Soul Beat Africa

• * PROGRAMME EXPERIENCES on edutainment television, roving radio, and oral testimony...
• * EVALUATIONS of a reality TV show and a programme on women's participation in governance...
• * REPORTS on games for risk reduction and early marriage in West Africa...
• * RESOURCES on Ebola communication, youth advocacy, and participatory video...

• 1. Soul City Television Series 12 - South AfricaProduced by the Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, the twelfth series of the edutainment drama series "Soul City" premiered in June 2014. Comprising 13 half-hour episodes, the series is based around a community clinic in a fictional township in South Africa and deals with the challenges and triumphs of the clinic health workers and the people living around the clinic. This new series deals with issues related to the re-engineering of primary health care in South Africa, maternal and infant care, contraception, surviving sexual assault, and financial literacy focusing on short term insurance.
  
• 2. Boda Boda Talk Talk - South SudanProduced by Internews Humanitarian Information Service in South Sudan, Boda Boda Talk Talk (BBTT) is a radio service consisting of a quad bike with a speaker attached to it, that seeks to provide life-saving and life-enhancing information to people displaced at two of the United Nations Missions in Sudan South (UNMISS) Protection of Civilians sites in Juba. The BBTT roves around the two UNMISS bases stopping at dedicated "Listening Stops" to play 30-minute programmes, which include: educational dramas; local news from within the displaced community; features and conversations with aid providers and community members; and health, protection and peace-building messages.
  
• 3. Social and Behaviour Change Communication for Trachoma - UgandaRunning from 2012 to 2014 in Uganda, the Social and Behaviour Change Communication for Trachoma project is designed to improve social norms and practices around consistent face washing and environmental cleanliness to prevent trachoma, a leading cause of preventable blindness. The initiative includes the creation of an e-toolkit, as well as formative research to understand key knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours that support or hinder improvements in face washing and environmental changes. The project is led by Sightsavers International, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU-CCP) and other partners.
  
• 4. U-report Project - UgandaLaunched in May 2011, U-report offers a free SMS-based system designed to allow young Ugandans to speak out on what's happening in their communities, and to work collaboratively with leaders for positive change. Each week mobile phone users are asked to respond to a poll, sharing their observations and ideas on a wide range of development issues. The results are shared via social media, radio, television, and print outlets. The project is led by the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
  
• 5. Give Stigma the Index Finger Project - Mozambique, Ethiopia, and SwazilandGive Stigma the Index Finger project, running from 2011 to 2014 in Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Swaziland, aims to increase understanding of HIV stigma by empowering men and women living with HIV to take an active part in research and advocacy on HIV stigma. There are various components to this project which include a stigma measurement tool, the Stigma Index (operating globally), an oral testimony component, and a media development component. The oral testimony component is being run by Oral Testimony Works (OTW), together with Panos Eastern Africa, Panos Southern Africa, and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and its national partners in Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Swaziland.
  
• 6. Pona Bana - We Are Together Online Project - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)Launched in December 2013, Pona Bona (meaning "children" in Lingala) is an online platform designed to be used by UNICEF, its partners, and child beneficiaries in the DRC to share information and exchange ideas about realising children's rights. The blog includes reports, key figures, fact sheets, thematic articles, photos, videos, and infographics to communicate the situation, progress, and opportunities for children's rights in the DRC.
  

• 7. Using Radio to Drive Development in Southern Africa [October, 2013]This final report discusses the experience of the Radio Platform for Community Development (RPCD) project and the use of radio listening clubs to engage marginalised communities in development debates. Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf), with funding from the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, supported 15 radio stations in Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to work with radio listening clubs as a platform for gathering community content. According to the report, the approach created an interface between the media, duty bearers, and economically poor and marginalised communities to identify and implement solutions to their development challenges.
  
• 8. Ruka Juu II: Young Farmers in Business: Impact Study [December, 2013]This report shares findings of an evaluation of the second season of Ruka Juu (Jump Up), a television show produced by Femina HIP in Tanzania which was designed to inspire and inform youth to take up viable rural livelihood opportunities. Ruka Juu used a reality television competition format, and the second season focused on young farmers (the first season focused more on urban entrepreneurs), with radio complementing the TV programming.
  
• 9. Women's Right to Be Heard: An Evaluation of Oxfam GB's "Raising Her Voice" Portfolio [November, 2013]By Hannah Beardon and Eva OteroThis final evaluation is a meta-analysis of the national evaluations of the Oxfam Great Britain's (OGB)'s Raising Her Voice (RHV) programme - a wide-ranging global portfolio of projects working in different ways and contexts to strengthen women's participation and voice in governance. The 5-year project seeks to promote women's rights and capacity to engage effectively in governance at every level: raising women voices, increasing their influence, and making decision-making more accountable to women.
  

