COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT IN PEACEBUILDING
Communication for Development (C4D) is both a theoretical and practice-based field that places the media and all forms of communication channels at the centre of development processes. Within this field, media and communication play an active role in promoting and enabling development. Approaches such as Behaviour Change Communication and Social Change Communication have driven the practice of C4D, while a more recent understanding of the importance of local participation in shaping the course of development has helped these approaches mature in the more comprehensive framework of Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC).
The application of C4D concerns a number of different areas. Examples include rural communication, health communication, media development and more. Through the work of different organisations and scholars, C4D has also been recognised to be a crucial instrument in contexts of peacebuilding. The implementation of peace-targeted C4D interventions can be aimed at restoring peace between conflict-affected communities, enabling communities’ participation in processes of reconstruction, ensuring that different voices are heard and included in peace processes, providing communities with alternatives to violence, and offering a safe space for different groups to share their experience of the conflict. These are all key tasks that the media and communication can play in the aftermath of conflict through the adoption of a C4D lens.
C4D in Peacebuilding is not limited to contexts of war. Conflicts take place in different forms and on many levels. When disagreement and hatred exist, different media formats and communication channels can be used for the purpose of community development, and assist in shifting people away from one-sided views or incomplete narratives. At the same time, media and communication can also be used to assist communities during humanitarian emergencies. When such emergencies become protracted, C4D plays a role in ensuring that, when communicating with communities (CwC), there is also a view for the long(er) term benefits of a population, also in relation to co-existence and social cohesion.
This website provides resources that both organisations and scholars can turn to in their exploration of C4D in Peacebuilding. The work presented here provides insights into how this area of work, both in theory and practice, can be incorporated in peace-oriented interventions in a variety of contexts, in order to achieve more sustainable results.
