby improving local infrastructure and the level
of delivery of basic services, as well as enabling the development of other businesses in
the area.
The SDP has been underpinned by a partnership approach. A series of multi-party
steering committees have been formed to co-ordinate the programme design and
resource inputs from KMCL, communities, the district council, NGOs and donors. The
SDP has been closely aligned with the Kahama District Development Plan, thereby
meeting local infrastructure priorities and the government’s policy for a ‘bottom-up’
approach to community planning. KMCL has provided most of the investment capital,

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and has used its competencies in contract and project management to oversee
contractors.
The steering committees have now shifted their emphasis towards building the capacity
of local government, communities and NGOs to take over the long-term management
and maintenance of the infrastructure facilities. With many of the facilities to be
managed on a ‘user-fee’ basis, and with the anticipated improvements in the capacity of
the district government to manage public services, there is every prospect that KMCL
will be able to stand back from the leadership role it has taken to now, and contribute to
local society on a more equal and sustainable footing with its government and civil
society partners.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Box 1 Local Education


Profile
1. Of the 2,693 school age children (7-13 years old) in Bugarama Ward, 71 per
cent are in school.
2. 21 per cent of children in the ward do not complete primary education. In 1999,
5 children (3.6 per cent) were selected to join secondary schools.
3. The teacher/pupil ratio is below the national average.
4. Severe shortage of school facilities (e.g classrooms, books ).
5. Adult illiteracy rates in some local villages are close to 90 per cent.

Social Context
Approximately 21,000 people live in the vicinity of the Bulyanhulu mine. The quality of
life of local communities is low, as a consequence of poverty, low levels of education
(see Box 1), and chronic ill health. The majority of households in the area are involved
in subsistence crop farming. The common sources of water for domestic use are open
wells, some fitted with hand pumps. Most wells are considered ‘unsafe’ and have low
and unreliable yields, especially during the dry season. The key medical concerns in the
region are the high incidence of diseases such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, anaemia,
malaria and HIV/AIDS. Health infrastructure is poor, with shortages of medical staff
and equipment.

Business Context
The Tanzanian government has recently amended its legislation to promote Tanzania as
an attractive investment location to the global mining industry. Barrick Gold hopes to
establish a regional mining zone in Tanzania, and the Bulyanhulu mine is viewed as the
first in a series of such operations. The increasing involvement of the private sector in
the mining sector, has led to public demands for communities in the vicinity of mining
operations to gain from the granting of mining concessions. As a consequence, the
Tanzanian mining industry is increasingly expected to make a positive contribution to
local community development. A further issue for KMCL is that KMCL wishes to
reduce the number of expatriates at the mine by 70% within five years. KMCL’s

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experience has been that Tanzanian managers will be unwilling to move their families
to such a region unless infrastructure such as schools, health and housing matches that
available elsewhere in Tanzania.
KMCL could have elected to implement a development programme alone, or through
establishing a local company-managed foundation. Instead, KMCL chose to adopt a
multisector partnership approach, involving not just different parties, but the pooling of
their resources and competencies. The partnership approach was adopted for a number
of reasons, as follows:
*To enable KMCL to focus its efforts on those areas where social needs were greatest
and where KMCL could provide maximum value to community development;
* To enable KMCL to work with potential partners, and through this to develop trust
and understanding and a more secure social license to operate;
*To manage community expectations of KMCL for local development, through clearly
defined and agreed goals and work plans that engage all sectors of local society in
taking actions and assuming responsibilities; and
*To enable KMCL to ‘hand over’ the long-term management and maintenance of
infrastructure and other projects to communities and government.

Governance Context
The aim of the Tanzanian Local Government Reform Agenda is to enable local
government authorities to be more autonomous. Kahama District Council issued its first
District Development Plan in 2001. The aim of the plan is to improve the welfare of the
population, by enhancing food security, rural income and improving social services in
the district. The participation of local communities in both planning and implementation
of the plan is seen as essential to strengthen the responsibility and capacity of
communities to solve their own development problems. This approach reflects the
‘bottom-up’ focus of the Local Government Reform Agenda, where there is an
emphasis on the delegation of authority and responsibility to the lowest practicable level
of governance. At the time of preparing this report, the processes of planning and
implementing the District Development Plan were still relatively new, and there were
significant limitations in the resources available to communities and government to
effectively implement the Plan.

Box 2 Scope of the KMCL SDP


Housing Scheme
6. Develop a housing scheme (total of 600 houses) for mine employees and their
families
7. Enable local communities to benefit from the infrastructure (roads, community
services) associated with the housing scheme
Community Education Programme
8. Improve the quality of the educational infrastructure (buildings and facilities)
9. Improve the quality of primary education in the area (covering approximately
3,000 children)
10. Provide access to basic adult education
Community Health Programme
11. Ensure that there is a basic health system available to all communities in the
vicinity of the mine operations
12. Educate communities and workers on diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria

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Water Programme
13. Provide safe, reliable and affordable water supply to local communities
Other Programmes
14. Local enterprise development and local housing.

OBJECTIVE:

• To develop a housing scheme for mine employees.


• To assist the communities surrounding the mine in the areas of health,
education, water supply and micro-enterprise development.

METHOD

The Partnering Process


In 2000, KMCL commissioned Planning Alliance, a Canadian consulting company, to
assist in the development of KMCL’s housing scheme as part of the Social
Development Programme (SDP).
The SDP focused on:
* The development of a housing scheme for mine employees; and
*Assisting the communities surrounding the mine in the areas of health, education,
water supply and micro-enterprise development
The preparation of the SDP involved extensive consultation and negotiation with
KMCL management, existing residents, government agencies and mineworkers. A
specific aim of the consultation process was to ensure that the SDP reflected the
priorities in the District Development Plan.

Partnership Activities
At the time of the SDP development, community and government capacity and
resources were extremely limited, not least in the techniques of community
participatory planning, and there was a general lack of understanding of the role that
could be played by the private sector in community development. While KMCL’s
original intention was that the SDP implementation would be based on principles of
equal contributions and responsibilities, the practical limitations meant that, while the
direction of each of the projects was defined by all partners KMCL was compelled to
take a leadership role by providing the bulk of the funding as well as contributing
contract and project management skills. Despite this, the partnership principles of joint
design and decision-making, shared risks and responsibilities, and a pooling of
resources and competencies, were adhered to, through the establishment of a series
of multi-party committees for each of the main programme components. Each steering
committee comprised representatives from local and district government, NGOs,
KMCL and the affected local communities. The committees provided a means for
ensuring that KMCL focused its resources on those areas where there was a need to
bridge resource gaps (ie specific activities or projects that could not be implemented by
others due to a lack of resources or capacity). Where these resources already existed,
KMCL encouraged the relevant communities, NGOs or government agencies to

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mobilise. In practice this meant that KMCL assisted principally with technical know-
how, financial support and capacity building in infrastructure management and
maintenance.

Division of Roles
The resources and competencies committed by the partners are summarised in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Division of Roles and Competencies in the SDP
Partnership Partners
Education Health Housing Water
KMCL
* Project management
*Financial resources
*Construction of classrooms
*Project management
*Financial resources
*Rehabilitation of dispensary
*Project management
*Financial resources
*Facilitate employment of local community
*Project management
*Financial resources for construction and community education

NGOs CARE Tanzania


* Project management
*Produce training manuals
*Train and mentor teachers
*Community mobilisation
AMREF
*Train health workers
*Supervise dispensary
*Produce health promotion materials
*Liase with government and local communities
WEDECO
*System operation and maintenance
* Community mobilisation
*Community education
Kahama District Council (Government)
*Recruit teachers
*Supervise schools
*Supply learning materials
*Provide construction materials for school buildings
*Logistical support to programme
*Recruit and train dispensary staff
*Dispensary supervision
*Procure drugs and other materials
*Logistical support to programme
*Prepare land use plans
*Assist KMCL in land acquisition and negotiations

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*Contribute to design of water system
Village Government & Local Communities
*Contribute labour and land for construction work
*Explore community’s potential financial contribution to education
*Mobilise community to participate in adult education
*Provide feedback on the education programme
*Facilitate the identification of peer educators
*Assist peer educators with awareness campaigns
*Provide feedback on the health programme
*Assist KMCL in the payment of compensation
*Prepare land use plans
*Provide advice on the required social facilities
*Mobilise communities to assist in building facilities
*Contribute to the identification of water points
*Build water points
*Participate in water user groups
*Take long-term responsibility for the operation and management of the system

RESULT

For all parties, the pooling of competencies and sharing of responsibilities provided
measurable benefits. Box 3 summarizes the ‘added value’ of the partnership from the
perspectives of business, community development impact and public sector governance.

Table I Added Value of Partnership Process

Business Benefit
Access to new mineral resources in Tanzania
*Enabled KMCL to demonstrate its commitment to community development as an
integral part of mine operations.
*Enhanced community and political support (as evidenced by strong public statements
of support for KMCL and the active involvement of community and government in the
CDP implementation).
Recruiting and retaining high quality employees
*Expedited land acquisition and minimised delays to the construction of the housing
scheme.
*Increased the likelihood of the successful integration of mineworkers into the local
community, as a consequence of the good relationship between KMCL and the local
community.
Management of community expectations and reduced community dependency
*The SDP is understood by all parties to define the scope of KMCL’s community
development activities, thereby enabling KMCL to manage community expectations.
Cost-effectiveness of community development expenditures
*Leverage of contributions (labour, materials) from the local government and

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communities for the construction of school classrooms and other buildings.
* Transferred the longer-term responsibility for infrastructure management and
maintenance to communities and local government.
*Ensured that local government is committed to adequately staffing
schools and health facilities (with these costs to be met from the district council’s
budgets).
Corporate Reputation
*Communities, NGOs and government see KMCL as trustworthy and committed to
community development.
Community Development Impact
Improved Infrastructure
*Access to a reliable water supply for the 5,000 residents of Bugarama and Ilogi
villages and the 30,000 people that live along or in close proximity to the Lake Victoria
pipeline.
*Improved local infrastructure (eg shops, community centre, school buildings),
designed in accordance with the community’s needs.
*Development of community capacity (eg management skills, implementation of
revenue earning systems) to effectively manage the provided infrastructure.
Educational Security
*Increased rates of enrolment in primary schools (in Standard 1, the enrolment and
attendance rates are close to 100 per cent, compared to historic levels of 60-80 per cent).
Health Security
*Increased community knowledge of HIV/AIDS and malaria and the
adoption of improved health practices to prevent the spread of these diseases.

Local Economic Development


*Employment opportunities for local people in the construction of the housing scheme.
Community Capacity
*Improved community capacity to manage infrastructure.
*Improved capacity to make decisions on community development (eg through project
steering committees) and to lobby government.

Public Sector Governance Effectiveness of social programmes (health, education)


*The SDP has enabled Kahama District Council to implement most of its development
plans for the Bugarama area, despite the limited budgets available to the council.
* The development of community capacity to manage infrastructure projects (eg water,
school buildings) means that a longer-term liability for the district council is not being
created.
*The SDP is assisting the district council in ways that benefit the entire Kahama District
(eg through the rehabilitation of the Kahama District Hospital).
Accountability and Transparency
*Increased accountability of district council to local communities (as a consequence of
increased community knowledge of their rights).

Key Success Factors


Two factors were central to the effectiveness of the partnership arrangements:

104
*The partnership process actively sought contributions from a range of stakeholder
(different levels of government, local communities, NGOs), thereby creating a
collective ownership of the projects and ensuring that different resources and capacities
were brought to the implementation of the SDP; and
*KMCL’s core competencies were brought into the SDP, namely: its contract
management, quality control and project management skills. KMCL is now using the
SDP to develop these and other competencies in its partner organisations, thereby
enabling communities and the district government to take over the longer-term
management and maintenance of community infrastructure.

LESSON LEARNED/CONCLUSIONS

Through the SDP, KMCL has acted as a catalyst for community development in the
vicinity of the mine by (a) overcoming a major barrier to providing basic infrastructure
(ie a lack of financial capacity), and (b) developing community and government
capacity to take over responsibility for infrastructure management in the long-term.
Pressures to provide additional social benefits, combined with limited financial and
management capacity in local government, is a common scenario in the global mining
industry. KMCL’s approach to community development (ie convening multi-sector
steering committees and focusing on community infrastructure that draws on the core
competencies of the business and contributes to the business-case for staff recruitment),
perhaps offers a framework by which others can think through how social issues might
best be managed in the vicinity of mining operations.

APPENDIX

Contributors Authors: Rory Sullivan & Michael Warner of the Secretariat of the Natural
Resources Cluster, BPD. With: Aida Kiangi, KMCL.
Source: Natural Resources Cluster, Business Partners for Development, c/o CARE
International.

QUESTIONS

1. Was KMCL’s Social Development Programme successful?, comment.


2. How can the private sector, public sector and NGO’s work together to
implement a CSR programme for a community?.
3. Design a CSR plan of your organization for your community of
operations?.

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

106
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

One of the roles of the NGOs in Africa’s development is to enhance sustainable


development, to eliminate poverty and make the people to be self reliant. Therefore
Sustainable Development Programmes are essential for the development of the
continent. Its success requires PR and communication management strategies/tactics.

The case study is an example of the indispensability of PR to the success of any


Sustainable Development Programmes.

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Chapter Twelve

CASE STUDY ON COFFEE IN TANZANIA

This case study is on sustainable development

BACKGROUND

Tanzania is rich in natural resources, including timber, gemstones, fish and minerals.
Tourism and gold exports are the top two foreign exchange earners for Tanzania which,
together with traditional agricultural exports (including coffee, cashew and cotton),
contributed over three-quarters of all foreign exchange earnings in 2004. But the major
contributor to employment and GDP is agriculture, which employs 80 percent of the
country’s 36 million people, with men traditionally in control of cash crop earnings and
women in charge of subsistence agriculture.
Tanzania is held up as a model of donor coordination and donor-government
cooperation, replacing past patterns of multiple donors supporting individually-run
projects with improved efficiency and effectiveness. This change can be seen in the
transition from an externally-driven Poverty Reduction Strategy process to a much more
nationally-owned MKUKUTA (the Swahili acronym for the national poverty reduction
plan), which emphasizes three pillars of:
1) growth and reduction of income poverty,
2) improved quality of life and social well-being, and
3) good governance and accountability.
This is complemented by the Joint Assistance Strategy (JAS) of donor countries that
moves them toward the principles of aid effectiveness and harmonization outlined in the
Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness.
Despite these advances, serious challenges remain. Unless the agriculture sector can
take better advantage of domestic, regional and international markets, and extractive
and tourism industries can create more forward and backward linkages into the local
economy, Tanzania will be unable to foster broad-based and sustainable economic
growth. Any solutions to overcome these challenges must address remaining gender
inequalities in agricultural labor, control of income and assets and access to resources,
which keep women from reaping the benefits of economic development, linked to cash
crop cultivation and expanded export opportunities. Given the importance of agriculture
in the economy and its
potential for contributing to greater equity in development, it is an important starting
point for Aid for Trade or other donor-supported initiatives.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Coffee Production in Tanzania


Coffee is one of Tanzania’s most significant agricultural export crops and is grown in
three regions of the country. The Tanzanian Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS)
prepared under the Integrated Framework for Trade Related Technical Assistance to
Least Developed Countries (IF) estimates that 2,120,000 Tanzanian coffee farmers and
their dependents derive their main source of income from coffee production. While men
traditionally own the coffee trees and control the earnings from this important cash

108
crop, women contribute a significant portion of the labor, particularly picking and
drying the coffee beans.
Therefore, when international market prices for coffee fell to an all time low in 2002,
making many coffee farms unprofitable, Tanzania’s rural communities were hit
particularly hard. While prices began to recover the following year, a study of the global
coffee market showed that for many farmers around the world, the prices remained low
due to:
• Technical innovation in Brazil which led to a large increase in coffee production
• The emergence of Viet Nam as a low-cost coffee producer
• The increasing use of Robusta, a lower-cost type of bean, for specialty blends.2
However, these problems are not insurmountable given that Latin American nations are
increasingly accessing markets for industrial and high-value agricultural products,
thereby making room for East Africa’s comparative advantage in coffee production.
Adolph Kumburu, the Executive Director of KILICAFE, a coffee growers association
based near Mount Kilimanjaro, explained the extent to which the recent period of low
prices had an effect in Tanzania. “As smallholders’ coffee income evaporated,
investment in coffee production stopped and a vicious cycle of low investment,
resulting in lower production and ever lower incomes, starved coffee communities of
their main source of income,” he said.3
In addition to the recent period of low prices, Tanzanian coffee producers have faced a
number of other challenges:
• Over 90% of Tanzania’s smallholder growers lack access to modern processing
technology and market information. As a result, despite the high quality of their
coffee, farmers must sell their produce into the undifferentiated commodity markets.
• Despite liberalization of the coffee market in 1994, there has been minimal
investment in the coffee sector.
• Specialty coffee buyers from the USA, Japan and Europe market Tanzanian coffee as
a ‘premium’ brand. However, buyers including Starbucks Coffee Company report
difficulties in sourcing a sufficient quantity of specialty coffee from Tanzania that is
needed to meet growing demand.

OBJECTIVES :
• To promote the production and processing of high quality specialty coffee.
• To improve its access to international and local markets in order to boost the
incomes of its members.

METHOD

The KILICAFE Farmer Association


To facilitate improvements in quality and marketing of the coffee produced,
TechnoServe, a non-profit business development organization, has provided technical
assistance to KILICAFE and its 9,000 smallholder farmers. KILICAFE is an association
of 93 farmer business groups in the Arabica producing regions of the North and South
of the country. The organization’s goal is to promote the production and processing of
high quality specialty coffee and to improve its access to international and local markets
in order to boost the incomes of its members.

109
Recognizing the limitations of the farmer business groups to individually access credit
and buyers, TechnoServe has worked closely with KILICAFE to develop a range of
marketing and credit services for these groups with significant outcomes:
• Cooperative unions typically pay a uniform price, dividing proceeds equally among
members regardless of the quality of their coffee. On the other hand, KILICAFE
prefers to deliver revenues to each farmer business group in proportion to the price
received at auction or through direct export for the individual group’s coffee. As a
result, farmers with prospects to produce high quality coffee maximize their income
by associating with KILICAFE instead of allowing it to be bulked and sold with inferior
quality coffee.
• The potential for higher prices paid by KILICAFE creates incentives for higher quality
production and processing. The higher quality coffee, supported by assisted
marketing services, has delivered prices 70% higher than the national average to
member farmers.
• In 2005, KILICAFE provided over US$700,000 in working capital to its members and
linked 12 groups to finance in order to purchase quality-enhancing central pulpery
(processing) equipment.
• KILICAFE sold more than US$3million worth of coffee in 2005 and launched a
partnership with the US-based Peet’s Coffee & Tea to sell KILICAFE’s coffee in the
USA under the ‘Tanzania Kilimanjaro’ brand.
As demonstrated by KILICAFE, the value-adding activities of supporting the
development of central pulpery processing, credit access, improved marketing and the
development of new business models translate into higher revenues and more income
for the rural poor.
Smallholder farmers can sell specialty coffee, produced in central pulperies, for US$2
per kilogram at the farm gate, compared to US$1 per kilogram for commodity coffee
produced using back-yard processing. Creating access to efficient central pulpery
facilities for all coffee growers in Tanzania, and developing the Tanzanian Specialty
coffee brand, could benefit 400,000 rural families and increase foreign currency
earnings annually by US$23 million.
With a program of modest investment, the KILICAFE model can be replicated and
substantially scaled up, significantly impacting the development of Tanzania by
providing more income for social investments in health, education, basic nutrition and
the development of enterprises that will contribute to sustainable livelihoods.

