Recognising and building communication rights using ITCs and Advocacy

THE Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD) conducted a one-day training workshop on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Advocacy to build and recognise communication rights in Zimbabwe.

The workshop engaged, educated, empowered and enlightened marginalised and vulnerable community members in Bulawayo about ways of using ICTs and Advocacy skills to enjoy their communication rights and other fundamental freedoms.

More than 68 adolescent girls, women and men attended the one day training session. The workshop saw participants familiarising themselves with different types of computers, learning and identifying computer hardware, learning about the history of computers and various uses of computers.

The majority of participants was not computer literate and was enthusiastic at getting an opportunity to learn about computers so that they can be able to research for information on the World Wide Web and also be able to communicate with friends and relatives on the internet.

Talent Wuchira, a Grade Seven pupil who attended the training expressed gratitude to the organisation for the workshop saying that their school had no computer and this was her first time to use a computer. She added that she would want to take part in subsequent workshops so that she gets to understand more about computers to avoid problems when she gets to tertiary level where most people get to learn about computers in Zimbabwe. Most primary and secondary schools in the country have no computer laboratories for student. Parents are also poor to have computers at home.

On advocacy, participants defined the term advocacy and learned about various advocacy tools such as the use of theatre, sport, poetry and music. Image theatre was used to enrich the discussion and participants engaged in participatory presentations where they identified advocacy issues and present them in image forms.

The workshop is one of the series on workshops that will be held for twelve months. This project seeks to address the failure to recognise and uphold communication rights resulting in the violation of basic rights and other fundamental freedoms leading to loss of life, illness, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, and other serious infringements of human rights.

The outcomes of the project include the ability of marginalised women and girls to effectively use communication skills and ICTs to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication, and to participate fully in their own development, improved access to accurate information about communication rights at grassroots level, and women and adolescent girls empowered with life-skills (assertive behaviour, communication skills, and self confidence) to enable them to articulate and defend their communication rights.

We thank the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) for funding this project.

CCCD launches a Communication Rights programme

The Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD) launched a Communication Rights programme in August 2009 aimed at empowering women and girls with skills to lobby and advocate for their Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and to raise awareness on Communication Rights.

This programme was funded by the World Association of Christian Communication (WACC) and is aimed at complementing the Zimbabwe National Maternal and Neonatal Health Road Map (2007-2010) that is meant to provide the basis for an increased and long term investment to reduce the current levels of maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity and the Maputo Plan of Action (2006), a Pan-African policy framework which provides a platform for advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Africa and seeks to take the continent towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health services by 2015.

The goal of the Maputo Plan of Action is for African governments, civil society, the private sector and development partners to join forces and redouble efforts so that together the effective implementation of the continental policy including universal access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health by 2015 in all countries in Africa can be achieved.

One of the strategies identified by the Maputo plan of Action is to foster community involvement and participation. To that end, the Creative Centre for Communication and Development will provide capacity strengthening support to marginalised and vulnerable women and girls in Queens Park East, empowering them with life skills such as self-confidence, assertive behaviour and ability to articulate sexual and reproductive health issues that affect their lives. The women and girls will also be able to share knowledge and experiences, strengthen networks at local and national level through their ability to use Information and Communication Technologies to tell their stories.

The Creative Centre for Communication and Development will also aim to improve access to accurate information about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and build Communication Rights at grassroots level.

The project will run for 12 months and will include activities such as life skills training workshops, advocacy workshops and campaigns, production and distribution of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials.

Mrs. Febie Chuma, a local Pastor commented the organisation for the programme saying that Sexual and Reproductive Health programmes were pertinent for the community because of high unmet needs for family planning and the increasing feminisation of the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

‘As a Pastor I have noticed that communication within families, the community and the church on Sexual and Reproductive Health is lacking. People should openly discuss these issues because silence will only serve to condemn women to a life of misery and ill-health,’ she said.

The Creative Centre for Communication and Development is a registered charitable non-governmental organisation advancing communication rights of marginalised and vulnerable people through building their communication capacities and advocacy skills to systematically address human rights and all other fundamental freedoms.

The organisation works with marginalised and vulnerable people in the strategic and creative use of communication to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication, and to participate fully in their own development through implementing participatory communication approaches to change public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change.

