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<div align="right"><font face="Arial Narrow, Helvetica" size=5 color="#008080"><b>Bangladesh
NGOs Network for<br>
Radio and Communication<br>
</b></font><font size=1 color="#0000FF">Promoting Communication
Technology for a Fairer World<br>
</font><font color="#0000FF"><a href="http://www.bnnrc.net/"; eudora="autourl">www.bnnrc.net<br><br>
<br><br>
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<font face="Verdana" size=4><b>The Rome Consensus : Go home and
listen to your people<br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=4 color="#0000FF">World Congress on
Communication for Development (WCCD)<br><br>
<br>
</b></font>The key message from participants to policy makers at the
first World Congress on Communication for Development (WCCD), which
concluded on 27 October, 2006, was clear and simple: <b><i>Go home and
listen to your people.<br>
</b> <br>
</i>$BE$(Bommunication is development”, they declared, hence their call for a
massive increase in communications efforts based on the premise that
development initiatives devoid of communication measures are essentially
ineffective.<br>
<br>
$BE8(Be want to achieve the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), we want to
eradicate poverty, not only economic, financial poverty, but we want the
social rights of poor countries to be recognized and not forgotten.
Communication is at the very heart of this social dimension of rights,
and this is the reason why communication goes hand in hand with
development”, said Patrizia Sentinelli, Italian Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs, who delivered a speech at the WCCD Opening
ceremony.<br>
<br>
The evidence to support the positive impact of communication in
development projects is overwhelming. Over 700 selected participants from
around the world congregated in Rome over the last three days and
presented case studies and research papers.. Professionals from over 200
organizations engaged in creative workshops and seminars in order to
share experiences, exchange ideas and debate the most efficient
communications strategies.<br>
<br>
<i>$BE5(Bhis Congress demonstrated that Communication for Development is an
essential development tool and needs to be raised on the global agenda,”
</i>said Paul Mitchell, Manager of the Development Communication Division
at the World Bank .<br>
<br>
NGOs, multilateral development institutions, bilateral donors,
development practitioners and academics extracted the most useful
conclusions from the vast array of debates, discussions and exchanges
which took place at the Congress and transformed them into<br>
a set of simple recommendations for policy makers on, for example, ways
to improve how communication is used by governments and communities to
produce more tangible results. <br>
<br>
A concrete set of recommendations was eventually agreed upon and will
serve as an advocacy tool to reach policy makers.<br>
<br>
<i>"Giving people a voice, helping them to make that voice heard,
only then does development become sustainable," </i>said
Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO. <i>"It also helps to
be a good listener because there is much to be learned from the other
side."<br>
</i>Less propaganda, more outreach efforts.<br>
<br>
Fewer monologs, more two-way, participatory dialogues. In the end, this
means increased transparency and improved governance,<br>
better access to health services and education, fairer treatment of
minorities and gender equity, to name just a few improvements.<br>
<br>
<i>$BE*(Bt is time that leaders give higher priority to communication”,
</i>said Garth Japhet, Chair of the Communication Initiative
Partnership.<br>
The Congress closed with the call to policy makers to listen to their
people. However, it$BCT(B a call addressed to everybody involved in
development. It$BCT(B development and it benefits the poor. It is now time to
listen. <br><br>
<font face="Verdana" color="#800000"><b>I am sending here with Rome
Consensus : Communication for Development(C4D) From WCCD for your
information and Action.Please find the attachment or visit:
ttp://www.devcomm.org/worldbank/vpr/index.asp <br><br>
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