At the heart of change; the role of communication in sustainable development

Development efforts are not fulfilling the promises made in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to reduce poverty and improve poor people's lives. Why not? One fundamental reason is that policymakers and development experts do not recognise the essential role that information and communication play in development.

Sustainable development demands that people participate in the debates and decisions that affect their lives. They need to be able to receive information, but also to make their voices heard. The poor are often excluded from these processes by geography and lack of resources or skills; and many groups - including women - are also kept silent by social structures and cultural traditions. Inclusive political processes, through which citizens can shape political agendas and hold their governments to account, are an essential foundation of successful development.

Reaching the MDGs in 2015 will require huge investments of political will and financial resources by governments in both the developed and the developing world; but it will also require a belated recognition that communication is central to all aspects of sustainable development. What needs to be done to realise the potential of communication in maximising development outcomes?

• Build more open, transparent information and communication systems and political cultures
• Governments and institutions must accept the reality of a networked world, which will shape politics and civil society in ways that are only just starting to emerge, and adapt to citizens' expectations of transparency and the free flow of information.
• Treat information, communication and the media as public goods and invest accordingly
• Governments should recognise that media and communication are public goods, and invest in strengthening those areas that the market alone may not provide, such as telephone access for poor people or high-quality public interest journalism.
• Take a holistic view of communication processes and integrate communication into development planning and implementation
• Governments and development planners must recognise that communication is at the heart of development: its role should be specified in all development analysis and planning, and adequate resources of funding, expertise and planning must be invested to
• Invest in media development

A diverse, dynamic and free media is vital to development. This can be accomplished by establishing media freedom and a supportive regulatory environment; strengthening media infrastructure, capacity and professionalism; and supporting improvements in the quality and diversity of media content.

This paper was written by Panos and commissioned by the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID).

The paper can be downloaded here: http://panos.org.uk/PDF/reports/heart_of_change_web.pdf