Aid for Trade and Tanzania


In order for Tanzania to take advantage of opportunities for growth presented by coffee
production and other sectors, and to overcome supply side constraints, farmers and
entrepreneurs must be supported through technical assistance and investment in
infrastructure and institutions.
Direct Investment in Production and Marketing
Access to Capital and Credit: A lack of access to credit and capital is one of the biggest
hurdles for entrepreneurs in Tanzania, including farmers looking to expand their
production or create a higher quality product.
• Credit-related problems were listed as the number one constraint perceived by Micro,
Small and Medium firms doing business in Tanzania.5
• The banking system is structured to service large companies and more established

110
businesses with longer term loans. Therefore, a common situation is that of a farmer
with whom Realizing Rights delegates met, who was without the funds to send his
daughter to school in the period between crop harvesting and crop sale, regardless of the
visibility of his assets. This structure needs to be shifted in order to benefit farmers by
creating more flexibility in the length and size of loans and the collateral needed to gain
access to credit. The development of micro-finance products specifically for
smallholder coffee growers would address the cash-flow problems associated with this
annual crop.
• National studies have shown that only a tiny proportion of operators in the informal
sector could acquire capital from the formal financial sector. The inability to utilize land
as a form of collateral is the most significant barrier for smallholder farmers who wish
to access credit.
• A lack of access disproportionately affects women: only half of the women who
applied for bank credit were successful (ILO, 2003), and they cited the main
obstacles as difficult procedures, high interest rates and the requirement of 125 per
cent loan collateral.
• It is particularly hard for local businesses, especially early stage ones, to identify and
access sources of good quality technical assistance and business advice to help them
overcome these challenges. TechnoServe has found that banks and other providers of
capital are far more willing to open their doors once a business has been provided with
assistance of proven quality.
Indirect Investments Required to Facilitate Trade
The following areas offer a combination of public and private investment opportunities
that need more support. Doing so requires a new focus and significant coordination
from the Tanzanian government and willingness of others to co-invest.
Power: Developing Tanzania’s capacity to trade, and growing the economy more
generally, is stymied by insufficient power generation.
• Tanzania relies heavily on hydropower, but with frequent drought and the prospect of
continuing low rainfall due to climate change, this brake on production and trade must
be urgently addressed.
• Increased electricity demand – which inevitably comes with economic growth – must
be satisfied in a country that already faces a power crisis.
• Tanzania needs support in finding alternative energy solutions – one suggestion was
using the Highly-Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) debt relief dividends to purchase
turbines; another was adopting alternative fuel sources (coffee waste products including
coffee husk, pulp waste and central pulpery waste-water are utilized to produce energy
in rural areas of Latin America).
Transport: Expanding and improving road and port infrastructure is essential for
Tanzania’s producers.
• Without proper infrastructure to get agricultural goods out of the country, producers
are not able to take advantage of export opportunities, curtailing options for ensuring
their livelihoods.
• As a coastal country bordered by several landlocked states, infrastructure
development could have a very positive benefit for several countries and millions of
producers in East and Southern Africa as well. Tanzanian business people noted
that President Kikwete is known for his amicable relations with countries in the
region, and felt that this could be the basis for creative regionally-synchronized
infrastructure development.

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Developing Human Resources: The recent Tanzania demographic growth study
revealed that secondary education achievement rates are low relative to other sub-
Saharan countries. As in many countries, women’s access to education lags behind that
of men’s. As a result, the human resource gaps for engaging successfully in markets
exist at all levels but is particularly marked with respect to women.
• People recognized that basic education is as important as technical skills, but this
would obviously be beyond the scope of Aid for Trade assistance.
• What should be incorporated in any Aid for Trade initiative is an effort to increase
skills directly needed by local entrepreneurs: marketing, accessing finance,
negotiations, packaging, customs facilitations, and so on. This should include a
gender aspect to ensure that women have access to knowledge and resources
necessary to take advantage of trade opportunities.

Policy Changes to Support Growing Businesses


Technical assistance for streamlining of business registry and export processes:
A vast majority of Tanzania’s economic activity still takes place in the informal
economy. In order to take advantage of trade opportunities, the country needs assistance
to make it simpler and more beneficial for businesses to emerge in the formal economy.
• Almost sixty percent of Tanzania’s GDP and 70 percent of employment are in the
informal sector. But as in many developing countries, the procedures required to
obtain license and permits are a real constraint on the growth of informal
enterprises. This places constraints on women entrepreneurs in particular since 80% of
economically active women worldwide are concentrated in this sector.
• As sanitary and phytosanitary standards in global trade are revised, the ability to
export will be even more dependent on capacity to follow regulations - and coping
with domestic regulations is already a challenge. The World Bank has estimated that it
takes 26 steps and 313 working days a year at a cost of 4110% of per-capita
income to keep a company compliant with domestic rules.6 This discourages
businesses from ‘formalizing’ and will decrease their chances of benefiting from
export markets.
• A recent World Bank study ranked Tanzania lowest in a study of 155 economies in
keeping businesses compliant once they start operating. Therefore, streamlining the
procedures, and then enforcing them, will be important in expanding markets.
• And once the regulatory path is clear, it is still challenging for local would-be
entrepreneurs to access the knowledge and advice required to launch and grow their
businesses.
Strengthening of Institutions: In Tanzania, people were interested in the idea of
strengthening the ‘social compact’ between government, the private sector, trade unions
and other civil society organizations.
• This means forging a sustained collaboration in order to promote economic growth
and sustainable development. For example, continuing to build the capacity of public
officials to understand the value drivers of the coffee sector, and their ability to take
action to simplify taxes and other aspects of running a business, can produce an
environment that is more conducive to new investments and increased value flowing to
the rural poor.
• Additionally, institutional strengthening can mean building people’s economic
organizations such as production or marketing networks that strengthen the
bargaining power of producers and workers.

112
As indicated by Tanzania’s coffee industry, market access does not guarantee market
entry. The Aid for Trade initiative is a unique opportunity to move the process of
market entry forward as well as bolster broad based growth that is employment
intensive, illustrated by the coffee sector. Through measures like those mentioned
above, trade has the potential to benefit hundreds of thousands of families in countries
like Tanzania, improving livelihoods and living conditions, and promoting human
development and basic human rights.
Moreover, by taking women producers and leaders into consideration in the architecture
and delivery of Aid for Trade, the initiative has potential to significantly improve the
opportunities for women to share in economic growth generated by
trade.

RESULT

Tanzania, a largely agrarian country, has not been able to fully take advantage of access
to international markets in the past. Coffee production and innovations in the industry
highlight the challenges faced by African countries, while providing examples of
initiatives that can be replicated by Aid for Trade in order to ensure the greatest possible
impact with respect to poverty reduction and market access.
One such initiative is KILICAFE, a farmer owned association that has been able to
dramatically improve the quality as well as the yield of coffee produced with assistance
from TechnoServe, an international non-profit organization focused on development of
businesses in rural areas. Higher quality coffee, supported by assisted marketing
services, has commanded prices twice as high as the regional average with the
consequence of substantially increased producer income. This allows for greater
provision of resources for human development and basic necessities for producers’
families and communities.

Source: The Guardian (Tanzania) February 24, 2006

LESSON LEARNED

The role of NGO in welfarism (a key public relations activity) and sustainable
development are essential in the developing countries. ‘TechnoServe’s policy of
welfarism and sustainable development really helped these rural dwellers in improving
their per capital income and living standard.

APPENDIX

Case Study on Coffee in Tanzania


Prepared for the meeting on Aid for Trade co-organized by Realizing Rights:
The Ethical Globalization Initiative and The Mission of Ireland to the United Nations in
Geneva.
29 May 2006

113
Questions

1. What is Sustainable Development Programme?, comment.


2. How effective is the Technoserve’s Sustainable Development
Programme?, comment.
3. What are the advantages of the trade associations such as KILICAFE?,
what roles can they play in the implementation of Sustainable
Development Programmes in the rural areas?.

114
COMMUNITY RELATIONS

115
COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Every organization is to be society’s friend, vice-versa, none of them can succeed


without the other. Therefore a healthy relationship should exist between the duo. This
can only be achieved by the organization by implementing and maintaining a sound PR
policy and programme.

The two case studies are examples of community relations.

116
No. GDG-A-00CCCACA Chapter Thirteen

CASE STUDY: MEETING EFA: EGYPT COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

By Joseph De-Stefano

This case study is on community relations.

T
BACKGROUND
Improved access to education in underserved areas represented a critical challenge in
Egypt in the 1990s. Enrollment rates in Upper Egypt, especially for girls, were below
the national average, and many small communities in the southern half of the country
had virtually no schooling services. Education quality was also a national concern, and
the education system was seen as in crisis. An agreement between the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Egyptian Ministry of Education launched the
community school initiative in Upper Egypt in 1992 as a “joint venture for quality
innovative education through genuine community participation,” according to Malak
Zaalouk on page 35 of 2004’s The Pedagogy of Empowerment: Community Schools as
a Social Movement in Egypt. The Ministry agreed to pay the salaries of teachers,
provide materials, and support curriculum and teacher training. UNICEF developed a
model for quality community-based education, designed to respond to the needs of
Upper Egypt’s underserved areas.
Rural parents in early 1990s Egypt were commonly perceived as not interested in
educating their daughters. Research commissioned by UNICEF at that time discovered
that parents and local religious leaders did not object in principle to girls’ education in
many cases and frequently expressed support and desire for it. However, the research
found that communities did object to the specific conditions under which traditional
education systems offered schooling, including:
• The safety of girls who had to walk to distant village schools;
• Classrooms with male or non-local teachers; and
• School hours that kept girls from contributing to their daily household economies.

Based on this research and international experience, UNICEF developed a model


and implemented the community school project through local nongovernmental
organizations with the intention of experimenting, nurturing, and slowly expanding.
The objective was to develop a system through which innovations in community and
school interactions, instructional methods, and classroom management could be tested
and evaluated as a basis for learning and eventual application on a broader scale in
schools throughout Egypt, not necessarily to create a large-scale project.

This EQUIP2 Case Study looks at UNICEF and the Egyptian Ministry of Education’s
joint experience in Upper Egypt during the latter half of the 1990s and examines
the extent to which community schools successfully provided access, completion,
and learning, especially for girls, in three Upper Egypt governorates. The cost and
cost-effectiveness of the community schools are compared to government schools.

117
Additionally, the study highlights features developed, tested, refined over time, and
deemed critical to the success of the model.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

There was a critical challenge in improving access to education in underserved areas of


Egypt in the 1990s. Enrollment rates in Upper Egypt, especially for girls, were below
the national average, and many small communities in the southern half of the country
had virtually no schooling services. Education quality was also a national concern, and
the education system was seen as in crisis.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Egyptian Ministry of Education
reached an agreement to launch the community school initiative in Upper Egypt in 1992
as a “joint venture for quality innovative education through genuine community
participation.

OBJECTIVE:

To develop a system through which innovations in community and school interactions,


instructional methods, and classroom management could be tested and evaluated as a
basis for learning and eventual application on a broader scale in schools throughout
Egypt, not necessarily to create a large-scale project. M
: Egypt Community Schools
2
METHOD MM
E
Access

While education data from mid-1990s Egypt can be considered suspect in the light of
enrollment rates reported at over 100 percent, Farrukh Iqbal and Nagwa Riad reported
the net enrollment rate reached 83 percent for girls and 90 percent for boys in 1996-
1997 in their paper for The World Bank, “Increasing Girls’ School Enrollment in the
Arab Republic of Egypt,” presented at Scaling Up Poverty Reduction:
A Global LearningProcess and Conference in 2004. However, national rates do not
distinguish the regions where enrollment rates were considerably lower. For example, in
the Assuit, Souhag, and Qena governorates where UNICEF’s community schools
project was concentrated, net enrollment rates for girls, reported as 63 percent, 61
percent, and 71 percent respectively in 1996-1997 by Iqbal and Riad, were well below
the national average.
Governorate-level statistics do not reveal that access—girls’ access in particular—was
most limited in Upper Egypt’s small, rural hamlets. These hamlets are usually a long
distance from a central village primary school. However, parents in surrounding villages
are reluctant to allow their daughters to walk to these village schools. As a result,
incertain rural areas of Upper Egypt, female enrollment rates were as low as 10 to 15
percent, according to Joseph Farrell in 2003’s “Case Study: The Egyptian Community
Schools Program.”
The UNICEF-Ministry project responded by specifically targeting small hamlets with at
least 50 out-of-school children. The pilot phase of the community schools project lasted
from 1992 to 1995 and established 38 schools that served 1,037 students, 63 percent of

118
whom were girls. This case study focuses on the project’s development phase from
1995 to 1999, during which the community schools expanded to include 202 school
sites, enrolling 4,656 students, 70 percent of whom were girls, according to Zaalouk in
The Pedagogy of Empowerment.

An experimental version of the community-based schooling model was designed and


implemented during the pilot phase, presenting important lessons about the capacities
needed for successful implementation, the pedagogical model’s utility, and the nature
of partnerships between nongovernmental organizations, the Ministry of Education,
and communities. The development and expansion phases of the project intended to
refine the model, expand the network of schools and communities, and consolidate
the partnerships critical to implementation. During the expansion phase, stakeholders
reached consensus on the definition of sustainability and used program evaluations to
clearly identify the model’s components most critical to success and that therefore
should be diffused.
The approach through which lessons learned were to be taken to scale relied not
on continued expansion of the project, but on transferring the lessons and critical
components of the model’s success to other efforts in Egypt to expand access and
improve quality. UNICEF and the Ministry of Education conceived the community
schools project as a relatively small system demonstrating a pedagogical model that
would work effectively with children of primary school age. When the Egyptian
government developed a program to establish one-room rural schools, the community
schools project was seen as the model on which to base that approach. The UNICEF
model also inspired other organizations such as CARE to implement similar community
school projects.

Completion

In The Pedagogy of Empowerment, Zaalouk reports the community school grade five
completion rate in Assuit, Sohag, and Qena at 92 percent. Although disaggregated
data on .fth grade completion in Egypt is difficult to obtain, observed trends make it
safe to assume that the public school completion rate in rural Upper Egypt would be
considerably lower than the national rate of 90 percent reported by the World Bank in
2000. Zaalouk provides some data on primary school completion and the continuation
of community school students into secondary school and beyond:

Egypt Community School Graduates from Fifth Grade (1997-2001)


1997 1998 1
1997 19981 1999 2000 2001
73 383 421 980 2,382
9992000 2001
Zaalouk reports that in 2002, 2,393 community school graduates were in preparatory
school and 241 were in secondary school, including 40 of the 1997 fifth grade graduates
in their final year of secondary school.

119
Learning

The community schools project emphasized assuring quality education for rural
children, especially girls. Student performance data reveal that the community school
model was a resounding success in terms of students able to pass official Ministry of
Education examinations in third and fifth grade. Zaalouk’s data in The Pedagogy of
Empowerment from 1997 through 2001 show that community school students in five
Assuit, Sohag, and Qena districts consistently outperformed their public school third
and fifth grade district counterparts. Community school third graders passed at an
average of 99 percent in 2001, compared to 87 percent in public schools in the same
districts. The average pass rate for community school fifth graders that year was 97
percent, compared to 73 percent in the counterpart public schools. The following chart
shows how consistently community school students outperformed their public school
counterparts from 1997 through 2001.

Transformation

Beyond the community schools’ education outcomes, their success has dramatically
changed certain aspects of life in Upper Egypt. According to Zaalouk, children in
community schools demonstrated a positive sense of self and their role as active
learners.
In particular, girls began to see themselves as educated, capable, and empowered.
Families have begun to value children’s schooling and have ceased consigning their
girls to labor and chores at the expense of education. Children have become role models
for their families and communities, helping adults see the importance of learning,
freedom, and progress. Community school governance has also provided Upper Egypt
with new decision-making processes and models of collective action.
Costs and Cost-Effectiveness
Analysis of cost-effectiveness reflects the different government, project, and local
community costs for and contributions to establishing and running community schools
in Upper Egypt. Available data make it possible to assess the start-up and operating
costs for project schools in 1998-1999, towards the end of the expansion phase. The
following table, with data from Zaalouk’s The Pedagogy of Empowerment, shows how
total costs were broken down.
5
Egypt Community School Project Costs by Partner
Source Category Amount (U.S. dollars)
S Source Category Amount
(U.S.$dollars)
Ministry of Education Facilitator salaries and books $253,172
Project Supervision (salaries and $71,711
transportation)
Project Training $94,557
Project Supplies $58,563
Project Administration $3,087
Community Schools TOTAL $431,090
Excluding land and buildings, the recurrent cost per pupil was $114 for 187 community
schools enrolling 4,208 students. Data on the cost of government schools in Egypt

120
are difficult to locate. Zaalouk estimated national per pupil recurrent costs for public
schools in 1998-1999 at $164.
Unit costs and primary school completion and student learning data are used to compare
the cost-effectiveness of community schools and public schools. The following table
shows that community schools were considerably more cost-effective than public
schools at producing fifth grade completers who could pass the national examination in
Upper Egypt.

Cost-Effectiveness of Community Schools vs. Public Schools in Egypt


R
Rural Upper Egypt National Public
Community School Schools
Recurrent unit cost per student $114 $164
Fifth grade completion rate 92% 90%
Cost per fifth grade completer $620 $911
Fifth grade examination pass rate 94% 73%
Cost per fifth grade student passing $659 $1,248
national exam
Egypt
Due to lower unit recurrent costs and a slightly higher fifth grade completion rate,
Upper Egypt community schools have a cost per fifth grade completer over 30 percent
lower than the government cost per completer. Because the fifth grade examination
pass rate for community schools is significantly higher than for public schools, the cost
per community school student able to pass the examine is almost half of that for public
schools. Since data on costs are somewhat difficult to obtain and, once obtained, often
not easily analyzed, the estimations of cost-effectiveness are not meant to be definitive
calculations but are indicative of whether funds invested in these kinds of projects can
lead to results that are within acceptable cost limits. Even if Egyptian community
schools and public schools had the exact same recurrent costs, the community schools
would still be more cost-effective by nature of the higher rate at which they produce
fifth grade students who demonstrate an acceptable level of learning by passing the
national exam.
Meeting EFA: Egypt Community Schools
6
Critical Features

In her comprehensive analysis of community schools in Upper Egypt, The Pedagogy of


Empowerment, Zaalouk identifies what she describes as the “pillars of the project”—the
project features most important for successes in enrollment, primary school completion,
facilitation of learning, and cost-effectiveness.

