Annex B: Recommendations from the Ninth UN Roundtable on Communication for Development

The Communication for Development Roundtable is conceived as an interagency forum for the UN system. It convenes every two years to examine, discuss and assess current trends in Communication for Development activities, to set priorities for future directions in this field and identify areas for potential collaboration. Taking its lead from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg 2003, the theme for the 2004 Roundtable was Communication for Sustainable Development. Following is the set of recommendations that resulted from the Roundtable:

Towards a plan of action, the Roundtable proposes:

1. Communications for development advocates and practitioners commit themselves to a deeper engagement with policy makers to ensure that communications is recognized as a central component in all development initiatives. This will involve a systematic coordinated effort to establish a clear, accessible body of evidence drawn from current best practice.
2. Donors and development agencies should set up a well-resourced communication for development units to implement initiatives within their organization and to promote communication for development with other donors and agencies.
3. Governments, donors and development agencies should require the incorporation of a communication needs assessment in any development initiative (and eventually devote a specific percentage of the budget to this purpose; eg. 0.5%).
4. Initiatives such as the World Congress on Communication for Development are encouraged with the aim of building a concrete evidentiary base for decision makers in donor, development agencies and governments.
5. The United Nations should set up an inter-agency group to analyze communication experiences, suggest improvements and develop a common approach to communication for development.
6. Training initiatives should be fostered in developing countries, building on existing experiences. Programs, materials and systems for communication for development should be developed and shared. Furthermore, participatory development communication should be integrated into existing development curricula.

Specific recommendations to the Roundtable:

1. A working group/ network to foster global partnerships on communication for development will be established.
2. The plan of action established by the participants to the 9 th UN Roundtable should be facilitated and monitored through the mechanism of the working group.
3. FAO and UNESCO will accompany this follow-up process ensuring active participation of other partners.