The experience of Internet freedom among African users

This article examines African Internet users’ experience of online freedom to assess levels of trust and mistrust of the Internet in Africa. Internet users’ perception of the protection or denial of their rights online—such as freedom of expression, privacy, and safety and security—in selected African countries is examined here as an outcome of constraining or enabling Internet policy and regulatory frameworks. Demand-side survey data collected via nationally representative ICT access and use surveys in 2017 is analyzed within the context of the Internet ecosystem as it plays out at the national level in three sub-Saharan African countries: Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa. Findings are contextualized within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals, emphasizing the role that the Internet plays in contributing to the growth of a country when relevant policies are formulated in a way that addresses users’ needs while safeguarding their rights

Media, Art and Stories: A Case for Funding Research into Community-based Creative Arts Practices in Western Sydney

This brief provides practical recommendations for how universities and community-based organisations can join forces to implement creative arts projects with CALD groups with evaluative research components, with the aim of enriching the lives of the people of Western Sydney

Art, development and peace working with adolescents living in internally displaced people's camps in Mindanao

Within a framework of Communication for Development in Peacebuilding, this article sheds light on the use of art forms such as puppetry and photography as communication channels among youth affected by conflict and displacement. The study presented here evaluates UNICEF Art for Development programme, which was carried out with adolescents living in transitory sites in the city of Zamboanga in 2015. Rather than focusing on the therapeutic effect of the activities, this investigation looks at their ability to provide adolescents living in the context of community-based conflict—such as that of a displaced people’s camp—with a safe space to participate and collaborate in art and media production to express themselves and communicate with one another

A narrative approach in evaluation : “Narratives of Change” method

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the new qualitative method of “Narratives of Change” to evaluate a project’s impact. This new methodology arises from a combination of the most significant change technique with a narrative analysis approach, and it is suitable for community development interventions. Design/methodology/approach – Narrative approaches are seldom used in programme evaluation. However, depending on the nature and context of a project, it might be useful to offer a space for people to tell their story. Asking people to recognise change by recounting the passage from their previous to their present situation can help the researcher grasp particular concepts that may otherwise not be visible. At the same time, while the analysis of in-depth interviews can be difficult and time consuming, the method introduced here simplifies this process by offering a tool that allows the researcher to extrapolate semantic fragments from long interviews and facilitates the identification of prototypical characters in each narration. Findings – After offering a theoretical discussion that introduces this technique, its practical illustration and the example presented in this paper show how this method represents a useful instrument for participants’ stories analysis in qualitative project evaluations aimed at identifying change. Originality/value – This paper introduced a new qualitative method to carry out a programme evaluation using narrative analysis

Stories in reconciliation : reflections on community participation for restoring relationships and transforming conflict

In societies that are emerging from conflict, it is important to focus on the identification and the creation of tools that allow for nonviolent resolutions of the tensions that were aroused as a consequence of the violence. This article contributes to that project by offering reflections on the importance of a dialogic truth in the process of reconciliation within and between communities. This is addressed, in particular, through the exploration of a space where the views of both victims and perpetrators are considered and expressed through stories that are intended to affect both individuals and the community. The discussion brings together notions of social healing, theories of conflict transformation, and experiences of reconciliation, with a particular focus on the African context

[In Press] Reality TV and civic engagement : researching the lives of the young Palestinians who ran for ‘The President’

This article analyses the role that Reality TV can play in the lives of young participants, when a programme is designed as a strategic intervention to achieve change. With roots in Communication for Development notions, this study brings together different theoretical fields to illustrate how media can be created with the intent of enhancing young people’s awareness of the important role they can play in society through targeted activities that occur during media production. The experience of the young contestants from The President TV show, broadcast in the Palestinian Territories in 2013 and 2015, is examined. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with some of the finalists of the show; information gathered has been analysed in the light of a framework that brings together media participation and civic engagement. Findings show how the format and structure of the programme has enhanced participants’ understanding of the social, political and economic spheres of a conflict-affected reality, contributing to their engagement with peace-oriented civic practices long after the end of the show

Citizen engagement in peacebuilding : a communication for development approach to rebuilding peace from the bottom-up

By unearthing the connections between the literatures on participatory communication and civic engagement with the reality of postconflict peace, this article demonstrates how a communication for development (C4D) approach to engaging citizens in peacebuilding contributes to strengthening the reconstruction process at the end of the violence, while engendering a bottom up process based on dialogue and inclusivity. After offering a brief overview of the peacebuilding contexts, this article presents a theoretical discussion that brings to the surface not only the role of C4D in facilitating citizens participation in government decision making, but also its significance in creating an inclusive peacebuilding process that starts from the community. At the same time, this discussion begins to shed light on the relationship between communication for development and participatory governance

Breaking the conflict cycle, building peaceful communities : participatory photography and storytelling with African diasporas in Sydney

Even after resettling in a new country, the trauma and resentment caused by the conflict experienced in their homeland are passed on from generation to generation among diaspora communities. One of the factors that perpetuate the conflict in their new reality is the ethnic separation that continues to be upheld and reinforced, from parents to children. This article discusses the experience of a participatory photography project that brought together young people from the Congolese, Rwandan, Burundian, and Ugandan communities living in Sydney (Australia), whose lives are still impacted by the legacy of the conflicts that have been ravaging the African Great Lakes region. This initiative, which wanted to provide a space to encourage communication between different groups and enable the promotion of peace between communities starting from the youth, is analyzed here, and reflections are offered on the use of this method with diaspora groups

Building peace through social change communication : participatory video in conflict-affected communities

This paper draws on the experience of conducting participatory video in the Rift Valley of Kenya after the 2007-2008 post-election crisis, when the country underwent a period of intense ethnic violence. By linking development communication to conflict transformation theory, this article offers a framework that highlights the impact that communication for social change can have in post-conflict settings through the use of participatory media. It shows how this type of media productions can contribute to re-establishing relationships and creating a shared understanding of the conflict, while building the view of an interconnected future among opposing groups. In this case study, I illustrate how a collection of participatory videos became a peacebuilding tool for the youth in the Rift Valley. Through the information gathered from the interviews with young victims and perpetrators of the Kenya Post-election Violence, I discuss how both the filming and the screening of these films have opened a dialogue between different groups and contributed to processes of social change