Community Participation

Education committees form at each school, functioning as local school boards. The
school curriculum and activities focus on the community’s work and are embedded
in the local culture. The community provides a school site in existing infrastructure
deemed suitable for the number of children to be enrolled, determines the hours and
days school will be in session, and participates in teacher selection. The school serves

121
as a site for an integrated development approach, offering courses outside of regular
school hours, including parenting classes, preschool and daycare, non-formal adolescent
education, environmental education, and hygiene, health, and nutrition classes. Because
the Ministry of Education pays teacher salaries, and the Ministry and UNICEF supply
materials, the communities ensure that education remains truly free for students enrolled
in their schools. Community schools charge no fees, require no uniforms, nor impose
hidden costs. Moreover, the expensive private tutoring ubiquitous in Egypt is absent
from community schools.

Partnerships

From its inception, the Upper Egypt community schools model has relied on
collaboration between UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, which has ensured the
Ministry’s investment in the project’s success and sustainability—paying teacher
salaries, providing supplies, participating in staff training and school supervision, and
formally recognizing the community schools by issuing students official primary school
certificates at the end of fifth grade. The Ministry and other education institutions
helped develop a rigorous teacher training curriculum, refined the community school
curriculum and pedagogy, and administered student exams and evaluations.
Communities have also been essential partners by serving on education committees,
playing active roles in the schools, including teaching or supervising students. Local
nongovernmental organizations provide field presence for the establishment,
management, supervision, support, and ongoing evaluation of schools.

Multi-Ability/Multi-Grade, Child-Centered Teaching

In community schools, children between the ages of six and 12 gain access to the
primary cycle. Classes are usually limited to 30 students in a multi-age group
supervised by two facilitators. Pupils are organized according to ability and the pace at
which they learn, but within the same classroom. Facilitators and teachers tailor
activities to each group, allowing higher-paced students to sometimes complete the
primary cycle in three years. Instruction is child-centered, and cooperative learning is
widely practiced.
Facilitators and children develop materials together that are used in the classroom.
The program draws on the experience, values, and inputs of an entire network of local
community members, program staff, government representatives, nongovernmental
organizations, and Ministry of Education staff at the district, governorate, and national
level. The instructional methods are based on the best existing research on multi-grade
classrooms and girl-friendly methods. According to Ash Hartwell’s paper prepared for
the 1997 Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) Conference, “Applying
What We Know about Learning to Projects: The Experience of Community Schools
in Upper Egypt,” school is scheduled, space is organized, furnishings are chosen, and a
variety of instructional materials are developed to maximize students’ opportunities for
self- and peer-directed learning.
In “Case Study: The Egyptian Community Schools Program,” Farrell painted a vivid
picture of community school pedagogy and instructional activities. Learning is
selfdirected to a large extent, with students spending a significant portion of the day
working individually or in small groups on self-planned projects in ‘learning corners’

122
devoted to Arabic, math, science, general knowledge, and art. Students are required
to report to the entire class on their individual work at the end of each school day. A
shorter portion of each day is devoted to whole class activity directed by the facilitators,
individual students, or small groups, which may also involve presentations by adult
community members with special knowledge in a particular curricular area. The class
may also engage in discussion of a given issue or plan a presentation for the
community, involving skits, songs, dances, and games.

Selection of and Ongoing Training and Support for Facilitators

Young women are recruited locally to be facilitators, with special attention paid to their
capacity for innovation, creativity, and sensitivity to children’s needs. They are required
to have an intermediate level of education equivalent to primary plus three years of
lower secondary, usually making them among the most educated women in the
community.
The education committee interviews candidates to select a core group and reserves to
train for each class. Reserves substitute for absent facilitators or travel around to support
other facilitators. Facilitators undergo rigorous pre-service training in three phases. The
initial orientation workshop is residential, lasts eight to 10 days, and introduces
participants to the principles governing the community schools, including problem
solving, planning, scientific thinking, and communication skills. According to Zaalouk
on page 58 of The Pedagogy of Empowerment, participants experience “relationships
that are quite different from the authoritarian formats they are accustomed to,” stressing
teamwork. A second pre-service residential workshop also lasting eight to 10 days
addresses activity-based learning and includes subjects such as lesson planning,
authentic student evaluation, creating learning activities and materials, grouping, and
classroom management through student participation. The third pre-service training
activity includes two to four weeks of classroom observations in existing community
schools, emphasizing open-ended questions to stimulate effective student thinking and
understanding.: Egypt Community School
Upon completion of the three phases of pre-service training, new facilitators are
officially recognized as members of the Egyptian teaching force. They are paid by the
Egyptian government based on a salary rate established within the national teacher
salary grid at a level below formally certified primary teachers who have completed a
program at a University Faculty of Education. Refresher training is also provided every
other year and targets both community school facilitators and teachers in government
supported one classroom schools.
In addition to their preparatory training, ongoing facilitator in-service is a continuous
and intensive process. Facilitators engage in scheduled end-of-class daily meetings
with their partners that provide time for self-reflection and exchange of ideas for
improvement. In these daily meetings, facilitators note questions or issues to bring up
at the weekly meetings with cluster supervisors, which help facilitators solve problems
and plan collectively based on others’ experiences. These weekly meetings often also
include teachers and supervisors from the one-classroom schools in the district. Every
two weeks, the facilitators in each school meet with the local school committee to get
feedback from parents and community members on their work and discuss how to
address problems.
In addition to ongoing in-service training, a supervisory and support system ensures

123
the quality and continuous improvement of instruction. A field supervisory team and
a technical supervisory team manage and monitor the community schools initiative,
both of which supervise and direct the schools and carry out on-the-job training. These
teams also handle ongoing evaluation and maintain links between the schools and
communities, as well as expanding a network of affiliates who offer special expertise to
facilitators, including universities and nongovernmental organizations.

Management of the Initiative

Local nongovernmental organizations manage the community school initiative at the


governorate level. Each governorate has a project manager and deputy manager in
addition to the supervisory staff who work at the district and village level. According
to Zaalouk on page 42 of The Pedagogy of Empowerment, the management of the
initiative “tends to be flat and highly participatory, as opposed to rigid and
hierarchical.”
Management and supervisory teams are trained on team building and teamwork,
and evaluations are team-based. The management culture of the initiative has been
characterized as a ‘living system’ with effort devoted to continuous improvement, even
adopting a Total Quality Management approach in its later stages. Collaboration
between the implementing organizations, UNICEF, the Ministry of Education, and
various Egyptian educational institutions has enabled the project to draw on a range of
technical, field, and managerial expertise, all contributing to a learning systems
approach to the initiative.

The Policy and Institutional Context

The Egyptian Ministry of Education exercised notable foresight by launching the


community schools initiative in 1992 in partnership with UNICEF as a response to the
education crisis it recognized in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This partnership
established a critical working relationship between UNICEF and the more progressive
elements within the Ministry, helping to ensure success. The Ministry demonstrated
its support by paying teacher salaries, providing school books and teachers’ guides,
contributing to the development of curriculum and teacher training programs, and
assuring school feeding. UNICEF designed the model of community education,
provided training for program staff, and ensured management and ongoing support
through its partnerships with local nongovernmental organizations.
By agreeing to collaborate fully with the project and by assuring from the beginning
its financial and institutional contribution to the program, the government effectively
cleared space in the educational landscape for this experiment in community-based
schooling. The success of the Egyptian community school initiative has triggered and
facilitated an informed reform dialogue over the past decade. Lessons learned have not
only included how to effectively provide education to children in remote areas and
target girls, but also how to engage students, teachers, and communities in ongoing,
active learning and democratic decision making.
Not only was this effort structured as a partnership from the beginning, it was also
recognized as a ‘seed bed’ for reform, rather than a scaleable operation. The project
emphasized disseminating lessons learned and establishing best practices for new and
existing initiatives to increase widespread impact, rather than expand the project itself.

124
On pages 173-174 of The Pedagogy of Empowerment, Zaalouk identifies six pieces of
institutional infrastructure in Egypt that are critical to dissemination and sustenance of
the community schools’ impact:
• The Education Innovation Committee shaped education policy to support
• innovation and acted as a think tank and source of technical support for the
• implementation of quality standards. Several key ministerial decrees to promote
• education innovation are attributed to the Education Innovation Committee’s
• work. When the government chose to launch its one-classroom schools, the
• Education Innovation Committee linked the community schools’ experience to
• the model’s development. The committee also communicates the community
• schools’ lessons to mainstream Egyptian elementary schools through the development
and implementation of education standards.
• The Ministry of Education’s nongovernmental organization department provides an
• official channel to promote and set up partnerships between government and civil
• society actors supported by external or internal donors.
• The Center for Curriculum and Instructional Materials Development draws on the
• experience of teachers making instructional materials that successfully promote active
• learning in their classrooms. It puts together kits of materials and teachers’ manuals
• for use throughout Egypt.
• The National Center for Examinations and Educational Evaluations has worked with
• the community schools initiative to develop indicators of effective schools that serve
• as guidelines for school accreditation.
Meeting EFA: Egypt Community Schools
10
The general strategy was never to directly expand the community schools system. The
objectives were to keep the system relatively small, maintain and evaluate its quality,
and diffuse lessons first to the one-classroom schools system, followed by the
mainstream primary school system.
An agreement with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) provided
funding to expand the community schools system from around 200 to a maximum
of 300 schools in the original three governorates of Upper Egypt. The agreement also
facilitated linkages between community schools and the one-classroom schools in those
governorates. The project includes a provision for transferring 25 well-established
community schools from UNICEF to the Egyptian Ministry of Education every year,
with UNICEF adding 25 new schools each year to its system, therefore maintaining the
target maximum of 300 schools.
Thus, the current phase of the community school initiative includes ongoing operation
of schools, direct transfer of schools to the Ministry system, and continued diffusion
of lessons learned. For example, the basic pedagogical model is influencing other
areas in Egypt through additional donor-supported efforts. International donor-
supported
programs have included part of the community schools pedagogical model
in their assistance to the Ministry of Education, including major projects supported
by the World Bank/European Community, the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), and CARE.

125
RESULT

Apart from the community schools’ education outcomes, their success changed certain
aspects of life in Upper Egypt. Children in community schools demonstrated a positive
sense of self and their role as active learners. In particular, girls began to see themselves
as educated, capable, and empowered.
Families have begun to value children’s schooling and have ceased consigning their
girls to labor and chores at the expense of education. Children have become role models
for their families and communities, helping adults see the importance of learning,
freedom, and progress. Community school governance has also provided Upper Egypt
with new decision-making processes and models of collective action.

LESSON LEARNED

When a PR campaign that is research based focuses on the audience, stakeholders,


appropriate strategies and tactics of reaching them and effective evaluative standard,
there will be success. Education was provided for children in the remote areas and
targeted girls, students, teachers and communities could be engaged in active learning
and democratic decision

QUESTIONS

1. Did the parents and religious leaders object in principles to girls’


education in Egypt ?. What are the communities reasons for
objecting the specific conditions under which traditional
education system offered schooling?.
2. How will you assess the roles of UNICEF and the local non
government organizations in this success of this campaign?.
3. Is the campaign successful ?, comment.

126
References

Farrell, Joseph. December 2003. “Case Study: The Egyptian Community Schools
Program.”
Hartwell, Ash. March 1997. “Applying What We Know about Learning to Projects:
The Experience of Community Schools in Upper Egypt.” Paper presented at the
Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) Conference in Mexico City,
Mexico.
Iqbal, Farrukh, and Nagwa Riad. May 2004. “Increasing Girls’ School Enrollment
in the Arab Republic of Egypt.” Paper prepared for The World Bank and presented at
Scaling Up Poverty Reduction: A Global Learning Process and Conference in Shanghai,
China.
Zaalouk, Malak. 2004. The Pedagogy of Empowerment: Community Schools as a Social
Movement in Egypt. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press.

Acknowledgement

This paper was written for EQUIP2 by Joseph DeStefano (Center for Collaboration
and the Future of Schooling), 2006, and draws heavily on a comprehensive study
and analysis of the UNICEF community schools project done by Malak Zaalouk in
The Pedagogy of Empowerment: Community Schools as a Social Movement in Egypt.
Source: EQUIP2
APPENDIX

This paper was written for EQUIP2 by Joseph DeStefano (Center for Collaboration
and the Future of Schooling), 2006, and draws heavily on a comprehensive study
and analysis of the UNICEF community schools project done by Malak Zaalouk in
The Pedagogy of Empowerment: Community Schools as a Social Movement in Egypt.

EQUIP2: Educational Policy, Systems Development, and Management is one of three


USAID-funded Leader with Associates Cooperative Agreements under the umbrella
heading Educational Quality Improvement Program (EQUIP). As a Leader with
Associates mechanism, EQUIP2 accommodates buy-in awards from USAID bureaus
and missions to support the goal of building education quality at the national, sub-
national, and cross-community levels.
The Academy for Educational Development (AED) is the lead organization for the
global EQUIP2 partnership of education and development organizations, universities,
and research institutions. The partnership includes .fteen major organizations and an
expanding network of regional and national associates throughout the world: Aga Khan
Foundation, American Institutes for Research, CARE, Center for Collaboration and the
Future of Schooling, East-West Center, Education Development Center, International
Rescue Committee, Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation, Michigan State University,
Mississippi Consortium for International Development, ORC Macro, Research Triangle
Institute, University of Minnesota, University of Pittsburgh Institute of International
Studies in Education, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children.

127
Chapter Fourteen

IMPROVING POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS IN NIGERIA:


ISSUES AT STAKE
By Innocent Chukwuma

This case study is on community relations.

BACKGROUND

In an ideal society, the police at all times ought to be servants of the people. If
this is the case there would be no antagonism and hostility between the police
and the communities they serve. However, the literature on police and policing
reveals that the police are often in conflict with a significant percentage of the
population in almost all countries of the world (Alemika, 1999; Reiner, 2000;
Alemika and Chukwuma, 2000). This is so for largely two factors. Firstly,
modern societies are diverse in economic, social and cultural
compositions, which means that the police cannot be neutral in respect of
competing and sometimes antagonistic class relations no matter how hard they
try. Secondly and perhaps most importantly police are agencies of the state
employed to maintain the social order in which the interests of the rulers and the
dominant economic class are paramount.
Therefore, police enforcement of the laws and maintenance of social order
which promote the interests of the rulers to the detriment of the majority of the
population, inevitably put them in hostile relations with their host communities
across countries (Alemika, 1999).
However, the nature and extent of police-community antagonism differs from
one society to another; from one government to another; and of course from
one police force to another. Among the major determining factors are:
1. The social structure of the society: The more unequal and uncaring a social
order is the more hostile the relationship between the police and the
marginalized sections of the society would be.
2. Police internal control systems: If the police internal control system is
proactive, internalized by police officers and rigorously enforced through formal
and informal mechanisms, the police in that society would be less disposed to
antagonizing the communities they serve.
3. The nature, scope and extent of contact between the police and the
community serve: If the scope and nature of interactions between the police and
the community they serve are restricted to involuntary law enforcement
encounters such as arrests, stop and search encounters, detention etc. the
relationship that would ensue from such contacts would be involuntary and
hostile. Whereas if the people and the police have other avenues of meeting
and understanding each other their relationship would be less hostile and
friendly.
Our argument in this paper is that a combination of unequal social order; weak
police internal control system and the largely involuntary nature of police-
community interactions in Nigeria have made police community relations in the
country one of the most antagonistic and hostile in the world. It therefore means

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that if the relationship between the Nigeria police Force and the people of
Nigeria is to improve, reform efforts would have to target the three levels
identified above and tackle them almost simultaneously. The paper is divided
into four sections. Section one looks at the social structure of Nigeria in which
the police discharge their functions and its impact on the
relations between them and the people they police. Section two critiques the
internal system of the Nigeria Police Force. Section three provides an analysis
of the nature and scope of contact between the police and the Nigerian people.
Finally, section four concludes the paper and recommends steps that should be
taken by government, police and civil society groups to improve police-
community relations and partnership in Nigeria.
1. Social Structure and Policing in Nigeria
In his article on police community relations in Nigeria, what went wrong,
Alemika (1999:73) argues that, “any attempt to understand policing and police-
community relations must begin with the analysis of the social structure that is
policed.” This is so because police forces are created to defend the prevailing
social, economic and political structure and in very substantive ways mirror the
contradictions and conflicts as well as human cooperation in society. According
to Coatman (1959: 8): … a student of the political institutions of any country
desirous of understanding the “ethos” of any country’s government can hardly
do better than make a close study of its police system, which will provide him
with a good measuring rod of the actual extent to which its government is free
or authoritarian.
If the police mirror the contradictions in society, their relationship with the
community they serves must inevitably reflect the political, social and economic
divisions in society.
Thus the character of police-community relations will be determined by the
extent of division, inequality and conflicts between the rulers and the rest of the
society as well as the extent to which every member of the society have a
sense of belonging and wellbeing.
Consequently, police-community relations will be less hostile and friendly if
society:
• Runs a democratic system of government in content and posture;
• Maintains an economic system in which concern for growth, equity and welfare
of all the citizens are given priority attention;
• Maintains legislative and judicial systems, which ensures adherence to the
rule of law by the low and mighty as well as the protection and promotion of
human rights.
Conversely, a totalitarian or repressive regime will create conditions for hostile
police-community relations. The pillar of a totalitarian society, argues Alemika
(1999) is a police state.
In Nigeria, it cannot be argued that the economic, social and political system
has remained largely exploitative and oppressive of the vast majority of the
citizens. Consequently, the Nigerian police in trying to conserve and reproduce
that status quo have conducted and continued to conduct themselves in
manners that are adversarial to the oppressed and marginal strata of the
Nigerian society and by so doing setting the stage for the continuing conflictual
relationship they have with the majority of the population.

