I was in Quito in late February to participate in the Round Table on Communication for Development, organized by the International Center Communication Studies for Latin America (CIESPAL) and Unesco .
Back CIESPAL in this new phase of the institution, under the leadership of Fernando Checa, was very pleased because we can not forget that CIESPAL was for decades the home of communication of all Latin Americans interested in the topic . The 1970 and 1980 allowed symbolic results, both in the training area (Through an important alliance with RNTC) and in the research and publications, including Chasqui magazine and book series that inspired new generations of journalists.
But above all, that high cement fungus where CIESPAL on Avenida Diego de Almagro Quito, was the great meeting place of many specialists in development communication, a communication rights perspective , of which Latin America has been a pioneer.
A second reason to feel "at home" during the event was sponsored by Unesco, the lead agency communication in the United Nations system, undoubtedly the only over its history has taken seriously the communication, therefore, that in the early 1980's strategic positioning in favor of a New World Information and Communication (NWICO), led to the departure of the United States and England in the organization.
My presence in Quito had to do precisely with a job analysis of the role of communication for development in the field of organizations in the United Nations system in Ecuador. Unesco has carried out such studies in several countries (I drove another similar exercise in Uruguay in late 2010), as a contribution to the preparatory process of the 12th Round Table on Communication for Development to be held in India in November 2011.
addition to my study, and Unesco CIESPAL commissioned two more Ecuadorian specialists. Elianor Franco took to analyze the world of NGOs from the perspective of development communication, as did Ruben Bravo with state institutions.
Our findings, and also those who commented on our presentation (José Ignacio López Vigil, Marco Encalada and Francisco Ordóñez, respectively) are similar, with some honorable exceptions, communication for development is not on the agenda or the State, or nongovernmental organizations, or most agencies of the United Nations.
In general, these three sectors develop policies, strategies and specific actions that fall within the concept of communication for development, in contrast, show an inclination to promote the dissemination of information and institutional visibility.
Yet many policy and strategy documents as Ecuadorian State and the United Nations system, dealing with stress the importance of social participation in development processes, from a rights perspective. Ecuador's new constitution provides, for example, important considerations about the "good life" or sumak kawsay , which unfortunately did not translate into political participation in the communication for development would have a central role.
CIESPAL In the same open to the public this time, I had to offer conference on communication for social change that was broadcast live via the website CIESPAL .
remains to be done (not only in Ecuador) to change the perception that the communication is as well as the dissemination of information or even worse, a mere activity of visibility and institutional positioning. That I spoke at a meeting Carlos Rabascall CN Plus me.
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