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<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>The principal objective of this inductive study is to map the communication methods that are being used in the organization Sister Namibia. I intend to find communication mechanisms that together can constitute a communication framework. The main questions at issue are; How is the organization working from a communication perspective? What methods and channels are central for their external communication work? What messages are they trying to convey to the target group? The questions will generate in analyses and deeper understandings of communication processes in a NGO.</p><p>The conceptual approach for the study is Development Communication, which can be seen as the integration of strategic communication in development projects. Communication for Social Change is an approach of development communication, where focus lays on an elaborated social change agenda rather than the agenda of strategic communication. The study has a qualitative approach and it is built up as an inductive case study with the NGO Sister Namibia in focus.</p><p>Sister Namibia is a non governmental women organization that fights for women’s rights in the Namibian society. I have found several factors in their communication work that together can create a communication framework. Dialogue is vital in their communication work and it can be seen as a prerequisite for social change. Another central aspect of their communication framework is networking. Sister Namibia can be seen as a piece of puzzle in a bigger network that allows the organization to reach a wider audience and it is a strategy for how they can gain power, grow and establish deeper in the society. The diversity among women makes it necessary with a communication framework that provides flexibility, which includes different communication methods and channels depending on the target group. A holistic approach in the communication framework is important; the communication have to be focused on change at individual, societal and governmental levels. Furthermore, I have observed that to be able to understand processes of communication it is vital to look at the whole social context. In this social context knowledge, power, and material & social needs have been found as central aspects. They are needs and factors that are gained and created by individuals and groups in societies, and can be seen as prerequisites for social change to appear. Finally, this study shows the importance of looking at communication not just as a tool for spreading information, but also as the goal of development. Through communication it is possible to create a social environment where private and public dialogue can take place.</p><p>Keywords: Development communication, Communication for Social Change, NGO, Dialogue, Networking, Flexibility, Holistic approach.</p>

<p>This report presents findings from research in Ribáuè district, Nampula province, in northeast Mozambique. Our aim was to understand the living conditions of the impoverished elderly and identify strategies that may improve their situation. We conducted semi-structured interviews with elderly people, including some of the most vulnerable and some who receive income from the social assistance programme. To gain a wider context we met representatives of governmental and non-governmental organisations and referred to secondary sources.</p><p>We use the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods framework to present the capital assets (natural,social, financial, physical and human) of Ribáuè district and of its elderly inhabitants. We consider how access to assets is affected by political, economic and cultural factors in the community. We set the situation of the elderly against the development history of postindependence Mozambique, and international concern about poverty, the ageing population and their human rights.</p><p>We find that social assets in the form of human relationships, and natural assets in the form of land, are essential for elderly people’s livelihoods. Most of the elderly have very limited access to financial assets, apart from the few who receive social ssistance. This programme makes a very small but appreciated contribution to family welfare. However the programme’s reach has been limited geographically and eligibility regulations tend to obstruct access for the very poorest. In general the human capital of the rural and uneducated elderly is declining, as society increasingly values modern skills and knowledge. However the Ribáuè residents we met experience some benefit from infrastructure modernisation. Elderly people are receiving more attention, especially as carers of children.</p><p>We have identified existing strategies for improving elderly people’s livelihoods. We suggest ways to build on these, as well as possible new strategies. If development policies are both equitable and successful, increased employment and taxation should enable formal pension and social security systems to provide for the elderly in the long-term future. In the short to medium term, expansion of the social assistance programme must be prioritised, as it is vital to the most vulnerable. It is also important that people’s customary engagement in mutually supportive social networks is strengthened rather than undermined by development changes.</p><p>Key words: Mozambique, Nampula, elderly, social assistance, the food subsidy program (PSA), Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL)</p>

<p>In the spring of 2009 we spent five weeks in Mozambique performing a field study. Four of the weeks were spent in Nampula province in the northern part of the country, where most of the Mozambican cashew is produced. In the 1970s Mozambique was world leading in cashew kernel export, however, today the industry is a shadow of its former self. Since the end of the 1990s, the government along with other stakeholders, are trying to recuperate the industry. There are a great deal of obstacles to overcome to be able to compete with other large exporting countries such as India, Vietnam and Brazil. The main issue is the conditions of the trees; the majority of the trees are over forty years old and therefore have a low cashew yield. In addition, poor maintenance of the trees further decreases the production. Other problems are the infrastructure, in particular roads in poor condition, difficulties in locating markets and the income gap between the producer and end retailer.</p><p>During our research we have thought of a few recommendations which we feel would be worth looking into. We feel cheaper seedling should be available for the producers and nurseries should be put more locally for easier access. We also recommend spraying of the trees to be done more frequently. Furthermore a prerequisite for an expansion of the cashew industry is an investment in the infrastructure, to be able to transport the cashew from producer to processor and exporter. This would also improve life quality of the people in general. In addition, an investment in the poorest is necessary for the development of the country, a tool for achieving this could be better access to micro credits and village banks. To increase the income generated from Mozambican cashew kernels we recommend focusing the export on Fair Trade and possibly the organic market since they provide higher prices. A possibility to locating new markets would be an office, possibly in Europe, in order to be closer to the costumers. Another income generating market could be the market for by-products such as Cashew Nut Shell Liquid, cashew oil and juice and jam from the fruit.</p>

