In fragile and post conflict environments, there is the need to support the recreation of a functioning “public sphere”, thus enabling two-way flow of information among its three sectors: the media, the civil society and the State. It was highlighted by CommGAP/World Bank’s specialists who authored two new papers presented at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
Fostering enduring peace, said Henriette von Kaltenborn-Stachau, consultant at the Communication for Governance and Accountability Program (CommGAP) of the World Bank, requires supporting a sustainable independent and professional media sector, as well as building the capacity of a robust civil society and of a transparent state able to address the public sphere.
A holistic and coordinated approach among all stakeholders is, according to her colleague Shanthi Kalathil, essential for implementing any media assistance policy and practice. This would be a new model that prioritizes communication's role in governance and peace-building.
In the first paper presented on Thursday 9 October, The Missing Link - Fostering Positive Citizen-State Relations in Post-Conflict Environments, Ms von Kaltenborn-Stachau takes as a starting point the high expectations for a quick “peace dividend” and the symmetric high chances to fail in meeting those expectations.
A public that does not trust the state and state-citizen relations severed by years of exclusion are among the most challenging issues national governments, and the international community supporting them, encounter in planning and executing post-conflict recovery programmes. The author also argues that these issues are too often neglected by policy makers.
In the second paper, Towards a New Model: Media and Communication in Post-Conflict and Fragile States, Ms Kalathil analyses how the media can provide important, reliable and timely humanitarian and political information in the midst of chaos, helping people to navigate their tumultuous surroundings.
While moving toward the longer term, media and communication processes can enable citizens to engage in dialogue, serve as platforms for debate and oversight, anchor governance reforms and facilitate peace-building and poverty reduction.
Yet, despite its importance, the author argues that the media and communication sector is frequently an “afterthought” in post-conflict reconstruction. Therefore this paper calls for a new model prioritizing communication's role in governance and peace-building.
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