Creative Communication -

The Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD) has embarked on a programme to advance the communication rights of orphans and vulnerable children through building their communication capacities and advocacy skills.
The creative communication programme developed by CCCD is aimed at systematically addressing the therapeutic and psychosocial needs of orphans and vulnerable children living in the suburbs of Queens Park East in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
The programme is aimed at providing information to parents, guardians, community leaders and other Non-governmental Organisations working with children about their psychosocial needs, fears, hopes and aspirations.
CCCD will use participatory learning action tools in a creative and fun away for children to write and preserve their life stories and those of their loved ones. The project will target 20 orphans and vulnerable children aged between five years and 10 years. Visual art, music, poetry and story telling will be used as tools for self expression and will be contained in individual Creative Memory Books.
This project is aimed at building children’s capacities and abilities in the strategic and creative use of communication to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication and to participate fully in their own development.
The targeted children will develop Creative Memory Books that also contain family trees, contact information of relatives, personal profiles and photographs of parents, relative and friends.
Children will also draw pictures about their fears, hopes, expectations, likes and dislikes. Separate pages of the creative Memory Books are to be filled out by either the children’s parents, or if they are absent, by relatives or the children themselves.
The project was developed to empower vulnerable and marginalised children with communication skills necessary to advance their communication rights in order to change their lives. Information from the books will be used to get identity documents for children. The books also contain summarised wills to information the child about critical issues that are contained in the actual will.
CCCD is a charitable non-governmental organisation advancing communication rights of marginalised and vulnerable people through building their communication capacities and advocacy skills in a creative way to systematically address human rights and all other fundamental freedoms.
CCCD was formed in 2008 by a team of qualified communication and media practitioners who have experience in working with marginalised and vulnerable groups.
The organisation operates at grassroots level and focuses on building local capacities and abilities of marginalised and vulnerable people in the strategic and creative use of communication to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication, and to participate fully in their own development through implementing participatory communication approaches to change public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change.
CCCD programmes are people-centred, premised on communication and meet the needs of the people at grassroots level.

Our Objectives

• To advance the communication rights of vulnerable and marginalised people through information, education, training and consultancy support to bring about positive sustainable social change.
• To raise awareness of communication rights of vulnerable and marginalised people by creatively using communication to change public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change.
• To build the capacity and skills of vulnerable and marginalised people to have their ideas expressed, heard, listened to, considered and responded to, through skills training workshops, networking and advocacy.
• To amplify the voices of vulnerable and marginalised people through the creative and strategic use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to enable marginalised and vulnerable people to advocate for change in national policies and legislation.

About us

Name of Organisation
Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD)

Contact details
Physical Address: No.1 Investon Road, Queens Park West, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Postal Address: P. O. Box 2584, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe: Telephone: +263 772 692 631: Email Address:
cccddirector@yahoo.com , Skype: cccd_zimbabwe
Vision
A society where individuals are able to freely express, create and disseminate information that advances all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Mission
To build local capacities and abilities of marginalised and vulnerable groups in the strategic and creative use of communication to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication, and to participate fully in their own development through implementing participatory communication approaches to change public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change.

Values
Our values support our vision and shape our culture. These are:

Teamwork: Providing support to one another, working co-operatively, respecting one another’s views, and making our work environment fun and enjoyable.

• We work with one another with enthusiasm and appreciation.
• We work with one another without manipulation.
• Everyone has strengths which we value and will use whenever possible.
• We help others to achieve their deadlines without having to be asked

Excellence: Always doing what we say we will and striving for excellence and quality in everything we do.

• Quality will always delight the client and partners whilst staying within budget limitations.
• If we give our word we keep it unless agreed otherwise by all parties

Commitment: Working with urgency and commitment to be successful from individual and organisational perspectives.

• Timeframes are always met unless urgent circumstances mean we have to renegotiate new timeframes with all parties involved.
• Clients’ needs agreed within budgets are met regardless of personal wants.

Professionalism: At all times we act with integrity, providing quality service, being reliable and responsible.

• We do not upset one another intentionally, always endeavouring to present negative feedback constructively.
• We take pride and ownership in all that we do and say.
• We never talk about people behind their backs

Personal development: We value learning, feedback, coaching and mentoring.

• Coaching and mentoring are commonplace here; we all coach and mentor one another.
• All opportunities for our own learning are pursued.
• Whenever we undertake a project it is our responsibility to express our training needs and gather the required skills.
• We each take responsibility to gain the required development to meet our clients’ and partners’ needs.
• We each take responsibility to gain the required development to be learning consultants.

Organisational Background/profile
The Creative Centre for Communication and Development (CCCD) is a registered charitable non-governmental organisation advancing communication rights of marginalised and vulnerable people through building their communication capacities and advocacy skills in a creative way to systematically address human rights and all other fundamental freedoms.
CCCD was formed in 2008 by a team of qualified communication and media practitioners who have experience in working with marginalised and vulnerable groups.
The organisation operates at grassroots level and focuses on building local capacities and abilities of marginalised and vulnerable people in the strategic and creative use of communication to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication, and to participate fully in their own development through implementing participatory communication approaches to change public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change.
Our programmes are people-centred, premised on communication and meet the needs of the people on the ground.
With a wide range of communication tools, CCCD recognises and advocates for people to uphold Communication Rights by empowering marginalised and vulnerable people to use and control communication in order to change their lives in the New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO).
CCCD thus believes that without communication rights, human beings cannot live in freedom, justice, peace and dignity