<p>This is a theoretical study of changing relations between men and women in the context of modernisation. Ideas derived from a general theoretical discussion will be illustrated by examples from countries that are going through societal changes affecting the lives of men and women; Uganda, Morocco and Mexico. Focus will be on connections between changes in the public sphere and interpersonal relations in the private sphere. One part examines certain effects of women’s increased participation in politics and in the workforce, concluding that these changes may cause conflicts with traditional values and consequently tensions in inter-gender relations. The following part examines sexuality and respectability in relation to societal changes where people’s material conditions change and attitudes are affected by information flows from other countries. The examples in this part illustrate how young people, especially women, feel trapped between the demands from their new reality and traditional norms about how to behave. I then go on to discuss power structures that affect women’s possibilities to live the lives they want and also how it may affect their values and interests. The concept of empowerment will be discussed as well as the indicators used to measure women’s empowerment. In this section I will also briefly explain development projects directed towards women and how they sometimes fail to capture all dimensions necessary.</p><p>The conclusions are that the definition of modernisation that I had when I started this work is not sufficient to understand the processes that people go through. It is important to understand that changes in people’s material conditions, their economic environment etc. are not always caused by, or even followed by, changes in attitudes, values and interpersonal relations. When societal changes do not come from within the society they will cause conflicts between norms that shape peoples perceptions and the demands from their new material environment. Another conclusion is that in measuring women’s empowerment we need to look at other factors besides economic and political participation, such as women’s status in the family and their control over their own bodies.</p>

The start-up of the Community Development Workers' Initiative (CDWI) aims at formally beginning the process of re-establishing community development practice within British Columbia's Ministry of Social Services (MSS). This report's goals are to document the MSS Community Development Workers1 (CDWs) perceptions of their practice, challenges, and successes both outside of and within the MSS. These goals are carried out within the context of organizational change theories and models. This research was conducted approximately one year after the start-up of the CDWI. This is an explorative/descriptive study which garners CDW input from questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. These two measures were utilized in order to yield qualitative data. Qualitative methods and Rothman's framework (three modes of community organization) are employed to extrapolate major themes. The findings reveal that most CDW respondents report their practice to reflect one or more of the three models described in Rothman's framework. Underlining this trend, the selection of community organizational strategies usually appears to be driven by a process involving the community and their identified needs and interests. Documentation and discussion also include CDWI community work constructs, the obstacles faced by the respondents, CDW's perceptions of MSS' s needs and interests, and the sampled CDW's recommendations surrounding organizational change through the use of a community development approach.

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The thesis concerns the origins, creation and progress of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Most scholars believe that development assistance is largely motivated by self-interest. At first glance, the Centre appears to be an anomaly in Canadian foreign aid. The IDRC's disbursements are not formally tied, has an international board of governors, and its structure was specifically designed with autonomy in mind. This Canadian federal organisation has spent one and a half billion dollars are funded over 5,500 projects since its founding in 1970. During this time, the Centre has disbursed between 70-95% of its programme funds overseas, mostly to developing country university researchers. These researchers have designed and executed research intended to help developing countries alleviate poverty, social decay and more recently, environmental challenges. / A detailed archeology is conducted of Pearson's own internationalism regarding science and technology, foreign policy, development assistance, environment and culture. Our analysis shows how Pearson's thinking, and that of colleagues who were to have key influences on the Centre, Barbara Ward and Maurice Strong, were embedded in deeply held beliefs and values. We identify a tension between an internationalist impulses and Canadian-centered or parochial pre-occupations common in most of the federal public service, especially central agencies. Central agents, responding to pressures from academics, and the internal values and beliefs that tend to form in these secretaria, have sought to make the IDRC conform to their own expectations. The author concludes that the Centre has survived and prospered, despite these pressures, partly because of the skill of its top officers, but principally because of the IDRC's capacity to lay claim to being an expression of internationalism. / We also show how another dialectic, between more socially-oriented perspectives and more technical ones affected the development of the IDRC. The thesis suggests that the two dialectics, the internationalist and parochial, and the technical and social, are both synthesising into, respectively, interdependence and holism.

The start-up of the Community Development Workers' Initiative (CDWI) aims at formally beginning the process of re-establishing community development practice within British Columbia's Ministry of Social Services (MSS). This report's goals are to document the MSS Community Development Workers1 (CDWs) perceptions of their practice, challenges, and successes both outside of and within the MSS. These goals are carried out within the context of organizational change theories and models. This research was conducted approximately one year after the start-up of the CDWI. This is an explorative/descriptive study which garners CDW input from questionnaires and face-to-face interviews. These two measures were utilized in order to yield qualitative data. Qualitative methods and Rothman's framework (three modes of community organization) are employed to extrapolate major themes. The findings reveal that most CDW respondents report their practice to reflect one or more of the three models described in Rothman's framework. Underlining this trend, the selection of community organizational strategies usually appears to be driven by a process involving the community and their identified needs and interests. Documentation and discussion also include CDWI community work constructs, the obstacles faced by the respondents, CDW's perceptions of MSS' s needs and interests, and the sampled CDW's recommendations surrounding organizational change through the use of a community development approach. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Augmented reality, defined as a real-time direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment that has been enhanced by adding digital computer generated information to it, is rapidly developing in terms of associated hardware (wearable displays, wireless mobile devices) and software (development platforms). AR enhanced instruction has been shown to provide cognitive and psychomotor support during procedural learning and has been shown to use both words and pictures when delivering instructional content.  A set of message design guidelines, created using a design and development research approach, can be used by novice designers to effectively manage the use of words and pictures while developing instructional applications for AR. / Ph. D.