129
The struggles for decolonization and independence in Nigeria were vigorously
waged and predicated on the belief by the majority of the anti-colonial activists
and ordinary people that self governance, which political independence
promised would bring an end to the oppression and exploitation, and a
transformation of the socio-political and economic forces and institutions that
sustain them, which includes the Nigeria Police Force. But that did not happen.
in the case of the police, Adisa, (1999:7) notes:
Many people thought that from being the enemies of the people the police
would become friends of the people as well as the custodians of law and order
in society.
Regrettably, this has not turned out to be so. Almost four decades after
independence, the police are yet to change its orientation to a people oriented
police force….
The police could not change the hostile character of its relationship with the
people at independence because the unequal economic, social and political
structure of the Nigerian society did not undergo any radical change in 1960.
What the country witnessed was change of the color of the rulers and not the
content of their character or manner of behaviour. They retained all the colonial
oppressive structures and policies and used the police to enforce them.
Consequently, the police have continued to be accountable to the rulers (as
they did under colonial rule) who often are neither legitimate representatives of
the citizens nor accountable to the people. The first and fundamental problem
with police-community relations in the country is that the nation’s successive
governments were largely not expression of aspirations, interests and will of the
people. They were often usurpers of people’s power and sovereignty through
violence (coup) and electoral fraud; exploiters of the people, as well as mass
poverty, ignorance, homelessness, ill-health,
etc. on the vast majority of the population. These conditions foster antagonism
between the government and the citizens. Police are recruited to suppress the
opposition of the citizens against government. In the circumstances, police-
community relations cannot but be hostile (Alemika, 1999). The next section
looks at the internal control systems in the Nigerian police.
2. Internal Control System of the Nigeria Police Force
Internal control systems can be defined in general terms as core values,
processes and mechanisms through which police authorities regulate and guide
the daily activities of their institutions and confront individual acts of wrongdoing.
They also offer an important line of defense against corruption and abuse in a
police force and provide a key measure of police authorities’ will to hold their
personnel accountable for abuse and other misconduct or inappropriate
behavior and by so doing promote positive relations with the
community (Neild, 2000). When effective, internal controls systems can assist in
analyzing and changing the regulatory and management systems and practices
of the police to refine their capabilities and improve their performance, both in
their effectiveness and ethics.

Generally speaking, there are different types and levels of internal controls in
every police force. These include training, core values, regulations, procedural

130
manuals, code of conduct and disciplinary mechanisms. In this section, we shall
focus on examining the disciplinary mechanisms in the Nigeria Police Force as
the mechanism whose activities that directly affects police-community relations
in the country.
The Nigeria Police Force has a multi-layered internal disciplinary system that
can theoretically be invoked by members of the public that are aggrieved by
acts of police misconduct. These mechanisms include verbal or written
complaints to any superior police officer about acts of misconduct involving his
or her subordinates and if the complainant is dissatisfied with the action of the
superior officer could complain to higher officers including the office of the
Inspector General of Police. Such complaints could also be sent to the police
Public Complaints Bureau (PCB) located in the police public relations
department of every state police command or to the police Provost Department
at the Force headquarters, which are responsible for investigating acts that
negate police ethics and profession with a view to finding out the genuineness
of such complaints or otherwise (Ogbonna, 2001). The police provost
department is also responsible for conducting orderly room trial against erring
police officers (Ogbonna,2001).
Within the offices of the Force Criminal investigation Department (FCID), there
is also the X-Squad made up of plain clothes police personnel who occasionally
conduct surveillance on the activities of patrol officers and those on checkpoint
or stop and search duties. Successive Inspectors General of Police also
established ad hoc monitoring units that reported directly to them and are
usually called IGP’s Monitoring Unit (MU). A review of these internal disciplinary
mechanisms within the Nigeria Police Force reveals that they are highly
discriminatory against the poor, reactive in nature instead of proactive,
accorded less attention in terms of budget and are unwieldy or haphazard in
coordination.
Reactive and Discriminatory
It is usually only when the police are being vilified by the press for egregious
violations of human rights such as extra-judicial killing or when the victim is a
prominent person that you mostly hear about their internal disciplinary systems.
On those occasions the police would either dismiss such erring officers from
service or quickly convoke orderly
room trials ostensibly to douse public anger against the activities of its officers.
While it could be argued that the number of police officers investigated or
disciplined for acts of misconduct has greatly increased since the inauguration
of an elected government in 1999, information or statistics on culprits, their
offences and the processes through which they were disciplined are hardly
available in the public domain. The list of the individuals is only provided
reactively and on an ad hoc basis when the police come under severe public
criticisms for not doing much to bring its erring members to book. Furthermore,
you cannot simply work into a police station and get statistics on complaints or
even commendations that officers have received in the course of their work
within a given period. You usually have to apply and go several times before
they would be made available to you, if at all they do. This gives the impression
that such statistics are prepared to suit the occasion in question and not a

131
routine or regular feature of police work and administration, which would have
assisted them in tracking officers that are
subjects of unusually high number of complaints and disciplinary sanctions.
Discipline as a less priority
Successive chiefs of police at federal and state level in Nigeria have failed to
recognize discipline and disciplinary mechanism as tools that could be used in a
fair and consistent manner to remove those police officials who are undermining
police effective and improved pubic relations in the country. This could be
gleaned from the priority areas of concern, resource allocation to disciplinary
mechanisms and more importantly absence of periodic review of the disciplinary
system. Police authorities in Nigeria hardly publish priority areas of concern of
their administration. And when they do, such articulation rarely goes beyond
identification of armed robbery and establishment of ad hoc taskforces to tackle
it, which hardly provides more that momentary succor. Exceptions to this rule
was the eight-point agenda drawn up by the former Inspector General of Police,
and the elaborate 10-point priority agenda published by the current Inspector
General of Police, on assumption of office in January 2005. These two priority
agenda (especially the fairly elaborate one drawn by the current Inspector
General strategy) are commendable given the fact that they are innovations in
the contemporary history of the Nigeria Police Force. However, there is
absence of a plan for their implementation or measurable indicators or
benchmarks for evaluating them. In the final analysis, the priority agenda
become mere shopping lists rather than well articulated strategies for police
transformation.
Lack of budgetary Allocation
A further proof that discipline has low placement in the Nigeria Police Force,
can be seen from the fact that none of the disciplinary mechanisms in the
Nigeria Police has an annual budget for its operations. The personnel are
equally not provided with the logistics such as transportation to the scene of
inquiry rapidly and investigate citizens’ complaint against the police. Almost all
of these mechanisms, especially those at the state level such
as the police Public Complaints Bureaus (PCB) have no writing materials for
recording complaints, working telephone lines, fax machine and computer sets
for keeping tracks of the complaints. They depend on rare handouts from the
police authorities to carry out their functions, which enables them to achieve
anything but contempt from the citizens.
As a result citizens lack confidence in them and rarely bother to send their
complaints to them. A fall out of the resource constraints facing them and the
low status they enjoy in police hierarchy of issues of importance is that the
internal disciplinary mechanisms are hardly evaluated to find out how they are
performing by the police authorities and what are required to make them
perform optimally.

Lack of Coordination and Documentation


Lack of coordination and documentation is another major problem facing the
various internal disciplinary mechanisms in the Nigeria Police Force. This is
caused by the fact that there are too many of such mechanisms; lack of
interaction by both the personnel in charge of the mechanisms and the

132
information or statistics they generate; the casual manner with which most
complaints against the police are received and treated; and the fact that there is
no mandatory record keeping and tracking system to provide some protection
against police efforts to dismiss or cover up complaints.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Police and citizens are in constant daily contacts. These contacts may be
voluntary or involuntary. The nature, extent and scope of contacts influence
police-public relations. According to White et al (1991: 20):
Interacting with citizens constitutes an important part of a police officer's daily
activities. Many aspects of these interactions have the potential for influencing
how the police and citizens perceive and evaluate each other ... Research over
the years has established the fact that contacts between the officers and
citizens influence police-community relations in major ways, often for the worse
...Citizens often bring to the interaction an array of attitudes and preconceived
notions about the police and their conduct... Likewise, the officer brings to the
interaction a similar attitude of presumptions, prejudices, and perceptions of the
citizen. Prior research has established that the officer is sometimes ...
prejudiced, callused by contacts with undesirable and unrepresentative
population elements, and is trained to assert authoritative control in these
contacts. In addition, the police culture abounds with perceptions of the public
as uncooperative, unsupportive, and antagonistic towards the police.1
Police-citizen contacts are characterized by prejudice and preconceived
notions. The citizens, therefore, tend to resist the police and the latter try to
assert their authority. These are two important factors in police-citizens
violence. Antagonism and violence between the police and citizen tend to be
higher in societies where the police concentrate on law enforcement than in
societies where the police blend law enforcement and social welfare services.
Except the police see themselves as "part of the social fabric of a community,
they will be perceived as an alien force, and, unless they are clearly visible in
their roles of helping people in trouble, they will be seen as a mercenary army of
enforcers."1 In Nigeria, the "acute shortage of personnel has reduced the police
to crime fighters [which they do very ineffectively due to qualitative and
inadequacy of men, material and money] to the detriment of the diversification
of police functions found in western societies."2 The provision of social services
by the police creates opportunities for non-coercive contacts between them and
citizens. In Nigeria:
Few members of the public see the police as friends, instead the sight of police
is considered synonymous with trouble. This is partly because in the absence of
a social service dimension in police work in Nigeria, the police pre-occupations
or routine police work revolve around stop and question/search, arrest, crime
investigation, detention, prosecution, riot and crowd control, and armed combat
against violent criminals and guarding of the rich and powerful. Consequently,
there are rather too few positive attributes of policing that can be projected.

OBJECTIVE:

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To identify the root causes of police-community violence in Nigeria.

METHOD

In year 2000, the CLEEN Foundation conducted a national study on the root
causes of police-community violence in Nigeria, in which questions where
introduced to gauge the nature, extent and scope of contact between the police.
This research shows that there is an extensive contact between the citizens and
police in Nigeria. Such contacts occur in the course of police operations in the
following areas:
•Crime prevention, especially through stop and search at road blocks
(checkpoints) on highways;
•Crowd and riot control;
•Detection, investigation, apprehension and prosecution of offenders;
•Detention;
•Bail of suspects, pending or prior to arraignment in court;
•Request of assistance by crime victims;
•Request for location of missing persons and recovery of lost properties.
The study found out that 68 percent of the respondents had ever been stopped
and searched by the Nigeria Police and that most of the contacts took place in a
vehicle while on a journey. The data further shows that about a third (33.8%) of
the respondents had ever been arrested before by the police. Among those
arrested, over 50 percent of them had been arrested twice or more. Many of
them were arrested for traffic offences (27%); fighting or assault (22.2%); theft
(18.3%) and strike or protest (13.3%). The data also
reveal that less than a third (28.3%) of the respondents had ever been detained
for three of fewer days.
This information show that police and citizen contacts, though relatively
significant, have occurred mostly in pursuance of law enforcement objectives by
police. The restrictive contacts between the police and citizens in Nigeria,
against the background of the country’s political and economic structures
discussed in the preceding section, contribute to or escalate mutual hostility
between the police and citizens, which occasionally results into violent
encounter. The frequency, content and consequences of contact between the
police and citizens are not randomly distributed. The poor and powerless,
according to criminological literature are disproportionately and discriminately
subject to police surveillance and violence (Hahn, 1970; Alemika, 1993).
Police-citizens contacts have significant impact on police-public relations. For
example, in Nigeria, certain groups in the public (students, the educated, some

134
occupations, e.g. taxi drivers) have a much more negative view of the police
than does the general public, which having little education and knowledge of
their rights and much experience with the police.

Table I: Contact with the police


Level and Location of Contacts Yes No
Ever lived with Nigeria police in the same 31.3%(197) 67.7%(426)
compound
Ever stopped and searched by Nigeria 68.8%(432) 31.2%(196)
police
Location of Stop and Search Contacts
(a) In a vehicle on journey 66.1%(294) 33.0%(147)
(b) In a vehicle within town 32.1%(142) 67.4%(298)
(c) On a street 18.1%(26) 81.9%(362)
(d) Within residence 5.9% (26) 94.1%(414)
(e) At work or school 6.8% (30) 93.2%(412)
Period or time of contact
(a) Day time 61.0%(316) 39.0%(200)
(b) Evening 23.8%(123) 76.2%(394)
(c) Night 21.6%(111) 63.1%(402)
Ever arrested by the Nigeria 33.8%(210) 66.2%(412)
Number of times ever arrested
(a) Once 49.0%(119)
(b) Twice 30.0%(73)
(c) Thrice 21.0%(51)
Offence for which you are arrested for
(a) Traffic 27.1%(64) 71.6%(169)
(b) Theft 18.3%(44) 81.3%(195)
(c) Fighting and assault 22.2% (53) 77.4%
(d) Strike or protest 13.3% (32) 86.7% (208)

The relationships between occupation and likelihood of being stopped,


searched, arrested and detained by the police were also examined in the study.
The data show that the likelihood of being stopped and searched, arrested and
detained vary across occupation. Commercial drivers and motor park touts
reported the highest rate of stop and search, and arrest/detention by police.
This is understandable, because, table 1 shows that two-third
of those who reported having ever been stopped and searched, stated that this
occurred at police checkpoints or highways.

135
Table 2: Occupation and stop/search, arrest and detention
Ever stopped and Ever arrested by Ever detained by
searched by police? police?
police?
Yes No Yes No Yes No
Unemploye 60 43 21 81 17 77
d (58.3%) (41.7%) (20.6%) (79.4%) (18.1%) (81.9%)
Farming 25 18 17 27 17 25
and petty (58.1%) (41.9%) (38.6%) (61.4%) (40.5%) (59.5%)
trading
Commercial 58 6 46 18 35 29
driver &park (90.6%) (9.4%) (79.1%) (28.1%) (54.7%) (45.3%)
joint
Junior 19 24 12 29 8 30
employees (44.2%) (55.8%) (29.3%) (70.7%) (21.1%) (78.9%)
Intermediate 35 15 13 34 14 33
employees (70.0%) (30.0%) (27.7%) (72.3%) (29.8%) (70.2%)
Senior 92 23 32 84 24 77
employees (80.0%) (20.0%) (27.6%) (72.4%) (23.8%) (76.2%)
Business 57 22 31 48 26 48
men (72,2%) (21.8%) (39.2%) (60.8%) (35.1%) (64.9%)
Others, 78 40 35 81 20 87
including (66.1%) (33.9%) (30.2%) (69.8%) (18.7%) (81.3%)
students
X2=41.6;df=7p<0.0 X2=54.6;df=7p<0.0 X2=38.4;df=7p<0.0
1 1 1
Source : Alemika and Chukwuma,2000.

RESULT

The data show that respondents had relatively high level of contacts with the
police. The contacts were in the form of stop and search, arrest and detention.
These are forms of involuntary contacts, which in effect impinge on citizens'
freedom and may heighten police-citizen hostility. An irony of increased police
surveillance and proactive aggressive policing tactics in order to prevent and
control crime, according to Wilson (1975: 121) is that they tend to:

136
Multiply the occasions on which citizens are likely to be stopped, questioned or
observed. Inevitably, the great majority of the persons stopped will be innocent
of any wrongdoing; inevitably many of these innocent persons believe the police
are harassing them….
The frequent contact between citizens and police who, in the course of their
duties, are uncivil to the public and who sometimes abuse their power to extort
money are sources of violence between the police and citizens. Citizens
become defiant if police are uncivil and corrupt. The police interpret the defiant
demeanor of the citizens as a challenge to their authority, and may sometimes
resort to violence in order to assert their authority.

LESSON LEARNED

This study examined police community relations in Nigeria and identified


structural and institutional factors that militate against harmonious and friendly
relations between the police and the communities they serve. At the structural
level the paper argued that the oppressive and exploitative economic, social
and political system in the country created a wide gulf between the citizens and
the rulers. The police enforcement of the unpopular and repressive laws
enacted by rulers engenders conflict between them and the people.
At the institutional level the paper argued that the internal disciplinary system of
the Nigeria Police were highly discriminatory against the poor, reactive in nature
instead of proactive, accorded less attention in the police priority issues and are
unwieldy or haphazard in coordination. Thus, the highly level of hostility
between the police and the larger segment of the society who are poor and
vulnerable.
The involuntary nature and scope of contact between the police and the public
in Nigeria, was also identified as a major source of friction between the police
and the public. The paper argued that the restrictive contacts between the
police and citizens in Nigeria, against the background of the country's political
and economic structures contributes to or escalates mutual hostility between
the police and citizens, which occasionally results into violent encounter.

The following recommendations are offered steps as that should be taken by


the government, the police and civil society groups to improve and ensure
positive police-community relations in Nigeria:
1. The country must restructure its political and economic structure towards
democratizing the polity, and promoting economic efficiency and
competitiveness with due consideration for and guarantee of social equity and
welfare, especially in the provision of health, education and housing for the
needy.
2. Corruption, which is an important motivation for political repression and a
major cause of economic and social backwardness in the country, should be
tackled more vigorously. This will reduce the high level of corruption in the top

137
hierarchy of government and private institutions. The existence of corruption at
these levels, encourage corruption at other levels, especially by law
enforcement agents. Effective anti-corruption programme in the country will also
promote effective and efficient allocation and management of resources for
national development and provision of social services.
3. The Leadership of the police in Nigeria needs to make police discipline a
national functional policing priority and it needs to start from the top. The
importance of leadership as a driving force for culture change in policing
institutions has long been identified in the literature (Whisen and Ferguson
1989, Newman 2000). In this regard, the police hierarchy should see
disciplinary system as a tool for achieving their values, mission and vision.
Disciplinary system can be used proactively to promote a new culture and
establish minimum standards for the police as a whole. The system could then
be used not only to set clear standards for the institution but could also be used
in a fair and consistent manner to remove those police members who are
undermining the transformation and effectiveness of the NPF.
4. The police code of conduct contained in the Police Act should be reviewed.
This review should seek to reduce the rather lengthy to code to size that could
easily be memorized and internalized by police officials in Nigeria. It should
emphasize the service nature of police and incorporate standards contained the
United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials as well as drawn
inference from the more recent guidelines on the conduct of police officers on
electoral duty in Nigeria. Towards this end, a committee should be set up with
members from the or Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigeria Police
Force to review the code. They should also solicit the inputs of civil society
groups working on police reform in Nigeria.
5. The police leadership needs to streamline the unusually high number of
disciplinary mechanisms that presently exist in the force, as they make their
work not only ineffective through unnecessary duplications but also create
problems in tracking police personnel that are processed through them. For
instance there is nothing wrong with merging the work of the police X-squad
and Human Rights Units with the police public complaints Bureau (PCB) since
the three bodies are involved in processing cases of police misconduct and
abuse of human rights. Similarly, the tendency of successive IGPs to establish
their own ad hoc mechanism for dealing with police abuse such as corruption
and human rights violation should be stopped as they create coordination
problems and tend to undermine existing mechanisms. Rather such extant
mechanisms should be assisted with resources and personnel to make them
more effective.
6. Processes for receiving complaints should include mandatory record keeping
and tracking systems to provide some protection against police efforts to
dismiss or cover up complaints. Any process by which complaints are screened
in order to evaluate which merit a full investigation must be open to public
scrutiny to assure that dismissals are valid. Similarly the complaints process
should provide guarantees for the security for the complainant against any
potential threats or reprisals. The police must also make clear that they will
punish any effort to intimidate or retaliate against complainants.

