| August 9, 2004 — From video clips of Kenyan adolescents talking about condoms to T-shirts with prevention messages from Zambia and Zimbabwe, the African media is using creative methods to educate young people about HIV/AIDS. 
But can the media be even more effective? And what are the experiences of different African countries in promoting HIV/AIDS awareness? During the week of June 21, 2004, these questions were discussed by more than 120 representatives from civil society, ministries of health and education, the media, and other groups at the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) Centers in Tanzania and Uganda, and at the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) (http://www.amref.org/) Training Center in Kenya. Participants shared examples of African television, radio, print, and electronic materials that combine education and entertainment - "edutainment" - media to inform young people about HIV/AIDS. They also evaluated whether these materials could be applied in the context of their own countries. The GDLN, a World Bank initiative, facilitates the cooperation among its Affiliates. Jointly, GDLN Affiliates offer their facilities, services and interactive distance learning techniques to the development community to organize and implement capacity enhancement, knowledge-sharing, training, consultation and dialogue events. Working with GDLN allows clients to reach across the world and bridge geographical distances cost-effectively and with high and lasting impact. "What I liked most about the event were the creative video clips from outside Tanzania," said one participant at the GDLN Center in Dar es Salaam. "To put these materials to use locally, we need to identify role models as media spokespeople, including local artists and pop-stars, to pass on these messages," said another participant at the GDLN Center in Kampala. 
Workshop activities organized by Africa Alive!, a regional NGO dedicated to exploring the use of popular media for reaching young people with messages about HIV/AIDS, included reviewing media products drawn from across Africa. A collection of materials used in the workshops came from a new multimedia CD-ROM kit -- YouthMedia: HIV/AIDS Media for Youth -- underwritten by the World Bank and compiled through contributions from the Center for Communication Programs of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC (JHUCCP), and One World AIDS Radio http://aidsradio.oneworld.net/article/frontpage/348/5521), among other partners. To implement more effective and wider-reaching media campaigns, participants also discussed ways to identify funding opportunities available from the World Bank and the National Aids Commissions in their respective countries. The workshops were sponsored by the World Bank's External Affairs department, the Bank's Knowledge and Learning unit for Africa, and the World Bank Institute's Leadership in AIDS program. They are part of a wider international initiative promoting the use of educational and entertainment resources for HIV/AIDS awareness raising and prevention. Previous World Bank-organized events included a GDLN Global Videoconference Dialogue on "Using Edutainment Media for HIV Prevention." Among other participants in the GDLN Center in Washington, this event brought Kami - a South African Sesame Workshop muppet living with HIV/AIDS - to participants in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Geneva (see http://www.gdln.org/News-weekly/story-12-Apr12.htm). For more information on these workshops, please contact Anthony Bloome (abloome@worldbank.org)
To learn more about GDLN, visit http://www.gdln.org or contact gdln@worldbank.org Also available: Pamphlet: Sex, Ten Best Reasons to Wait (980k pdf) |
RSS