Rights, Health, Entertainment - Revela2

To: The Health, Rights, Media Network

From: Warren Feek

Hi folks (with apologies if you also received this direct). Citurna/Imaginario in Colombia have just launched their rights based, entertainment-education focused strategic initiative on sexual and reproductive health and violence against women. A copy of a note just sent to the full Drum Beat network follows with an introduction to the key principles and strategic elements of this initiative. We would welcome your review. From a health, media, rights perspective what are your questions and critique related to this initiative. Thanks - Warren

NETWORK NOTE

Entertainment-Education: Violence Against Women, Youth, Adolescence, Gender Dynamics and Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Revelados - from all positions

Entertainment-Education

Edutainment - Africa

Greetings

Violence against women and the gender dynamics in sexual health are major development priorities both in their own right and because they are such integral elements of so many other development priorities; from household decision making on health issues to an equitable democracy and governance process.

At the heart of gender based dynamics, including violence against women, HIV/AIDS, access to legal abortion, and other issues are factors of social norms, cultural contexts and determinants, individual behaviours, religious principles, public policies and other social pressures. These are very difficult and challenging themes. They require public debate, private dialogue, the voices of those that are most affected and relevant knowledge and information.

In order to be effective on these elements any strategy needs to resonate; to make sense to people as being important to consider in their daily lives. An important element of all of our daily lives is entertainment. Entertainment, from drama to comedy, only works when it resonates; when we pay attention, share, laugh, cry, concentrate, think and reflect based on the entertainment stimulus.

It is from this perspective that I wanted to share with you a strategic programme recently launched by Imaginario with the support of Citurna, our Latin America The Communication Initiative partners, in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Colombia, UNFPA Colombia, Uninorte, Uniandes and other key partners.

The programme is called Revelados - from all positions

The Revelados - from all positions initiative exemplifies many of the strategic principles of the UNTF supported, Oxfam NOVIB led Entertainment-Education programme in which The Communication Initiative is a partner along with Soul City (South Africa); Breakthrough (India); and Puntos de Encuentro (Nicaragua)

The entertainment-education principles and strategies of Revela2 include: (Please note that some of the links are in Spanish. Please use online translation tools such as Google Translate)

PRINCIPLES

Entertainment is not Entertainment-Education. To be effective for development goals this approach requires some specific strategic programming elements, including:

1. A research baseline to ensure effectiveness can be measured.


2. A research base on the key issues to inform the main strategies.


3. Building a partnership of key/interested stakeholder organizations to ensure that their experiences inform the entertainment initiative and that that process is meshed with their on-the-ground work and social organization; for example schools, gender rights agencies, local TV channels, health service providers.


4. Seeking widepsread public focus, debate, dialogue, knowledge generation and critical reflection, “from all positions”, on the key issues that are at the heart of the initiative (for example on gender based violence) such as getting people to laugh or cry is not enough and it is not Entertainment-Education.


5. Utilising a combination of the sharp focus provided by a very public process such as a mass and social media initiative and the partnership base for this work to review and develop national and local policies on what are often very sensitive issues; in the case of Revela2, sexual health and gender based violence, for example.

Of course all of these principles need to be integrated with the core entertainment requirements including creativity, excellent scripts, compelling visuals, audience engagement, quality performance, and so on.

STRATEGY

The Revela2 strategy includes:

1. A focus on 15 to 19 year olds in Colombia


2. A rights based approach to sexual and reproductive health issues, with an emphasis on decision-making for teen pregnancy prevention; HIV testing; sexual violence; and, with abortion being legal in Colombia in 3 cases, access to information and services.


3. An inclusive overall tag phrase: from all positions that has the double meaning of both a full range of voices on the issue and the sexual inference.


4. Ensuring that the voices of young people are prominent, from all of their positions.


5. Meshing those voices with the knowledge and opinions of technical experts on sexual health, gender based violence and overall gender, sexuality and reproduction issues.


6. A validation process, that provides the research base for both the strategic decisions and the impact baseline and trends.


7. A television programme, 20 episodes in this season, that is primarily broadcast by regional and local TV channels in Colombia who are asked/supported to add their local issues and analysis into the overall programming. The core TV programme is in a magazine format with dramatized stories, music, discussion, information, all with a sexy, youthful, switched on feel, that is informed by the research results. Please see episode examples in the Estreno block.


8. A series of educational packs and support materials that are integrated with the TV programmes, for example on Pregnancy and HIV/AIDS, education for sexuality, and the construction of citizenship. They are for parents, teachers , health services , local media and the full range of social actors active on these issues. Please review examples from this and previous series.


9. A full social media process that is integrated with the TV programmes and support materials. This includes Hang Outs through Google+ - See the Youtube Channel link for examples.

This is very brief insight into what is a complex, strategic initiative on a very difficult and sensitive set of issues. If you require further insights please contact Adelaida Trujillo at atrujillo@comminit.com

Please note that we are interested in discussing ways to feature your audiovisual content ; whether as a fully themed process such as Revela2 - from all positions or in other forms on our platform. Contact Warren by reply email if interested.

Very much hope that this is helpful to your own work.

Thanks

Warren

Revelados - from all positions

Entertainment-Education

Edutainment - Africa

Soul City (South Africa)

Breakthrough (India)

Puntos de Encuentro (Nicaragua)

Warren Feek

Executive Director

The Communication Initiative

http://www.comminit.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/warrencomminit

Facebook: The Communication Initiative Network

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Communication-Initiative-Network/344005148956579

LinkedIn: Warren Feek

Skype: Warren Feek

Office - 1–250-658-6372

Mobile 1-250-588-8795

Fax 1-250-658-1728

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Automatic reply: [Health, Rights, Media] - Rights, Health, Enter

Thank you for your message. 5 December is a public holiday in Thailand.  I will respond to your email when we return to work on 6 December. 

Automatic reply: [Health, Rights, Media] - Rights, Health, Enter

I will be out of the office from Thursday, December 5 through Tuesday, December 10. If this is an urgent request, please contact Joerg Dreweke at jdreweke@guttmacher.org or 202-296-4012 ext. 4230.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.