Case Studies

• Case Study-1

  Establishing WomenPowerConnect as a national level women’s advocacy group working to influence policies in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies

  Supported by IFES, UNIFEM & USAID
  Realizing the need for an organized advocacy effort on the reservation of 33% seats for women in Parliament, amendment on domestic violence bill and gender-just budgeting, women’s organizations in India planned to establish the advocacy group-WomenPowerConnect in 2005.

  There was a need to garner support among women rights activists and several women for such a group all around the country. Media was a very important partner in generating support among various stakeholders and community members. Communicators India was given the task of mobilizing journalists and announcing the launch of WPC throughout the country.

  Objective:
  Mobilizing women’s organizations, media and other stakeholders in order to get their continuous support

  Strategy:
  Communicators India proposed six workshops in different state capitals and a final launch event at New Delhi. These workshops had media, politicians, state women’s commissions, women leaders, etc. as participants. The workshops resulted in excellent media coverage on the need for an advocacy group throughout the country. Consequently, the launch in New Delhi was a huge success.

  Challenges:
  There was a certain degree of uneasiness among women’s groups and media on the need for mounting an organized advocacy effort, when a lot of individual organizations existed already. However, these issues were sorted out with proper face-to-face communication and group discussions during the course of the workshop

  Result:
  Today WPC has more than six hundred women organizations and several journalists as its members. Communicators India still provides them media relations support.

   

  Case Study-2

  Media Advocacy and Media Skills Training on Early Childhood Care & Development (2006-2008)
  Supported by Plan International

  Early Childhood Care & Development (ECCD) is a very important program for Plan and a host of organizations working on child rights. ECCD is meant to make an impact on the lives of children in the age group of 0-6. Communicators India was asked to develop a media plan in order to ensure that more and more journalists understand the importance of early childhood care and subsequently report them on a regular basis.

  Objective:
  Increase visibility and understanding in the media about the need for Early Childhood Care & Development and related issues

  Strategy:
  Communicators India devised a communications plan which involved explaining the concept of ECCD and its relevance in India. A variety of case studies were explored and packaged into media releases during the media advocacy efforts. Field visits and interactive workshops were organized for serious-minded journalists in order to generate in-depth articles on the issue. The overall strategy involved working in the following phases:

  • Pre-workshop/research phase
  • Workshop/Media Events/Field Visits Phase
  • Post-event report preparation and monthly issue-driven press releases phase

  Since it was not clear whether the media coverage on ECCD (related issues) was appropriate and sufficient, CI decided to undertake a media scanning activity. The activity revealed a varying degree of interest among media houses. A targeted intervention was needed. In the following months, journalists from select newspapers and TV channels were targeted for a media advocacy effort.

  Challenges:
  ECCD as a concept was easily understood by funding agencies. However, the beneficiaries and other stakeholders including the media could not understand the direct relationship between early childhood problems and the concept. There was a need to demystify ECCD for everyone to contribute to the success of the project.

  Result:
  The program has been running for the last 3 years with good results. As part of the media advocacy program, as many as 15 different ECCD issues have been covered. Issue-driven press releases are being disseminated on a monthly basis.