138
7. The scope of contacts between the police and citizens should be enlarged to
include social services delivery by police and regular non law enforcement
related meetings should be held with communities in order to create favourable
environment for public cooperation with police, in their law enforcement duties.
8. Members of the public should be educated on the role and powers of police,
and the significance of public cooperation with police in order to promote an
overall individual, community and national security.
9. Policemen and women should be thoroughly screened and tested during their
initial training to ensure that they possess good character, and are emotionally
stable before they are finally enlisted.
10. The pace and scope of the on going police reform process with emphasis
on community partnership and problem-oriented policing strategy should be
increased and vigorous public enlightenment campaign about the programme
should be launched in collaboration with civil society groups in the country for
members of the public to know what it is all about.
11. Finally, civil society organizations need to create programmes, activities and
measures that will enhance partnership and cooperation between the public and
police. Additionally, the organizations should empower citizens to ensure police
accountability and effectiveness in their service delivery functions. Civil society
groups can promote these through the mobilization of the public in support of
police legitimate efforts as well as the mobilization of citizens against abuse of
authority/power, brutality and violence, insensitivity incivility and ineffectiveness
by police. Civil society institutions should maintain a strong monitoring,
research, training and advocacy capacity on police work in the country.

Source: CLEEN Foundation.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the causes of hostility between the police and the masses in
Nigeria?.
2. How will you determine the causes of hostility between the police and the
masses in your community?, outline your programme of action.
3. Having identified the problems between the police and the masses,
design a PR blue print for effective police-community relations for your
community.
4. Is PR department essential in any police organization?, discuss.

139
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Nwankwo C. et al (1993) Human Rights Practices in the Nigerian Police, Lagos:
Constitutional Rights Project.
Ogbonna C. (2001) “Handling of Complaints against Police” paper presented at
the Police-Community Partnership Workshop in Ahiazu Mbaise Local
Government Council, Imo State in November 2001.
Okoro C. I. (2002) “How Citizens Can Process Complaint with the Police”,
Paper presented at the Police-Community Partnership Workshop in Abak Local
Government Council of Akwa Ibom State in August 2002.
Reiner, R. (2000) The Politics of the Police, Oxford: Oxford University Press

140
Reiner, R (1989) in R. Morgan and S. Smith (eds.) Coming to Terms with
Policing,London: Routledge.

INTERNATIONAL PR

141
INTERNATIONAL PR

International PR is the practice of PR between two or more organizations in different


countries. For any international PR programme to succeed , those factors that could
make or mar its success should be put into consideration at the planning stage, such as
culture, language etc. The two case studies are examples of international PR.

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Chapter Fifteen

CREATING PRACTICAL AND SUSTAINABLE MEASURES THAT WOULD


HELP AFRICAN MEDIA IMPROVE THEIR COVERAGE OF HIV/AIDS, TB
AND MALARIA : CASE STUDIES OF BOTSWANA, KENYA AND SENEGAL

This case study is on international public relations.

BACKGROUND

The continent of Africa bears the largest human burden of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In
the absence of a cure for AIDS, accurate and relevant messages on prevention, care and
support are necessary to reduce prevailing stigma and bring about behavior change.
Information about malaria drug policies and TB treatment strategies can save lives – if
people know about them.
The African media, therefore, have an important role to play in helping to prevent, cure
and better understand these public health issues. This role goes beyond simply reporting
the latest statistics. It requires holding governments accountable for their actions and
reporting on the human face of disease. It goes beyond merely reporting facts to
questioning actions, recording the lives of those living with major illness, and helping
save those lives.
In 2002, working with a $1.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
the International Women’s Media Foundation created the Maisha Yetu project to
enhance the quality and consistency of reporting on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in
Africa. Maisha Yetu was created to give African media the means to become more
responsive to their communities and to magnify their efforts in reporting on health.
Maisha Yetu means “Our Lives” in Swahili.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The role of the media as the means of effective dissemination of information goes
beyond telling the news but having educative and informative programs that will
enlighten the masses on essential issues.
The African media role of educating and informing the masses of essential issues not
just telling the news is at low ebb.
The African media, therefore, have an important role to play in helping to prevent, cure
and the masses having better understanding of public health issues. This role goes
beyond simply reporting the latest statistics. It requires holding governments
accountable for their actions and reporting on the human face of disease. It goes beyond
merely reporting facts to questioning actions, recording the lives of those living with
major illness, and helping save those lives.

OBJECTIVE:

143
To make African media play an important role in helping to prevent, cure and make the
masses have better understand these public health issues.

METHOD

Phase One: Measuring Health Reporting


The first phase of Maisha Yetu was qualitative and quantitative research on how the
media cover HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in Cameroon, Botswana, Kenya, Senegal and
Malawi. These countries were chosen because they reflect diverse media environments,
different rates of disease and different responses from governments to disease. The
result of the research was published in 2004.

Phase Two: Centers of Excellence


The second phase of the Maisha Yetu project was launched in September 2004 with the
goal of creating practical, sustainable measures that would help African media
improve their coverage of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. During this phase, the (The
International Women’s Media Foundation) IWMF formed partnerships with “Centers of
Excellence” in three countries to work with them on developing models for health
reporting. Botswana, Kenya and Senegal were chosen as the countries for the second
phase because of their regional diversity and because they have different media
environments and diverse health profiles. The Centers of Excellence in phase two were:
Botswana – government-owned Department of Information and Broadcasting Services
and privately owned Mmegi newspaper.
Kenya – privately owned Nation and Standard media groups (both of which include
print and electronic media).
Senegal – government owned Le Soleil newspaper and privately owned Sud FM radio.

Journalists with experience as health reporters in each of these countries were selected
to become local trainers. The local trainers, in collaboration with Harare-based project
manager Aulora Stally, designed individual plans based on each country’s and each
media house’s needs to move Maisha Yetu into newsrooms. The local trainers were:
Tidiane Kasse (Senegal), Otula Owuor (Kenya) and Beata Kasale (Botswana).
Between March 2005 and March 2006, the Centers of Excellence held more than 20
skills-building workshops and trained some 1,000 journalists. The training was designed
to link HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria to wider social and development issues as well as
provide basic skills journalists need to cover health.
Women comprised at least half of participants in these workshops. Journalists from
beats other than health and newsroom managers were also encouraged to attend
workshops in an effort to spread health reporting to other news areas, such as
economics, politics and features.

144
RESULT

Accomplishments of the Centers of Excellence


Key accomplishments of the Maisha Yetu Centers of Excellence include:

• Mmegi newspaper in Botswana established a health desk. Between October 2005


and January 2006, the newspaper published more than 100 stories on health and
produced a special supplement on World AIDS Day 2005, which was inserted
into the main newspaper.
• Botswana Radio 1 developed a 15-minute program, Letlhabile (“The Sun Has
Risen”) on HIV/AIDS, as a direct result of Maisha Yetu. The project also played
a key role in developing more in-depth content for Re Mmogo (We Are
Together), an award-winning, half-hour weekly program on HIV/AIDS on
Botswana Television.
• In Kenya, by February 2005, at least 42 stories on HIV/AIDS appeared in the
Nation and Standard newspapers as a direct result of Maisha Yetu. At least 19
radio or television stories appeared during the same time period.
• Since August 2005, Horizon, the weekly science supplement at The Nation
newspaper in Kenya has devoted some 50 percent of its space to articles on
HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.
• One Maisha Yetu journalist, Mike Mwaniki of The Nation in Kenya, took on
corruption by Kenya’s National AIDS Control Council. He wrote 10 articles
exposing misuse of government funds and set the pace for other journalists to
expose corruption by government and nongovernmental organizations.
• In Kenya, a database of 250 journalists working on health stories was created to
help them share information and tips.
• In Senegal, between September 2004 and May 2005, Le Soleil published 106
stories on HIIV/AIDS, nine stories on TB and 43 stories on malaria.
• In Senegal, Sud FM broadcast approximately 40 stories on its weekly national
health program between September 2004 and June 2005 as a result of Maisha
Yetu’s influence. In addition, stories done on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria by
reporters in the provinces increased by 20-30 percent.

LESSON LEARNED

The success of any PR campaign lies in the planning and execution of such campaign,
and also the constant evaluation, in-order to keep the planners and the executors on their
toes of achieving the set goals and objectives. Evaluation becomes easier and better, if a
measurable evaluation method is established.
This PR campaign could be said to be successful because the quantitative evaluating
measures established for these three African countries regions, south, east and west
before the commencement of the campaign were evaluated at the end, the results
reflected that the campaign in these countries was successful.

Source: The International Women’s Media Foundation

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QUESTIONS

1. What is Maisha Yetu?, why was it created?, how will you rate its
performance?.
2. Design a media campaign plan on health for 3 countries in different
regions of Africa, what are the factors you will consider in designing the
plan.

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Chapter Sixteen

FREE PRIMARY EDUCATION AND POVERTY REDUCTION: THE CASE OF


KENYA, LESOTHO, MALAWI AND UGANDA

By Roger Avenstrup, Xiaoyan Liang and Sorren Nelleman

This case study is on international public relations. It was conducted in four countries in
two sub-continents, East Africa (Kenya and Uganda) and Southern Africa (Lesotho and
Malawi).

BACKGROUND
In Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Uganda, free primary education (FPE) was viewed as a
step toward achieving universal basic education and as part of scaling up poverty reduction.
The removal of school fees contributed to poverty reduction by ensuring universal access to
basic education, which in turn could help break the cycle of poverty. It is a significant
intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is lagging behind in achieving universal primary
education (UPE). The four countries represent different stages of the process over time,
using different scales, and different approaches under different political, social, and
economical contexts.
Universal basic education is largely understood as universal primary schooling. Only
after the Jomtien conference on Education for All (EFA) in 1990 was it understood that by
making primary education free would it include children from poor families and thereby
perhaps become universal. Schooling costs for families are a major constraint to achieving
UPE. Direct costs can include general fees, examination fees, salary top-ups, textbooks,
materials, uniform, feeding, transportation, sports and culture. Indirect costs are the
opportunity cost of labor at home or work. By eliminating direct costs of schooling, families
could send their children to primary school, thus increasing demand. On the supply side,
very few school systems in Africa were keyed to education for all from the outset, and a
strategy combining the elimination of fees together with the reform of the EFA system is
needed.
Similarities and differences in the educational systems and resources of
the four countries
The educational systems in Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Uganda share several key
features. In all four countries free primary education was a central issue in the political
discussions that led to multiparty elections or the transition to multiparty democracy. In
Kenya, Lesotho, and Malawi, free primary education was the key election issue on
which the new governments came into power. In Uganda free primary education has
been a central issue in presidential elections.
All four countries have, or have had until recently, high poverty rates, high illiteracy
rates, and low enrollment and completion rates (table 1). All face great challenges in
improving conditions in remote areas, where poverty is worst and access to education
is limited. All were heavily centralized and burdened by a cumbersome bureaucracy, all
lacked fiscal discipline, and all provided too few resources to primary education relative
to other education sub-sectors, especially tertiary education.

147
Table 1. Poverty indicators in Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Uganda,2002
Kenya Lesotho Malawi Uganda
Share of population living on less 23.0 43.1 41.7 82.2
than $1 a day(%)
Share of population 69.0 26.0 33.0 21.0
undernourished(%)
Fertility rate 4.3 4.3 6.1 6.1
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live 78.0 91.0 114.0 79.0
births)
Under-5 mortality rate (per 1,000) 120.0 132.0 183.0 124.0
Life expectancy (years) 46.3 43.3 37.5 42.8
Illiteracy rate (% ages 15+) 16.7 16.1 38.2 32.0
Female illiteracy rate (% ages 15+) 22.7 6.1 51.3 42.0

Source: UNDP 2003; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; UNICEF 2003b; World Bank 2003d.

GDP and foreign debt obligations


Economic indicators in the four countries differ widely (table 2). 2 Malawi, the poorest of
the four countries, is constrained by both very low per capita GDP ($570) and a very
high ratio of foreign debt to GDP (88 percent). Uganda, with much higher per capita
GDP ($1,490) and a much lower ratio of foreign debt to GDP (21 percent) is better able
to fund free primary education. Lesotho has a relatively high share of foreign debt to
GDP (51 percent), but it has the highest per capita GDP of the four countries ($2,420).

Table 2. Economic profiles of Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Uganda, 2000


Kenya Lesotho Malawi Uganda
Primary school enrollment before 68.5 68.0 60.0 63.0
introduction of free
primary education (percentage of total) 2002) (1999) (1993) (1996)
Population (millions) 30.7 2.0 11.0 22.8
Population density (people per square 53.0 66.0 89.0 95.0
kilometers)
GDP (billions of dollars) 11.4 0.8 1.7 5.7
GDP per capita (US dollars) 980.0 2,420.0 570.0 1,490.0
Foreign debt (billions of dollars) 4.4 0.4 1.5 1.2
Foreign debt as share of GDP 39 51 88 21
Foreign aid per capita (US dollars) 14.7 26.2 38.1 34.0

Source: World Bank 2003d; UNDP 2003; UNESCO Institute of Statistics.

Gross enrollment rates


The starting points for free primary education in each country were also different. In
Kenya, Lesotho, and Uganda, enrollment and completion rates rose in the late 1980s
but declined in the 1990s. In Kenya the gross enrollment rate rose from 50 percent in
1963 to 115 percent in 1987 before dropping to 85 percent in 1995. In 1990Œ91 the
net enrollment rate fell to 73 percent in Lesotho and 50 percent in Malawi. The decline
was due largely to civil unrest, drought, and the drop in household income caused by
falling prices for agricultural exports, unemployment, and devaluations, all of which lead
to rising prices. Although weakened by structural adjustment
programs and other factors, some of the organizational structures for education
(directorates for teacher education, educational management information systems)
were in place in Kenya, Lesotho, and Uganda. In contrast, Malawi lacked many of
these structures.

148
The role of religious institutions
Christian denominations have influence on the educational system in all four countries,
but in different ways and to varying degrees. In Malawi government-assisted schools
and unassisted private schools were merged into the same category, and the
government took over all financing of both types of institutions. The situation was most
difficult in Lesotho, where 90 percent of the schools are owned by several different
denominations. The government paid teachers’ salaries and covered the cost of some
materials, but it had little say in running the schools. Free primary
education meant that proprietors would lose income from parents, school committees
would have a greater say in running the schools, and the government would gain more
control over the system.
PROBLEM STATEMENT

Providing universal primary education


Before 1990 very few educational systems in Sub-Saharan Africa targeted education
for all or had the financial resources to do so. Instead, they provided services targeted
mostly toward urban middle-class pupils. Educational systems were bureaucratic,
curricula were oriented toward the urban middle class, teacher training programs were
long, support and professional development was limited, development and provision of
textbooks was slow, and gender, regional, and social
inequities were large.
Malawi was the first of these four countries to start working toward universal primary
education, abolishing school fees grade by grade beginning in 1991. The policy was
not strongly enforced, however. Enrollments did not rise as much as policymakers had
hoped because local authorities demanded that parents contribute to special funds,
such as sports and development funds, and they insisted on making school uniforms
mandatory. The funds collected were not always accountable.
Because the policy was controversial, it was not widely and openly discussed until the
1994 election campaign, when it became a key issue. Immediately after the election,
the president himself announced the introduction of free primary education for all
grades. One of the first actions of the new government was the convening of a national
stakeholder conference on free primary education in May 1994. Free primary education
was launched for all grades in September 1994.
Kenya had a longstanding policy that education should be provided by the government,
and the 2001 Student’s Act stated that the government should provide free and
compulsory education. Only in 2002, however, when the newly elected government
adopted free primary education as its core tenet was such a program possible. It
became reality in 2003.
Although the Lesotho Constitution states that primary education should be free and
compulsory, fees were high and enrollments low. The minister of education was about
to introduce universal primary education in 1993 when political instability made the step
impossible. Church control of the education system and an unstable political
environment prevented the government from exercising clear leadership on the issue.
After political stability was restored through new elections, the new prime minister, who
was the former minister of education, championed the cause, announcing in April 1999
that primary education would be free. The ministry had only eight months to develop
policy and plan implementation.
In Uganda a universal primary education policy was in place as early as 1987, a Policy
Review Commission had been created, and an education white paper had been
written, but the question of how to implement universal primary education remained
open. Unrest, lack of resources, lack of a focus on primary education, and political

149
constraints on how far policy implementation could go prevented turning the policy into
reality. The president wrote the program into a government manifesto in December
1996. Given the short interval before implementation, the template for universal primary
education had to be developed as an emergency plan.
In all four countries there was acknowledgment of the need for free primary education,
but political opposition and in some cases political instability, prevented full
implementation until the issue was championed at the highest level and supported by a
democratically elected majority party. In all four countries the adoption of universal free
primary education was triggered by political demand rather than by rational planning
processes. In each case the trigger event was a dynamic, top-level political initiative
that left very little time for planning, forcing countries to adopt a idready, fire, aiml,
approach. In addition, unreliable statistics and the
unpredictability of educational reform processes made it extremely difficult to come up
with accurate projections of needs and responses.
In some countries there was little time even to negotiate with stakeholders. Malawi held
a two-day National Policy Symposium and launched a mass media campaign to
mobilize the public. Uganda used radio spots to communicate with the public, but
consultation was insufficient. Learning from both countries, Lesotho used the traditional
form of community consultation (pitsos) to negotiate the policy widely, in addition to
using the mass media.
In Kenya a stakeholder forum was created to forge strong ownership. It set up a task
force and reported to the government. In all four countries the political opposition and
skeptics among education professionals cast doubt on the proposal and attempted to
weaken the social contract between government and the people. The main criticisms
included questions about the financial sustainability of free primary education given the
limits of the country’s resources, concerns about the lack of adequate planning, and
condemnation of the government’s failure to move rapidly enough to provide what it
promised. People with vested interests in the former system exploited policy gaps and
potential ambiguities. In Uganda, for example, some local politicians told parents not to
send lunch with their children and then criticized the government for not providing
school lunches. In Lesotho school owners do not openly disagree with free primary
education, but they complain that their possibilities for raising funds for additional
school activities are now severely limited. In all four countries quality issues were
raised in the political discussion.
Among education professionals, skepticism stemmed largely from concerns over
declines in quality (soaring pupil to teacher, pupil to textbook, and pupil to classroom
ratios) and the need to field teachers and paraprofessionals trained through short
courses. The lack of administrative capacity to deal with the changes is a professional
as much as a political issue.

OBJECTIVE: To implement the Jomtien conference on


Education for All (EFA) programme in Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi and Uganda.

