World Congress on Communication for Development

Communication for Development is an essential tool for meeting the pressing development challenges that confront us today.

 

This was the core message of the first World Congress held in Rome, Italy from 25 to 27 October 2006, which brought together communication professionals, policymakers, development practitioners, donors, civil society and community representatives and academics from around the world. The GM’s communication staff attended the event.

 

Discussions focussed on how Communication for Development contributes to better development effectiveness and why it should therefore be more fully integrated into development policy and practices.

The Congress sought to reach beyond those working directly in C4D to include the broader development community and policymakers. Presentations were designed to demonstrate the value-added of C4D, provide evidence of the impact of communication in development and highlight the most promising theoretical foundations and methodological approaches underpinning C4D.

 

The collective outcome of three day’s vibrant exchange and participatory methodology was a set of recommendations which will be the basis for a plan of action to mainstream the discipline of Communication for Development into development policy and planning.