• 10. Ready! Lessons in the Design of Humanitarian Games [2014]By Colleen MacklinThis report shares a study exploring the effectiveness of games designed to create awareness and trigger conversation about disaster risk reduction (DRR), particularly focusing on the example of Ready! played in Namibia. Designed by PETLab, at Parsons The New School for Design for use by the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre, Ready! is a relatively physical game that can be played using virtually any disaster scenario. The goal of this Climate Centre working paper is to identify best practices for using games in DRR and to document what has been learned for the benefit of international humanitarian organisations, designers, and practitioners interested in the potential of games.
  
• 11. Modern Mobility: The Role of ICTs in Child and Youth Migration [October, 2013]By Linda Raftree, Katie Appel, and Anika GannessThis report discusses how children and young people are using information and communication technologies (ICT) before and during migration, as well as how organisations supporting children and youth are using ICT in their work. According to the report, "children and young people are using ICTs to prepare for migration; to guide and facilitate their journey; to keep in touch with families; to connect with opportunities for support and work; and to cope with integration and forced repatriation. ICTs are also being used by civil society organisations to facilitate and manage their work; to support children and youth on the move; and to communicate and advocate for the rights of child and youth migrants."
  
• 12. Mapping Early Marriage In West Africa: A Scan of Trends, Interventions, What Works, Best Practices, and the Way Forward [September, 2013]By Judith-Ann WalkerThis report shares findings of a study mapping early marriage in West Africa, examining trends in the practice over 12 years in 16 countries and providing information on the current status of the problem and efforts to combat it. It also shares best practices and lessons learned that emerged from a review of existing interventions and evaluations.
  
• 13. Communication Rights Ten Years After the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS): Civil Society Perceptions [April, 2013]By Alan FinlayThis Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) special report by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) collates civil society perceptions of the changes that have taken place in the information and knowledge-sharing society since 2003. Using the both the WSIS Declaration of Principles (2003) as well as the Civil Society Declaration to the World Summit on the Information Society (2003) as a starting point, it captures the kinds of shifts that have been experienced by communications activists and stakeholders.
  

• 14. Ebola and C4DThe UNICEF Communication for Development (C4D) section is sharing information in an online collection of materials on how to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, while also promoting care seeking behaviours for those already affected. Working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the partners, communities, governments, and UN agencies it supports, UNICEF is assembling materials offered as collaboration to ensure a prompt response to this humanitarian crisis.
  
• 15. Bridging the Gap: IEC 4 LGBTI - A Handbook to Support Strengthening of Organisational Capacity in Developing Information, Education and Communication (IEC) Materials for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) People in Southern Africa [2013]This Handbook has been developed to support organisations working with LGBTI people in southern Africa to develop effective information, education and communication (IEC) materials with a focus on HIV, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and broader health issues.
  
• 16. Lifelines: The Quest for Global HealthThis series from Al Jazeera is a cross-platform television series and digital project. From the website: "...[I]ts purpose is to engage global audiences around solutions-based health stories, with particular reference to the diseases and conditions that blight the lives of millions of the world's [economically] poor." The television series focuses on work being done in Africa and Asia to control and eliminate disease. "The digital and social media project aims to engage online communities with this subject matter in ways that deepen understanding and knowledge."
  
• 17. Digital Memory Toolkit [2014]By Niall McNulty and Grant McNultyThe Digital Memory Toolkit is an introductory training manual offering information and guidance on setting up digital memory projects. These projects use digital technologies, such as the mobile phone, to record, collect, and share knowledge and histories, usually on the internet. This can include online community-run museums, community archives, and cultural centres. As stated in the toolkit, "the democratising potential of these digital technologies is great, in that they offer opportunities for traditionally marginalised groups to record and share their local knowledge and histories on the Internet, from their perspectives."
  
• 18. Youth Advocacy Toolkit: The Education We Want [2014]By James Edleston, Dan Smith, Sumaya Saluja, David Crone, Chernor Bah, and Emily LauriePublished by Plan International, this advocacy toolkit was developed to help children and youth advocate for their right to an education. It includes ideas, tools, and inspiring stories to encourage action and is meant for "anyone who believes passionately in the power of education as a force for good in the world and the right for all children to get a good quality education, no matter where they are and what the circumstances."
  
• 19. Community Screenings for Participatory Video - A Guide [2014]By Gareth BenestPublished by InsightShare, this guide is designed to provide ideas and inspiration for organising community screenings as part of a participatory video process. It includes advice on planning and delivering an effective screening, practical suggestions for logistics and technical considerations, facilitator tips, checklists, and short case studies from a variety of past InsightShare projects in Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Myanmar, and the United Kingdom.
  
• 20. Guiding Principles on Young People's Participation in Peacebuilding [April, 2014]These guidelines from the United Nations (UN) Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development's (IANYD) Subgroup on Youth Participation in Peacebuilding are intended to provide guidance to UN agencies, governments, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in increasing youth engagement in conflict prevention.