METHOD

Malawi was the first of the four countries to start working toward UPE, by abolishing
school fees grade by grade in 1991. FPE was launched for all grades by September 1994
after an election campaign where the strategy changed to the “big bang” approach for all
grades at the same time. Uganda had a sleeping UPE policy from 1987, but not until relative
stability in 1997 was FPE implemented, following the new government’s manifesto.
Uganda also used the big bang approach. FPE was in the constitution of Lesotho, but

150
instability delayed implementation until 2000, after the 1999 elections. Lesotho adopted a
sequential strategy, phasing in from grade
The newly elected government of Kenya adopted the big bang approach in 2003.
In all four countries, a top-level dynamic political initiative triggered FPE
implementation, leaving little time for detailed planning before startup. In some cases, there
was little time even to negotiate with stakeholders. In Malawi, a two-day national policy
symposium was held and a mass media campaign mobilized the population. In Uganda, the
radio was used for dissemination and communication; Lesotho, learning from both
countries, used the traditional form of community consultation (pitsos) and mass media; in
Kenya, a stakeholder forum was created, which set up a task force and reported to the
government. What FPE would and would not cover, and how, varied somewhat from
country to country owing to contextual differences, especially of school ownership.
Key issues in introducing FPE included maintaining the social contract with the
electorate, establishing quality education, and developing the capacity to implement and
sustain FPE. Criticism of FPE in all four countries has raised questions about its
sustainability, the lack of time for planning, slowness to deliver, and problems in quality
education. However, introducing FPE as an urgent task shows what major changes are
needed in an educational system to redirect it to EFA. In each country, immediate support
from at least one major donor/lending agency was needed to ensure confidence in the
process. As part of democratization processes, FPE must not be seen to fail.
The public response to FPE was overwhelming and created access shock. Enrollments
jumped by 68 percent in the first year in Malawi and Uganda, 75 percent in Lesotho (grade
1 only), and 22 percent in Kenya. This led to overcrowded classrooms; double and triple
shifts; and shortages of teachers, textbooks, and materials. Many enrolled are over-age
pupils who should have been taking adult education. None of the systems were geared up
for the logistical implications of FPE.
Ministries, supported by international agencies, put in place distance in-service teacher
and paraprofessional training and retrained teachers for large classes; multigrade teaching in
small schools; and in education for all. There was implementation of crash classroom
construction programs and, in the case of Lesotho, temporary tents, particularly using
community involvement as a lead-in to participation in school management. All four
countries want communities to be more involved in school management and saw
community involvement in construction as an opportunity. Unfortunately, without proper
training and local craftsmen, the results may not be worthwhile.
FPE was implemented concurrently with other reforms: curriculum reform, provision of
textbooks and other materials, the use of local languages in education, Poverty Reduction
Strategy Papers (PRSPs), Medium-Term Expenditure Frameworks (MTEFs), civil service
and local government reforms. These add to the burden of change, but PRSPs/MTEFs
together with Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), do ensure a protected resource
envelope and increased funding for primary education.

RESULT

What has happened to education outcomes?


Major improvements in education outcomes have occurred in all four countries: as a
result of increased access, more children are in school and more children are staying in
school (table 3).
Table 3. Education outcomes in Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, and Uganda before and
after introduction of free primary education

151
Kenya Lesotho Malawi Uganda
2002 2003 1999 2001/02 1993 2001 1996 2002
Numb- 6,314,600 6,917,553 364,951 418,668 1,795,451 3,187,835 3,068,625 7,354,153
er of
pupils
Perce- 49.5 49.7 51.6 50.2 47.2 48.6 46.3 49.4
nt (2000)
female
Numb- 197,331 178,037 8,225 8,762 26,333 53,444 81,564 139,484
er of
teache
rs

Pupil 32 38.9 44.4 47.8 68 60 37.6 52.7


to
teache
-r ratio
Numb 186,000 191,088 5,618 6,544 17,471 31,989 45,115 69,990
er of
Class
rooms
Pupil 34 36 65 64 103 100 68 105
to
class
room
ratio
Share 35 39 24 28 a 11.4 24.6 16.4 b 23.5
of
nation-
al
budget
to
educat
ion
Educa 361.15 (est)419.61 82.84 113.93 a 50 (rec.)59 164.4 272.3
-tion
budget
($milli
ons)
Primar 54.4 56.7 36(+sec)40(+sec) 49 56 65.6 66.5
-y
educat
-ion
budget
as
share
of
total
educat
-ion
budget
(%)
a. 2003.
b. 1998/99.
Source: National education statistics; UNESCO Institute for Statistics..

152
Enrollment is up
Enrollment rose 240 percent over six years in Uganda, 78 percent over eight years in
Malawi, 15 percent over three years in Lesotho, and 14 percent in one year in Kenya.
Free primary education is having a positive effect on the poor, who are much better
represented than they had been. In Uganda, for example, enrollment of the poorest
quintile is almost on a par with the richest.
Confidence in government and the education system has increased
Free primary education has increased the public trust in government and the education
system,and it has freed up private resources that had been spent on primary
education. 5 According to the 2002 Domestic Household Survey of Malawi, 79 percent
of respondents felt that their children were learning more than they had before free
primary education was introduced (84 percent of the lowest income quintile and 66
percent of the highest quintile), 65 percent felt that teaching had
improved, and 82 percent felt that the quality of infrastructure and the supply of
textbooks had improved. These results suggest that education has improved, but not
necessarily that the quality of education is satisfactory. The challenge of improving
quality is a major concern in all four countries.
Cooperation between line ministries is closer
In addition to raising educational access, the provision of free primary education has
forced education ministries in all four countries to make changes in their structure,
organization, organizational culture, administration, and finance. Line ministries now
work more closely together, reflecting the fact that free primary education is not only an
education sector issue but involves players from many sectors. Cooperation among
donors, and between donors and ministries, has also increased, a natural result of
sharing the same goals and agreeing to be task-rather than status-oriented.

HIV/AIDS is the biggest short- to medium-term challenge because its impact is being
felt across sectors. High prevalence is affecting the efficiency and the supply of teachers,
rapidly increasing the number of orphans, affecting girls in particular, and it has financial
impacts. Improved planning and administrative and managerial efficiency are needed to
ensure that FPE continues and that children affected by HIV/AIDS are not lost to education.
FPE/UPE sustainability remains a question: Under what circumstances will FPE
be sustainable, and who has responsibility for those circumstances? Innovative solutions
are needed, such as bringing back retired teachers or adding day care centers to school
so that young mothers can attend classes. Continued commitment from the government
and development partners in both policy and financing remains key to FPE sustainability.
Key factors for success include (i) top-level leadership; (ii) a strong social contract with
the electorate; (iii) institutional innovation at all levels; (iv) developing capacity—both the
sheer increase in volume and the pace of the increase; (v) learning from previous
experience; (vi) the presence of external catalysts; (vii) financial security for primary
education;(viii) perhaps decentralization; and (ix) good communication and participation
strategies. Other factors need to be identified, including what the consensus threshold is in
each country and what parental expectations are.

LESSONS LEARNED/CONCLUSIONS

The study’s main conclusions were :

FPE is a must for achieving EFA and eventually poverty reduction.


FPE can be implemented, but it is not a straightforward process.
FPE is a political issue, linked to democratization processes.

153
FPE involves a new paradigm of education—education for all—an inclusive system with
universal completion and with acceptable levels of learning achievement.
Learning from experience is important, but adaptation to each context is essential.
HIV/AIDS is the greatest threat to FPE and has to be addressed through a combination of
inter-sectoral strategies.
Trade-offs are inevitable, whatever strategy is chosen (sequential or big bang).
There is a need for innovative solutions for quality and access.
Changing education takes time and depends on each country’s contextual and external
factors. Only after some years will one know if FPE actually did make the contribution it
was supposed to toward education for all.
A decision needs to be made about the definition of education for all. Is it universal
nominal attendance in school, universal completion of primary education, or universal
completion of primary education with optimal achievement, as stated in the Millennium
Development Goals? The meaning of the term must be clarified and agreed upon so that the
human and financial resources required and the pace of change needed can be better
determined.
To secure the gains made through FPE, it must be supported until the returns to the
household and national economy take effect. Continued commitment from the government
and development partners in both policy and financing will be key.
FPE is not sufficient in itself for poverty reduction. Macroeconomic conditions at the
country and international levels must be changed to create employment opportunities,
and the impact of HIV/AIDS must be dealt with economic sustainability of the effort.

Source: World Bank

QUESTIONS

1. Is Free Primary Education and Poverty Reduction Campaign in Kenya, Lesotho,


Malawi and Uganda?, discuss.
2. What are the public relations strategies used in the campaign, are they
effective?, discuss.
3. What do you understand by the term ‘Education for All’?, which roles can the
government and the stakeholders play in its actualization in African countries
where it has not being implemented?
4. What are the challenges facing the success of Education for All, how would you
tackle them as a public relations practitioner?.

154
CRISIS MANAGEMENT

155
CRISIS MANAGEMENT

A crisis could make or mar the success of any organization, it depends on how it is
handled. The two case studies on crisis management portray crises that could occur in
any organization or country. Though they are negative, there are important lessons to
learn from them.
The purposes of studying these case studies are :
• To identify organizational crisis when it is at the bud.
• To adopt relevant and appropriate solution to cure crisis.
• To prevent ‘issues’ from developing to ‘crisis’.

156
Chapter Seventeen

CRISIS CASE STUDY : THE PRESIDENT, HIS HEALTH MINISTER, HER


BOTTLE AND THE THEFT CONVICTION

By Evan Bloom

This case study is on crisis management.

The battle between the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and the Sunday
Times has a lot more to it than just the allegations about her being an alcoholic, being
pushed up the liver donor list and having a criminal record for theft in Botswana.

“From a PR crisis perspective what is so telling is how her boss, President Thabo
Mbeki, has dealt with the allegations around the developing issues,” says Evan Bloom,
MD of Crisis Communications Consultancy.

Politicians are like anyone else in the business world, you get good and bad, those who
deliver and those who do not. “The private sector, in most cases, deals swiftly with
senior employees who bring their company or brand into disrepute or negatively affect
the smooth running of a company. They are either shown the door or are very nicely
asked to resign or retire,” adds Bloom.

The question must be asked: why has the President not fired his health minister or at the
very least initiated a public enquiry? The President sacked his deputy, Jacob Zuma, at
the mere suggestion of him being corrupt, yet he does not dismiss other corrupt and
totally incompetent senior police officers and government ministers and officials
allegedly because of their struggle credentials.

"Surely the opposite sentiment should prevail,” says Bloom. “The battle for liberation
and democracy was so hard that it should be expected that every person who holds a
position of authority will do their utmost to get the job done honestly, without personal
gain and for the good of the people. Anyone who cannot live up to the standards of
excellence demanded and expected by the people of the country and who is not capable
of delivery, should not hold public office.”

The following analysis of the unfolding issues of the crisis surrounding the minister of
health looks at what President Mbeki should have done as soon as the story broke.

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THE BACKGROUND:

Imagine being the President and waking up one Sunday morning to find a major Sunday
newspaper has your minister of health on its front cover and is telling the nation and the
international community that she is a drunkard and a thief. You would probably spit
your grapefruit across the room!

Now imagine this... as the minister, you deal so abysmally with the media that both you
and your boss, the President, basically say and do nothing to take control of the
situation. Members of the public start telling jokes about you: “Hey Manto has two new
guys working for her, Mr Jack Daniels and Mr Johnnie Walker” and “Did you know the
Johannesburg General Hospital is going to be renamed? Yup, Manto's pub and grill!”

The 12 August headlines of the Sunday Times screamed “Manto's hospital booze binge”
and alleged that Tshabalala-Msimang ”disgraced herself with wine, whisky and
tantrums” before she went into surgery in Cape Town at the Medi-Clinic in Hof Street
in 2005 for a shoulder operation. The paper went on to elaborate how the minister‘s
bodyguards, a female friend and a senior sister ”dispatched hospital staff” to buy
alcohol on a number of occasions. It also mentioned that ”after a party in her room one
night, at about 1:30 am, the minister demanded lemons”, and how "Tshabalala-
Msimang demanded food from Woolworths at odd hours".

The Sunday Times also mentioned that within hours of receiving a new liver from a
teenage suicide victim, doctors are alleged to have said that the minister had been
diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, and that the cause of her cirrhosis was not
alcohol related.

During the course of that week many South African radio stations, daily newspapers
and e.tv covered the initial allegations and approached the minister and President's
office for comment. Nothing of substance was communicated to the media bar the odd
threat of legal action and allegations that the Sunday Times stole medical records from
the hospital concerned.

The minister and Medi-Clinic also filed an urgent application in the Johannesburg high
court asking for among other things, her medical records to be returned. They also
wanted the paper to stop publishing further details around the minister's health, and to
destroy its reporters' notes and records.

No public action from the President's office to take control of the situation
On 19 August, the Sunday Times ran another front page article with the headline
”Manto: A drunk and a thief” and two sub headings ”The big cover up: Chronic
alcoholism the real reason she got a new liver” and ”The dirty little secret: She was
kicked out of Botswana for stealing from a patient”.

The article mentioned how, after being convicted of theft of numerous items including
hospital blankets, linen and heaters from the Athlone Hospital in Lobatse where she was

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the medical superintendent, she was declared a ”prohibited immigrant” and barred from
Botswana for 10 years from 1976.

The paper also alleged that the minister's medical team stated publicly that their
patient's new liver had been damaged by autoimmune hepatitis, a long-term disease in
which the body's immune system attacks liver cells.

Still no comment from the President to take control of the situation, only veiled requests
for proof of the allegations.

Later that week, e.tv sent senior news reporter Ben Said to Botswana and he tracked
down former staff members from the hospital where the minister worked in the 1970s.
He also interviewed the person responsible for disciplining her and, of major
importance, he found her original case number.

Local political parties climbed in on the action with the Democratic Alliance calling for
the health minister's resignation.

To be fair to Tshabalala-Msimang, the allegations around her alcoholism and being


bumped up the donor list are still, at the time of writing, not proven, as Brendan Seery
says on the Opinion page of The Saturday Star of 25 August 2007. He goes on to state
that “it's a sad day for our democracy when, just because she is not likeable and may
well even be incompetent at her job, a person is denied the basic rights of a citizen. And
those rights include that one is innocent until proven guilty.”

By 30 August, The Citizen ran a front page article with the headline, “Thabo knew
about Manto theft”. In the article, ANC head of the presidency Smuts Ngonyama said,
“President Thabo Mbeki actually knew about it because the ANC knew about it.”

So how should the President have dealt with an exceptionally public crisis that focused
on two critical issues, disclosure of a ”hidden” issue that basically tells the world our
minister of health has a criminal record and that she is alleged to be an alcoholic who
received a liver transplant simply because of her position in government?

LESSONS LEARNT:

Lesson one: When there are storm clouds on the horizon, deal with them
immediately! If it was in fact true that President Mbeki was aware of the minister's
conviction of theft in Botswana, then either the President or his official spokesperson
should have issued a public statement immediately confirming that they were aware of
the conviction for theft. One golden rule of PR crisis management that is crucial in this
case is to ”tell it all, tell it fast and tell it honestly.” This may have helped the
Government and the ANC to take back some form of control of the situation. It would
have also acted as a measure to slow down or control speculation and rumour
mongering.

Lesson two: Do not practice ostrich management - communicate consistently.

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News reports contained significant comment in general about the series of Sunday
Times articles but there was no consistent comment either challenging or dealing with
the issues in the public domain by the Presidential spokesperson. In addition, most of
the communication initiated by the President went straight onto the ANC's website.
Communicating only to the party faithful is not the best strategy as you marginalise the
rest of South Africa.

Lesson three: Never get confrontational with the media.


The Sunday Times' allegations have been termed “garbage” by Tshabalala-Msimang's
spokesperson Sibani Mngadi (Mail and Guardian, August 17-23). Comments made in
the media also alleged that The Sunday Times was engaged in ”gutter journalism”. A
classic mistake that companies and organisations make when confronting a crisis is to
hurl abuse at the media. The best strategy is to simply deal with the issues at hand,
communicate openly with the media and always be accessible to them when they need
additional input. View the media as a critical part of your communications chain; attack
them and you negatively affect your ability to reach your audience.

Lesson four: If you are a boss and a staff member has been caught out, take the
moral high ground and do the right thing.
While the jury is still out as to whether the minister was bumped up the donor list and
the President was aware of her criminal record, he could have immediately initiated a
commission of enquiry to investigate the allegations and asked the minister to take a
short leave of absence. If nothing untoward was found then she could have resumed her
normal duties or she could have resigned if damning evidence was found.
Just recently the American senator for the State of Idaho, Larry Craig, resigned over
allegations of soliciting sex from an undercover police officer in the men's toilet at an
airport. British cabinet ministers have also resigned over various allegations, including
Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesperson Mark Oaten resigning in 2005 after it
was revealed by News of the World that he paid rentboys for sex. Why should South
Africa be any different?

Lesson five: Always have a succession plan for senior staff members.
As soon as a company or organisation hires someone to hold a senior position, a
succession policy and plan needs to be put in place. This succession plan will lay out
what will be done and said publicly and privately by the employer should the senior
executive need to be ”shown the door”, resign or become a victim of tragic
circumstances. The succession plan must strategically consider all potential scenarios
that could cloud over the employee. Clearly based on how the Government dealt with
Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge and with the sacking of then Deputy President Jacob Zuma
(the country waited a few weeks for the new deputy president to be announced) there is
allegedly either no succession plan or a very scant one at that.

Lesson six: Make sure you have a robust media relations plan.
Possibly one of the most crucial strategies any organisation should have before they
face a crisis is an active strategy of media engagement. A core part of this is to
communicate with the media as often as possible, hold specific one-on-one briefing
sessions, all with the express aim of fostering good relations and opening up channels of
communications on key issues and developments. By the way the events detailed above

160
have rolled out, the Health Ministry's media relations plans either do not exist or are
haphazard in their roll out.

Lesson seven: If you had some media credits stored in the media bank, you could
cash some of them in.
The fact is that the health minister and her ministry have such an abysmal track record
of delivery that there is almost nothing on which to spin her crisis PR. “It is pretty safe
to wager that Tshabalala-Msimang has been the worst minister in post-apartheid South
Africa.” (Mail and Guardian, August 17-23). If the minister had a superb track record
of delivery against brilliant healthcare strategies, then it may have been easier to defend
her against the allegations that emerged in The Sunday Times. Simply put, the Minister's
PR bank is insolvent, there is nothing strategic to build any recovery strategy on.

Source: BIZCOMMUNITY.com

QUESTIONS

1. What are storm clouds on the horizon, how will


you deal with them?.
2. What is ostrich management?, what is the solution
to this approach in time of crisis?.
3. What do you understand by the term ‘ media
credits in the media bank?, how will use them as a
PR executive of an organization?.
4. What is media relations plan?, draw a media
relations plan for your organization.

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Chapter Eighteen

CITY WATER CRISIS:CASE STUDY TANZANIA

This case study is on crisis management.

