Need for Civil Society Strengthening Highlighted

Islamabad December 9: For effective and sustainable development in Pakistan, the Media and NGOs should work closely and must strengthen their relationships, as there is a dire need for a strong civil society in Pakistan, this was recommended by the participants at a concluding workshop here on Thursday.

A two-day workshop on Development Communications for Media was organized by NGO Resource Centre (A Project of Aga Khan Foundation) from Dec 8 -9, 2004 with the support from European Commission (EC) through Rural Social Development Programme (RSDP).

The workshop was attended by 30 participants, including editors, news editors, senior staff reporters, sub-editors, anchors and university professors from 25 media organizations including newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, radio TV channels and universities from across Pakistan. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Abbas Husain, consultant to NGORC, Afsheen Anwer, Faculty Member and Qadeer Baig, Deputy Director, NGORC.

Speakers emphasized that the media and NGOs try to understand each other’s working and dynamics, which is beneficial for a better, long-term relationship and would ultimately strengthen the efforts of development process in Pakistan.

Sharing the objective of the workshop, Mr Baig highlighted the efforts made by the NGORC for Media – NGO relationship during the last few years and said that this was the first workshop of its kind designed to enhance the capacities of media on development issues reporting in Pakistan. Earlier, NGORC has conducted two workshops on development communications for NGOs and Media in October 13-14, 2004 and Nov 30 – Dec 1, in Karachi and Lahore, attended by more than 40 NGOs and media organizations.

Highlighting the findings of an extensive research conducted by the NGORC in 2002-3 on the topic of ‘Media-NGO Relations’ he said that it indicated that there exists a communications gap between the media and citizen sector organizations. This study has analyzed the relationship between sectors quantitatively and qualitatively using a variety of research methods. Various aspects of the relationship were examined, including the quality of coverage that newspapers give to the CSOs, the perceptions that the CSOs and media hold about each other and the experiences of the CSOs that have a relatively productive association with the media.

This research has supported the belief that a thriving, cooperative and open association between the two central components of civil society – the CSOs and the media -- are crucial in strengthening civil society and alleviating poverty.

Emphasizing the conceptual part of development communication, Abbas Husain said that communication requires holistic approach instead of reductionist approach which only focuses on its constituent components. Participants were also briefed about the basic principles of media and analytical approach of analyzing issues and topics from various angles.

While discussing various aspects of the topic, participants reinforced the view that the Media – in its numerous forms – plays an important role in any modern-day society. Its potential role in information dissemination, in removing prejudices and stereotypes, as an active stakeholder in civil society and as a tool for raising awareness, has not been fully utilized in Pakistan.

Participants analyzed the current state of Media-NGO Relationships and highlighted the challenges faced by the media from NGOs and also recommended ways on how to overcome such challenges.

Similarly, participants analyzed the current practices of the media and more specifically regarding NGOs and social development issues. They highlighted their constraints and challenges being faced by them.

During the two-day session, working in groups on various aspects of the development communications, participants developed thematic and programmatic strategies at various levels for improving and enhancing the reporting on development issues in Pakistan.

Participants emphasized the need for the continuation of such workshops for editors, owners of media organizations, followed by other journalists working at various levels in Pakistan.

NGORC will be organizing a one–day strategic planning forum in the third week of December on “Enhancing Media-NGO Partnership”, where representatives of Media and NGOs would be invited.