BACKGROUND

In May 2005, Tanzania took the drastic step of terminating its contract with City
Water, a foreign-controlled company that for the previous two years had been
struggling to supply water to a major city, Dar es Salaam.
Within weeks three City Water executives had been deported, marking the end of
another unhappy phase in what was supposed to be a flagship water privatisation
scheme in Africa.
A fiasco in the making
Tanzania is a very poor country. The statistics make grim reading. 60 per cent of the
population live on less than two dollars a day. One in five children die before their fifth
birthday. Average life expectancy is a shockingly low 44 years. This pattern of poverty
is also reflected by low access to water and sanitation. At least 9.8 million Tanzanians
(27 per cent of the population) do not have access to safe water and 40 per cent of
children under five suffer from diarrhoea as a result.
Before privatization the water system in Dar es Salaam was, like much of the country,
in very poor shape. Its water system had failed to grow with the population. In 2003
only about 4 per cent of households had a direct water connection and 74 per cent of
water was lost as leaks or illegal connections. It is against this background that the push
by international aid donors and lenders for the privatization of Dar es Salaam's water
system began.
The drive for privatisation
Examples from around the world have consistently shown that water privatisation is not
the answer to the global water crisis. But the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) continue to push this approach. Tanzania was the latest in a long
line of countries to be targeted. In the past decade, Tanzania has been advised by
foreign consultants on privatising over 350 stateowned firms.
In general, pressure was applied either by making lending conditional on moves towards
privatisation, or by pushing the privatisation process in return for more lending. For
example, in 1997 the World Bank said it would offer Tanzania £186 million per year
to speed up the sale of stateowned companies, but only £62 million per year if the
privatization programme stalled. In essence, the Bank offered cash-strapped Tanzania a
£124 million incentive to privatise more quickly.
By the late 1990s, pressure for the privatisation of the city’s water system, the Dar es
Salaam Water and Sewerage Authority (DAWASA), became more focussed. Between
1996 and 1999, the IMF first made privatization of DAWASA a condition for lending

162
via its Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility. Then in 2000 IMF lending via the more
benign sounding Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility was made conditional on
specific negotiations for privatisation of DAWASA being completed by March of the
same year.
The first stage of the privatization of DAWASA also became one of the pre-conditions
given to Tanzania to qualify for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country
(HIPC) initiative.
While some members of the government undoubtedly favoured privatisation, Tanzania
was in effect given no other choice. Money for improvement was desperately needed
but loans were only available for projects involving private companies. Faced with a
failing water system and the possibility of debt relief, what other option could they
choose?
The City Water deal
After numerous delays the Tanzanian government and its lenders settled on a form of
privatisation called an “operating lease contract”, in which a private company would
take over routine maintenance, billing and tariff collection while DAWASA would
retain ownership of the physical water system and renew the dilapidated pipe network.
To support the proposed deal, the World Bank, African Development Bank and the
European Investment Bank offered total loans of £87 million to rehabilitate the water
system, with £24 million allocated to the private company to do specific work. The aim
of these loans was likely to be to improve the state of the water system, so that after the
initial ten year operating lease contract, DAWASA itself would be more attractive for
foreign investors and could be fully privatised.
However when the Tanzanian government invited bids for the contract, there was a
notable lack of interest. In fact only one bid was made, by a consortium of Biwater
(UK), Gauff (Germany) and Superdoll (Tanzania), otherwise known as City Water.
Despite the lack of competition, the contract was awarded to City Water in December
2002. From then on Dar es Salaam's water supply became reliant on a complex mixture
of public and private service provision.
What private money?
One of the advantages that privatisation is supposed to deliver is major investment by
foreign companies. However in this case, the vast majority of the investment continued
to come from public sources, either from international lenders or directly from the
Tanzanian government. In fact of the total £100 million project cost, City Water only
agreed to invest £5.2 million, mostly to cover removable assets, such as computers. City
Water was also granted a tax holiday by the Tanzanian government, until at least year
six of the contract.
The failure unfolds
The Tanzanian government enthusiastically signed the City Water deal. But just two
and a half years later, in May 2005, the same government terminated the contract.
Considering the dire state of things before City Water took over, how could things have
worsened so quickly?

IDENTIFIED PROBLEM

The Tanzanian government claims that its reasons for terminating the contract are
simple: “The water supply services in Dar es Salaam and neighbouring places have
deteriorated rather than improved since this firm [City Water] took over two years ago.

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The revocation was made following persistent complaints by city residents over
incompetence of the firm.”
They also allege that City Water:
Failed to invest £5.2 million as promised during the first two years of operation,
delivering only £2.5 million.
Failed to contribute to a fund to pay for water supplies to the very poor.
Failed to pay their contract lease fee to the government, which accumulated to debts of
over £1.9 million.
Failed to collect revenue from customers effectively. Under City Water, revenue is
alleged to have declined from the 1.2 billion shillings (£610,000) collected by
DAWASA three years ago, to 800 million shillings (£434,000) per month.
If true, these allegations suggest that City Water was facing serious financial and
practical difficulties. This fits with early reports that City Water officials had admitted
to a 'difficult' first year of operations and were expecting to make a loss of £428,000.
Customer revolt
“There is a problem with water privatisation because local people don’t have water.
After privatisation, the bills are coming, but no water.” – Members of Africa Youth
for Development, Dar es Salaam City Water's difficulties seem to have been caused, at
least in part, by behaviour which angered their customers:
• the residents of Dar es Salaam. Evidence from interviews conducted by Action
Aid show that within ten months of the contract starting consumers had begun to
resent being charged more without getting a better service. Complaints were
numerous and mostly focussed on City Water's tariff increases and patchy,
irregular service. Action Aid also discovered that City Water continued to
charge households for water even when it only came through occasionally,
meaning that they often had to pay twice
• once to City Water and again to the street water vendors selling at much higher
prices Unsurprisingly those that refused to pay were threatened with
disconnection, but City Water went even further by disconnecting whole areas in
an attempt to get those with illegal connections to pay up - even though this
meant no water for households who were paying! Within a year of City Water
taking over, anger had reached such levels that, according to one local group,
City Water bill collectors were being “chased away with dogs and knives”. A
population unwilling to pay high prices for a poor service would certainly
explain City Water's failure to collect revenue and reluctance to make the
payments and investments to which they were committed.
Excuses, excuses...
City Water claims that they failed to deliver due to “unexpected circumstances”,
including the discovery that the number of active customers was 50,000, not the
Pop for privatisation:
The role of the UK government
The UK has a vote at both the World Bank and IMF so must share responsibility for
their policies. It has also played a more direct role in promoting privatisation in
Tanzania, with the Department for International Development (DfID) spending
£9.5million of 'aid' on supporting privatisation between 1998 and 2004.
At least £574,556 of DfID’s money went to Adam Smith International, including
£273,000 in 1999 to pay for communications and public relations work to promote

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privatisation. Bizarrely part of this money was spent on producing a pop song with
lyrics that are, in essence, pro-privatisation propaganda.
In September 2006, during a question time event at Labour party conference, Hilary
Benn, Secretary of State for international development finally admitted that “the
Tanzanian pop song was not DfID’s finest hour”. 100,000 they had been led to believe
and that the Tanzanian government had not disclosed the extent of leakage and illegal
usage from certain main water pipes.
“Far from ‘pocketing big profits’, we’ve had mounting losses since the contract went
live 22 months ago,” says Cliff Stone, CEO of City Water. “Our tender was based on
the information supplied by the Tanzanian government which we took to be complete
and accurate. Our view is that it was not.”
However consultants hired by the Tanzanian government to assess City Water's claims,
concluded that the conditions had not substantially varied from the time the contract
was signed. What's more, according to the Financial Times, “experts from multilateral
agencies are understood to have taken the view that the UK-German- Tanzanian joint
venture performed poorly and that the Tanzanian government had abided by its
agreement”.

RESULT
Wasted time, wasted money
While City Water and the Tanzanian government may blame each other for this fiasco,
what is indisputable is that this privatisation experiment has wasted three years and
millions of dollars which could have been spent improving the failing water supply in
Dar es Salaam, so that poor people could get the clean water they desperately need for
their health and well being.
Back in Tanzania a new public corporation, the Dar es Salaam Water and Sewerage
Corporation (DAWASCO), has taken over, absorbing 1,300 City Water staff. The
Tanzanian government claims the replacement company is performing well, increasing
bill collection by 12.5 per cent from £570,000 in May to £660,000 in June 2005.
Hopefully DAWASCO will prove more of a success than City Water and the long-
suffering residents of Dar es Salaam will not have to put up with further incompetence.
A sting in the tail
Unfortunately, the City Water saga may not yet be over. In June 2005, the UK partner,
Biwater, announced that City Water had applied successfully to the English High Court
“for an interim injunction to prevent the Tanzanian government from unlawfully
terminating the contract without submitting to arbitration”. In short, City Water is now
looking for compensation, which would mean that Tanzania would once more have to
pay up.
Rejecting claims that they had not met performance targets or investment obligations,
City Water “feels strongly that the government’s actions are unlawful, its accusations
are entirely untrue and the real tragedy is that it is the people of Dar es Salaam who
will end up suffering
as a result”.
For some people water privatisation in Tanzania was a flagship project with high
expectations, but in less than two years it has turned into a disaster that has hit the
poorest the hardest. The UK government needs to rethink its approach to projects like
this and to start funding successful alternatives. It does not end there. Biwater, the UK
partner, is now suing Tanzania for ‘expropriating its assets’ through the International

165
Court for Settlement and Investment Disputes (ICSID). The final hearing is due to take
place in April 2007.

Source: World Development Movement

LESSON LEARNED

Any organization which does not have its head in the sand must be sensitive to future
trends and awake to possible ways in which these trends may infringe on the
organization’s future success. Sometimes this is called ‘futurism’, and another term
used is ‘environmental scanning’, but issues management is a better term that one does
not merely monitor change but plans to take it into counting consideration in planning
corporate strategy.
----- ‘issues are unsolved problems’ or ‘an issue is merely a trend whose time has
come’. The Conference Board of America has defined an issue as ‘ a condition or
pressure, either internal or external, that, if it continues, will have a significant effect on
the functioning of the organization or its future interests . 1 (Black, 2006).

Corporation do not exist in vacuum, they are an integral part of society, and what they
do, or don’t do, affects a broad range of publics and institutions. In today’s world, the
success of a corporation involves more of them producing goods for profit. A
corporation’s policies and actions are shaped and developed in reaction to political,
economic, social, and technological forces.
A corporation must consider numerous publics and institutions in developing its policies
and strategies. Among these are the general public, media, activist groups, government
officials, regulatory agencies, and local, state, and national laws.
Anyone of these can have a major effect on the future and success of the corporation.
PR counselors W. Howard Chase and Barrie L. Jones were among the first practitioners
to specialize in issues management. They define the process as (1) identification of the
issues, (2) systematic analysis, (3) strategy options, (4) action plan, (5) evaluation of
results. PPG Industries perceives the process along the same lines but identifies the
steps as (1) issue identification, (2) impact assessment, (3) position formulation, (4)
action-plan development and implementation, and (5) communications. Inherent in
either process, however, is the idea that issues management involves input from all
levels of the corporation and must have the complete commitment of top management.
2 (Wilcox et al, 1989).

When issues are not resolved, it will degenerate to crisis or conflict. The inability of
the City-Water management to identify the ‘issues’ and nip it at the bud resulted to
the crisis/conflict. The ‘take action campaign’ of the World Development
Movement reveals the depth of the crisis:
• Send an action card to the Secretary of State for International Development,
asking him to support public solutions to the water crisis.
• Sign up as a WDM activist and receive urgent actions and regular updates on
WDM’s campaigns.

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The most challenging test of PR skill in corporate life arises in times of crisis. When an
expected development involving a company embarrasses the organization or frightens
the public-even in the worst instance creating the threat of death-the company’s
credibility and decency come under intense scrutiny. With the news media hard pursuit
of the facts, executives and PR experts must act under severe pressure.
In a crisis the first instinct of some companies is to “stonewall it”: deny that a crisis
exists, refuse to answer the media questions, and resist involvement by appropriate
government agencies. By behaving in this manner, managements suggest a “public-be-
damned” attitude that harms their images severely.
A second course, followed by some, is to “manage” the news about the concealing
especially unfavorable facts. If these facts slip out anyway, as they frequently do
through insider “leaks” and government inquiries, disclosure of a company’s cover-up
attempt shatters its credibility.
The third and best course is an open communication policy. The company keeps the
media fully and promptly informed of the facts while providing background information
to put the facts into perspective. A story candidly told, while perhaps embarrassing in its
immediate impact, is less damaging than a cover-up version that generates rumors and
suspicious much worse than reality. 3 {Wilcox et al,1989)

When issues metamorphosed into conflict, the organization should resolve to solve it, or
else it could throw it out of business.

According to Otis Baskin et al, to resolve conflict (crisis) the following steps should be
kept in mind:
1. Separate the people from the problem. Try to start from a position of respect for
those with whom you disagree. Remember, it is the goals and values that you
disagree with, not person holding the position. The next three steps suggest ways
to do this.
2. Focus on interest, not position. It is normal for both sides to stake out positions
and try to convince the other side of the wisdom in adopting their point of view.
It is natural but not productive. Instead, try to move beyond positions to find out
what the other side really wants. A position is just one expression of what
someone wants, but they may be able to satisfy then goals in other ways. Until
you explore the possibilities, you won’t know.
3. Invent options for mutual gain. You may know this as creative problem solving.
The idea is to explore ways you can both meet your goals. Plan on generating
lots of solutions before you reach an agreement. It sounds like an impossible
task, but for many issues it just requires the will to move beyond the conflict in a
way that respects the interests of both sides.
4. Insist on objectives criteria. Seek early agreement on what a fair solution would
look like. Is there a standard or index on which you could base a solution?.
Finding one makes evaluating solution s easier.
(Baskin et al,1997)

QUESTIONS

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1. What are the causes of the City Water crisis ?, are they preventable?,
how will you handle it if you are the PR executive of the organization?.
2. Differentiate between issue management and crisis management, how
will you handle each of them in your organization?.
3. Outline a crisis management contingent plan for your organization.

References

1. Black, S, (2004), Introduction to Public Relations – West African Publishers Ltd,


Lagos.
2 Wilcox et al, 1989, Public Relations Tactics And Strategies, New York.
3 Wilcox et al,1989
4 . Baskin, O, et al, (1997) Public Relations: The Profession and Practice, Brown &
Benchmark, USA.

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PART III

OVERVIEWS

169
OVERVIEWS

PR is evolving in Africa, its role in the socio-economic and political development of the
continent is essential. The three overviews are to shed light on critical issues that could
breed socio-economic and political transformation in the continent . And also reveal the
PR climate of Africa. Hence the topics are on NGO, NEPAD(The New Partnership for
Africa’s Development) and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility).

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Chapter Nineteen

THE ROLE OF NON GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS (NGOs) IN THE


PROTECTION OF SEA TURTLES IN EGYPT. - SAVE THE SEA TURTLE
PROJECT IN ALEXANDRIA
By Mohamed A. NADA

This overview is on NGO.

ABSTRACT.
This is a case study for the Save the Sea Turtle Project, Alexandria, Egypt. The study
defines the project mission, vision, objectives, and the different strategies and tactics
used when dealing with the different stakeholders, the activities and the results
intended.
INTRODUCTION.
Sea turtles know no boundaries therefore all the scientific institutes, governmental and
non-governmental organisations that are involved in sea turtle conservation in the
Mediterranean should share the same vision. Namely “saving the sea turtles in the
Mediterranean”. However each of them has their own agenda that differs according to
the way they tackle the problems that affect the sea turtle population in the region. All
over the Mediterranean there are organisations interested in various aspects of nesting
site protection, rehabilitation activities, public awareness, clean up the beaches
campaigns, lobbing & pressure groups, and scientific research concerned with the
species. In Egypt the main problems are lack of scientific research, the illegal trade in
their meat, blood and carapace, interaction with fisheries and marine pollution. In the
last 10 years accelerated efforts have been made in the field of scientific research,
pollution management, public awareness and legislation regulating the sea turtle trade.
In spite of these efforts, what was achieved can only be considered as one step forward
for marine turtle conservation in Egypt.

THE PROJECT VISION.


Is to protect the sea turtle population in the Mediterranean Sea.
THE PROJECT MISSION.
To promote sustainable conservation in Egypt through public awareness, educational
activities, advocacy and scientific research.
THE AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. - DATA COLLECTION AND SITUATION
ANALYSIS.
This is carried out to determine the external and internal factors that may affect the
awareness campaign. A pilot study was made to determine, who, how, which, why, and
where the stakeholders of the sea turtles in Alexandria are. Methods included Strength,
Weakness, Opportunity and Threat analysis of the campaign (SWOT analysis), and
Political, Economic, Social and Technical influence control (PEST control).

171
PUBLIC HEARING WITH THE STAKEHOLDERS REPRESENTATIVES.
This activity aimed to determine the different attitudes and point of views of the various
stakeholders and to create a dialogue encompassing these different attitudes and
different stakeholders. In the public consultation, representatives from the fishermen,
fish sellers, sea turtles’ meat and blood consumers, Islamic leaders, Christian leaders,
related NGOs, police authority, the National Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries,
the media, teachers, the Faculty of Science (Marine Science Department), the
Alexandria Governorate, the Fishing Co-operative Societies and the Egyptian
Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) were present. The consultation started with a
brief presentation on the problems facing the sea turtles in the Mediterranean and
around the world, followed by open discussion chaired by a moderator from the project.
VOLUNTEER AND SUPPORTER RECRUITMENT.
This activity aimed to create a group of highly qualified volunteers who care about the
turtles. The volunteers were recruited following a number of oral presentations in
different locations and with different audiences. At the end of the talk the presenter
asked the audience to help in several ways, one of which was to join the Save the Sea
Turtles Campaign. Those interested and showing innate or overt abilities were chosen to
join the campaign. The volunteers were then trained to make presentations to the
different types of stakeholders, to participate in data collection, to join clean up the
beach campaigns and to help with the preparation of awareness material.
SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING.
This step aimed to identify and target each stakeholder separately since there are major
differences in their number, attitudes, educational background, willingness to change
and our ability to reach them. With each stakeholder several factors were involved in
changing their attitude toward the species, these factors included framing of the
problem, identifying the situation, developing a target and devising a plan.
DEVELOPING A COMMUNICATION STRATEGY.
Habit development and learning are permanent changes in behaviour that occur as a
result of reinforced practices. There are many theories explaining how a habit is
developed in humans, the most important one is the stimulus response theory. This
suggests that a stimulus affects a person subconsciously and leads to a sequence of five
stages: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, changing the
habit decision and post habit changing behaviour. This step therefore aims to create an
appropriate stimulus through an awareness message to motivate, fulfil and satisfy a
certain need in each stakeholder, delivered through an appropriate channel after which
we test the response of each stakeholder to each message.
The fish restaurant owners: The message was the illegality of the sea turtle trade in
their restaurants and the religious aspect of this trade; the channel of communication
was through personal negotiation, and the mystery shopper technique was used to
evaluate his response. Members of the working team unknown to the restaurant owner
visit him in the restaurant a few days later and order a sea turtle meal. If the owner
shows a positive attitude refusing to serve the meal, a certificate from the project is sent
to him thanking him for his help, if he shows a negative attitude by accepting the order,

172
his name and his restaurant are recorded and sent to the police for the necessary action
against him.
The fishermen: The message here was the religious aspect, the legal aspect and
focusing on the belief that sea turtles will bring them luck; the channel of
communication was through personal negotiation, oral presentations and religious
presentation during Friday prayers in the mosque. Evaluation was from records kept of
in-depth interviews with a sample of the fishermen.
The consumer of sea turtle meat and blood: The message was the hazards from
drinking the blood and the diseases that can be transmitted by it, and the religious point
of view; the channel of communication was through oral presentations and the mass
media; evaluation of the response of the consumer used questionnaires designed to
measure the difference in attitude before and after the presentation.
The school children: The message was that the sea turtle is an important creature,
friendly to humans, and which helps in getting rid of the jellyfish (a particular problem
on Egyptian beaches); communication was by oral presentations in the schools, poster
presentations and colouring competitions amongst the students. The evaluation was
done by in-depth interview of a sample of the children after the oral presentation
Mass awareness: The message was the importance of the sea turtle to marine
biodiversity, the effect of jellyfish on tourism, and the religious point of view (Islamic
teaching holds the drinking of animal blood to be a sin). The message was
communicated through T.V, Press, poster and oral presentations. Evaluation of the
effectiveness of the message was made by using questionnaires after the oral
presentations and the feedback received through letters, e-mails and telephone calls.

TRAINING OF THE STAKEHOLDERS GROUP OF REFERENCE AND


OPINION LEADERS - TRAINING OF TRAINERS (T.O.T).
As raised in the second stage of the Simultaneous Response Theory, people start to
search for more information to help them change their habits. In this stage the most
effective way of gaining information is consultation with a reference group. These
groups can be religious or professional groups and opinion leaders. Each segment of
stakeholders have their own reference group, therefore this step was implemented to
help the reference groups themselves in articulating a vision both about wildlife
protection in general and the sea turtle in particular; The channel of communication was
through oral presentations, and the evaluation was done through questionnaires given
after the end of the presentations.
Then Action Plans were developed for each group to communicate their vision about
protection and biodiversity.
Islamic and Christian leaders: The vision needed from them was the religious point of
view in the face of the destruction of wild life and sea turtles.
Science and biology teachers: The vision needed from them is to show the importance
of the turtle in the marine environment, and to focus on the relationship between sea
turtles and jellyfish in the food chain.
Local NGOs leaders: The vision needed from them was to spread awareness of the
problems that arise from the trade in sea turtles, and the availability of alternatives, such
as other sources of protein and proper medical treatment for anaemia and infertility.
Police officers: The vision needed from them is recognition of their responsibility to
spread awareness amongst the fishermen as to the illegality of the turtle trade, and the
laws that would be used against them if they persist in such practices.

173
Physicians and pharmacists: The vision needed from them is to communicate their
opinion about the hazards of turtle blood consumption and the belief that it’s effect in
treating weakness, anaemia and infertility is scientifically unfounded.

LOBBYING AND PRESSURE GROUP FORMATION.


(not yet implemented)
EVALUATION ANALYSIS, FEEDBACK AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS.
(not yet implemented).

LESSON LEARNED
Although the strategies/tactics adopted by the campaigner are thought provoking, which
could be adopted by practitioners operating in that part of Africa , but no evaluation
report is given. Therefore it is difficult to evaluate the result.

Source: Mediterranean Association to Save The Sea Turtle(MEDASSET).

QUESTIONS

1. Do you think the campaigner can achieve the project vision and the mission
with the set PR strategies/tactics?, Comment.
2. What can not be measured can not be managed, how relevant is this statement
to evaluation in a PR campaign?, discuss.

174
Chapter Twenty

INVESTMENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLIC RELATIONS


WITH A SPECIAL FOCUS ON PUBLISHING NEPAD

By Sophia Chanzu

This overview is on international PR.


Introduction

It was organised under the auspices of the Federation of African Public Relations
Association (FAPRA) which brings together the public relations societies of different
African countries.
What came out clearly in the 2003 conference held in Ghana is that the biggest
challenges for PR practitioners within the continent is to position Africa in a positive
light. This is keeping in mind the negative publicity the continent always gets from the
international media. The practitioners felt that this impacted negatively on investments
from foreign companies. This is why it was felt that the New Partnership for African
Development (NEPAD) initiative which is said to be pursued so as to give some dignity
back to the continent.

WHAT IS NEPAD?
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WHAT ARE THE ORIGINS OF NEPAD?
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INTRODUCTION

1. This New Partnership for Africa’s Development is a pledge by African leaders, based
on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction, that they have a pressing duty to
eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a
path of sustainable growth and development and, at the same time, to participate
actively in the world economy and body politic. The Programme is anchored on the
determination of Africans to extricate themselves and the continent from the malaise of
underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world.

2. The poverty and backwardness of Africa stand in stark contrast to the prosperity
of the developed world. The continued marginalisation of Africa from the globalisation
process and the social exclusion of the vast majority of its peoples constitute a serious
threat to global stability.

175
3. Historically accession to the institutions of the international community, the credit
and aid binomial has underlined the logic of African development. Credit has led to the
debt deadlock which, from instalments to rescheduling, still exists and hinders the
growth of African countries. The limits of this option have been reached. Concerning
the other element of the binomial . aid . we can also note the reduction of private aid
and the upper limit of public aid, which is below the target set in the 1970s.

4. In Africa, 340 million people, or half the population, live on less than US $1 per day.
The mortality rate of children under 5 years of age is 140 per 1000, and life
expectancy at birth is only 54 years. Only 58 per cent of the population have access to
safe water. The rate of illiteracy for people over 15 is 41 per cent. There are only
mainline telephones per 1000 people in Africa, compared with 146 for the world as a
whole and 567 for high-income countries.

5. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development calls for the reversal of this abnormal
situation by changing the relationship that underpins it. Africans are appealing neither
for the further entrenchment of dependency through aid, nor for marginal
concessions.

6. We are convinced that an historic opportunity presents itself to end the scourge of
underdevelopment that afflicts Africa. The resources, including capital, technology
and human skills, that are required to launch a global war on poverty and
underdevelopment exist in abundance and are within our reach. What is required to
mobilise these resources and to use them properly, is bold and imaginative leadership
that is genuinely committed to a sustained human development effort and the
eradication of poverty, as well as a new global partnership based on shared
responsibility and mutual interest.

7. Across the continent, Africans declare that we will no longer allow ourselves to be
conditioned by circumstance. We will determine our own destiny and call on the rest of
the world to complement our efforts. There are already signs of progress and hope.
Democratic regimes that are committed to the protection of human rights, people-
centred development and market-oriented economies are on the increase. African
peoples have begun to demonstrate their refusal to accept poor economic and political
leadership. These developments are, however, uneven and inadequate and need to be
further expedited.

8. The New Partnership for Africa’s Development is about consolidating and


accelerating these gains. It is a call for a new relationship of partnership between
Africa and the international community, especially the highly industrialised countries,
to overcome the development chasm that has widened over centuries of unequal
relations. 2 . 1

176
BACKGROUND OF NEPAD

1. Foundations of NEPAD
• Ensuring Peace
• Sound Economic and Corporate Governance
• Positive Private Sector
• Development
• Regional Cooperation
• Creating new partnerships

2. Partners of NEPAD
• State and Civil Society
• Regional Partnerships such as ECOWAS and COMESA
• Development Partner
• Private Sector/Public Sector partnership
• Friends of Africa e.g Jubilee 2000
• Africans in diasporas

3. African Peer Review Mechanism


The African Peer Review Mechanism(APRM) was formed so as to assess how the
member countries of NEPAD are performing against set criteria. The African Peer
Review Mechanism is voluntary with countries offering themselves for assessment.
the APRM has the following objectives:

• To seek ownership of the continent’s development agenda


• To determine best practices and disseminate appropriately
• To use Peer Review to enhance adoption of best practices
• To identify deficiencies and capacity gaps and to make relevant
recommendations

The main fear for APRM is that the member countries feel that G8 countries may use it
to determine recipients of aid. It is felt that without citizen’s cooperation it cannot work.
It is important that different organizations within the public sector set their own review
mechanism so as to enable their peer review processes yield a positive result.

CHALLENGES FACING NEPAD

The initiative is limited to governments only. It does not involve Civil Society, for
example, hereby, thereby making it too dependant on leaders some of whom may not be
willing to take it up..

• Limited to only a few countries in the continent making others feel like
observers.
• Its top-down approach makes it difficult to implement when the Presidents are
not interested.

177
• There is no gender element in the initiative leaving women out of the
development agenda.
• The general population and even officials within the Executive do not
understand the significance of NEPAD in their lives.

HOW CAN THESE CHALENGES BE MET?

• The civil service should be involved


• Private sector involvement is also important
• The judiciary and Legislature should be added as participants in the initiative
• The media should be recruited as partners in the initiative so as to facilitate
public education.

CASE STUDY OF GHANA

In the case of the NEPAD initiative falls under Dr. Pan Kwesi Ndom- Minister for
Economic Planning and Regional Integration. Ghana has participated in all NEPAD
meetings and has offered itself for the African Peer Review Process. The Ghanaian
government has also come up with an IEC (Information, Education and
Communication) campaign for different groups within the society. Despite that
government’s commitment it has come up with challenges in several areas.

• Difficulty in ensuring an effective translation of NEPAD in some socio-


economic areas of Ghana.
• There is no Ministry dealing with NEPAD and proposals have been made for the
formation of a Ministry of Economic and Regional Cooperation and NEPAD
• There is no clear dissemination of NEPAD, Africa Union and Cotonou
agreements to the populations
• Ministry staff not properly trained in dissemination of NEPAD. Ministry staff
need incentives to disseminate NEPAD.
• Currently there is no avenue for Ghanaians to express themselves. A national
commission need to be formed to encourage democracy.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSALS ON WAYS AFRICAN PUBLIC RELATIONS


PRACTITIONERS CAN ASSIST IMPROVE CLIMATE

African PR practitioners should focus on communicating the truth about their


government and organizations so as to avoid due diligence studies bringing out a
different picture from the initially portrayed one.
Africa needs consistency in policy decisions. PR practitioners have a role to play in
communicating this policy.
PR practitioners need to tell decision-makers what is right in terms of social
responsibility to investors. Community Development should be part of the

178
Public Relations strategy. This will lead to better understanding between
multinational corporations and the societies surrounding them.
PR practitioners need to partner with people from other disciplines so as to use their
expertise to Assist in areas of development such as education, land, environment
etc.
An IEC campaign needs to be held on NEPAD
FAPRA ( Federation of African Public Relations Associations) should be registered
as a body under the African Union in Addis Abba.
FAPRA should have an independent website so as to be accessible to all
FAPRA should advocate for women’s issues to be included in the NEPAD agenda.
An IEC committee needs to be formed under NEPAD and the African Union.
PR practitioners should participate in events as they unfold, understand changing
trend and look at how we can manage and communicate these,
FAPRA resolved to present and market the continent of Africa positively.

SUMMARY OF PLENARY DISCUSSION GROUPS

Investment and Economic Development of Africa


• Africa needs a comprehensive strategy to free herself from debts
• Called on communication experts to package information critical boosting
confidence in investors.
• Important for African leaders to take security and stability seriously as these are
pre-conditions for investment and growth.

Attracting Investment into Africa


• Due to Africa’s negative image it is not seen as good investment destination. It
calls for positive economic development to counter this image
• Good governance, infrastructure and market access need to reserve negative
trends
• PR practitioners should package Africa more effectively.

Making NEPAD a Shared Vision


• There is a need for strategies to make it be seen as useful.
• FAPRA should use its expertise to make Africans accept this African initiative
• Top-down approach of NEPAD makes the concept out of reach to ordinary
citizens
• Calls for need to involve civil society more in NEPAD
• Gender angle ignored in NEPAD

Issues of Peace and Stability


• There is a complex relationship between security and economic development
and the role of public relations
• PR professionals can assist being peace and stability through PR practices such
as negotiation, information, publicity and communicating development.

179
Public Relations as a tool for Regional cooperation and integration
• In globalisation regional integration is very important as it gives greater
bargaining power.
• Calls on practitioners to be educated on the issues involved, so they can promote
the integration agenda and inform the public.
• Calls on IEC or public education on economic and political decisions made by
leaders.

National Reconciliation Commission


• The challenge of communications when people are recounting negative
information, does the public really need to know everything?

CONCLUSION

What came out at the conference is that the NEPAD initiative is very good for the
continent. This is because it provides for commitment and good governance which can
only translate to development for all citizens of benefiting countries. However there is
very little understanding of NEPAD in the continent.
It is important for public education to be carried out to all the implementors particularly
members of parliament and civil servants as well as the media whose work is to
disseminate information.

Source: PR Arena (Journal of Public Relations Society of Kenya )

APPENDIX

Sophia Chanzu is the Public Affairs Officers at the Canadian Embassy and a member of
PRSK.

QUESTIONS

1. What is NEPAD?, is the establishment of NEPAD necessary?,


comment.
2. What roles can PR play in the implementation of NEPAD?.
3. In what ways can FAPRA(Federation of African Public Relations
Association help in actualising the NEPAD’s vision and
programme?.

Reference:

71 8 .

180
Chapter Twenty-One

OF CHARITY, PR AND THE CORPORATE BOTTOM LINE

By Paul Okumu

This overview is on Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR).

And when he surrendered to the police last month after loosing all the loot to other
smarter robbers (who included such heavy weights as the Uganda army boss) we did not
know whether to sympathize with him or to call it good riddance.
The theft reminds one of an episode from Police Academy. However, the way PR
departments in Kenya work with commitments in Kenya, especially through charities
leaves many wondering whether we are merely trying to boost our egos or are feeling
like thieves who have robbed the community and need to appease them by sharing a
fraction of the loot.
In balancing our PR objectives and community involvement we need to know that no
company needs us if we are not meeting the bottom line-profit.
Torn between a community that feels short-changed every time the annual results are
released and a management that wants to make the most money with the least resources
the PR professional’s job becomes a one amorphous merry-go-round labyrinth task,
trying to prove that the company is not another robber like that robber while still
ensuring that he achieves the bottom line. With our broad responsibilities, we feel we
may go the line of former CEO of the Kenya Commercial Bank whose defence was
brittle because even though his pay package was well spelt out his job description was
not.
If we are to help our companies achieve the bottom line, we should rethink our focus
on the way we relate to and support the community around us. Community support is
not just another photo opportunity propped to capture newspaper headlines. On the
contrary, community support is a ready avenue on which to build our image, and our
market. Do we ever realized that the community makes up our entire business
environment – the owners, suppliers, consumers, and employees who keep us in
business?
If PR is about relating to our business environment then why is it that whenever we
present our community support budget the management throws a tantrum uttering a
paraphrase of the now all-familiar phrase in Kenya. “Charity !, for what?, in what, of
what?. What haven the salesmen done that you want to do?. What haven’t the ad team
done that you want to do?”.
We have focused on building a good reputation and a good image, making us look like
Machiavellians using the community to further our own self-interests while pretending
to be helping them.
There is a new line of thought that we should embrace when we are seeking to get
involved in charitable causes:

181
• Community support should go beyond charity
• Community support should go beyond Corporate Social Responsibility
• Community support should go beyond philanthropy
• Community support should go beyond those donations by the Bill and Melinda
Gates or Ted Turner.
If we are to create and build synergy that can build the community and our companies at
the same time we should realize that Corporate Charity Support or Corporate Social
Responsibility, as it is known in the old school, is an investment.
Many companies in Kenya have shed their expatriate staff and are dealing almost
entirely with local suppliers, owners, customers and staff. It is critical to know
therefore, that to make money we must build our staff and motivate them to work
harder, support the suppliers to produce better quality raw materials, help our
shareholders acquire services that would leave room for them to invest more in us, work
to ensure our customers have more money to spend on our products and services. If the
community was to sink into poverty, crime and ill health would rise, and these would
soon spill over to our corporate door steps. If the education facilities were to collapse,
we will soon loose both our staff and customers. If the environment and infrastructure is
left to go to the dogs, we soon find ourselves with either none or very expensive raw
materials and production processes.
Simply put, to gain more we must empower the community to spend more, produce
more, save more, and learn more. Community support then ceases to be an option we
take after giving a lecture to community members on how they should demand services
from the government and the international donors.
NO
It is a critical investment for our very survival. The government and the international
leaders have an obligation. However, we have both a responsibility and a stake.
MORE
In fact, a government can collapse-Somali has never had a government for the past ten
years but the citizens have continued with life, business is going on. But the corporate
world cannot survive in a community where there is hostility or low financial power.
Our share prices, and therefore our worth depend on them. The figures we display to our
investors are a reflection of the financial power and stability of the community in which
we operate. We only need to reflect on what happened to Chevron Texaco, Shell
Nigeria, AOL Time Warner and Cirio Delmonte in Kenya to know what happens when
a company thinks it can go on without investing in the lives of the community it is
operating. Even Kenya’s former ruling party K.A.N.U learned too late that in the long
run it is cheaper to support community initiatives rather than a few cronies.
A company that views community support as anything other than an investment will
soon find itself quickly edged out by others that have taken deliberate efforts to invest
in their staff, their owners, their consumers and their suppliers. Castle Larger collapsed
in Kenya primarily because it could not penetrate the supplier and consumer loyalty
market created by East African Breweries. Companies such as Kenya Shell, for
example, commits 1% of its gross profit to community investment. But there are a few
Johnny-come-latelys who are frantically running around like headless chickens trying to
transform their public relations departments into community-focused departments.
Public Relations practitioners will have to rethink their role from that of organizing
events and launches, writing speeches, and running around media houses with press

182
releases and photo shoots with drabbuy lines, and pay a closer attention to investing in
the community.

MORE
Technologies such as Philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility are old archaic
and lame duck statements by PR apologists trying to make the community feel like they
are receiving the greatest favor since the return of Jesus Christ. Community investment,
on the other hand reminds us that our entire life depend on the well being of the
individuals who make us our internal and external environment. And so we begin to
make strategies that will lead to commitments that bring tangible changes not one off
ceremonial donations to some charity or individual we read about in the press last night.
We will stop subjecting our bosses to the harrowing experience of holding those 0.7m
by 0.5m cheques before media to show the whole world that we are responsible. After
all you would not have finished reading this article if you got a call that your son died
because the hospital you took to is run down, and your company which had been
approached to support turned down the request because “there are too many worthy
causes and are unable to be of help at this time”.
We will realize that there is a need to support charities, not because they have come to
us for support but because they are bringing to our attention the needs of a community
that may soon drive us out of the market. The rich will never enjoy their wealth in peace
until the poor have something to eat.

Source: PR Arena (Journal of Public Relations Society of Kenya )

APPENDIX

Paul Okumu is the Director, Communications and Resource Mobilization with


NGO-Corporate Communications and Networking, a company working with charities
and the corporate sector to enhance marketing and community investment.

QUESTIONS

1. What is ‘community support’?, in what ways can an organization


invest in community support?.

183
2. Should the budget for CSR of the PR department conform with
the legitimate allocated resources to the department by the
organization?, discuss.

184

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