Development support communication, its history and needs, development communication its failure and the need of DSC, also a touch of DSC campaign, By Aamir Ayub, department of Journalism and mass communication University of Peshawar.

1. By Aamir Ayub
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT COMMUNICATION

2. DEVELOPMENT
• Act of improving by expanding, enlarging or refining.
• A process in which something passes by degrees to a
different stage, especially more advance or mature
stage.
• Evolution process.
• Growth in a project or idea.
• Progress in a body, items, land, or resources.

3. DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
• The term development for communication can
be defined as “It is a process through which a
society is expected to achieve certain socio-
economic, political, cultural and other goals”.

4. EMERGENCE OF DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
COMMUNICATION
• The concept of development is as old as the human history is, the industrial revolution
and world war I and II gave new dimensions to this concept in 18th century.
• A new concept of “ development as a total change” as a positive change in life conditions,
social, cultural, and traditional setup, attitude and behavior.
• The question raised for the development in western countries after the destruction of
second world war.
• At that time third world countries were suffering from crises, such as economic, poverty,
lake of scientific knowledge, technology etc.
• So the western countries realized that if they want to develop they have to develop the
countries which are facing problems.
• For the first time the term “Development Communication” has been used for
communication to the third world countries for their development and promotion through
media.

5. EMERGENCE OF DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
COMMUNICATION
• Development communication is organized effort to use communications processes and
media to bring social and economic improvements, generally in developing countries.
• The term development communication was used by the western writers Daniel Lerner,
Lucian Pye and Wilber Schramm.
• During 1950s loans were issued to under developed countries and technology was
transferred to speed up their development process.
• After a decade when analysis was done, it was realized that most of the plans failed.
Projects were wasted and the problems of the people living in the rural and urban areas
remain unsolved.
• Factors behind the failure were lake of understanding of social, cultural, environmental
problems and lake of interpersonal communication of project developers.
• They were unable to create strategies to make successful plans.

6. EMERGENCE OF DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
COMMUNICATION
• They were unable to involve the poor, semi illiterate people, formers or other
community people in decision making process.
• They were facing problems in convincing the people that this process is for their own
benefit.
• Then it was realized that one country’s development strategy cannot be applied over
another country, it’s better to plan projects in the light of the needs of that area,
climate, thinking, concepts, culture, tradition, and the aptitude of the local people.
• Thus In this situation in early 1960s the idea of Development Support
Communication (DSC) was conceived by Professional Information Officer (employ
of United Nations Development Program (UNDP)) Erskine Childers.

7. EMERGENCE OF DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT
COMMUNICATION
• Childers proposed a receiver oriented approach to
development communication which would render
communication as a “support” rather than a deterrent to
development.
• The idea quickly gained prevalence in UNITED NATIONS
ORGANIZATION (UNO) and other multilateral development
agencies.

8. DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT COMMUNICATION
(DSC)
• Development support communication is specifically designed communication
strategies which support a particular development program.
• DSC is a concept of communication activities that undertake exchange of
messages at more participatory level to achieve specific goals of a
development program.
• Development support communication leads and motivate people towards
better life condition.
• DSC may be termed as change in people’s physical structure, Change in
normative values, change in technology, social organization, education,
health, economic situation, attitude and behaviour etc. through interpersonal
communication or media.

9. PARTICIPATORY APPROACH
• The reaction against modernization (and to some extent the realization of global structural
imbalances) gave birth to participatory approach basis on actively involving people who
were the "subjects" of development in happening of the process.
• All the people involved, have right to play a part in shaping decisions that affect their
lives.
• Participation in decision-making: People initiate, discuss, conceptualize (form an idea)
and plan activities they will all do as a community.
• Participation in benefit: People should take part in enjoying the fruits of a project, this
maybe water from a hand-pump, medical care by a "bare-foot doctor", a truck to transport
produce to market, or village meetings in the new community hall.
• Participation in implementation: People should actively encourage and mobilized to
take part in the actualization (to turn into reality) of projects while assigning them certain
responsibilities and tasks.
• Participation in evaluation: After the completion of a project, people should invite to
critique the success or failure of it.

10. PLANNING DSC CAMPAIGN
• Planning is said to be a prerequisite of any program
and in case of Development Support Communication
(DSC) appropriate planning is the primary step for
achieving the goals.
• DSC campaign is an integrated manner that utilizes
different educational and communication methods,
aimed at focusing attention on a particular problem and
its solution over a period of time.

11. CREATING THE DSC CAMPAIGN PLAN
• There are four stages of DSC campaign plain:
• Stage 1:
• Identification of objectives:
• It means to examine campaign goals and aims for getting long term results.
• Research about the project, people, environment, social and cultural values etc. for the concern
area.
• Identify the problems, and make a mindset of how to shape a solution for it, and what way of
communication and media should be better to educate concern people.
• It involves sound judgement by gathering information.
• Determine key development priorities through field surveys, community consensus, interviews
with field specialists and subject matter specialists.
• Assess media channels available to potential target groups and find out whether technology
transfer inputs are readily available.

12. CREATING THE DSC CAMPAIGN PLAN
• Stage 2:
• Analysis:
• It involves study and investigation of a problem.
•
• It involves pointing out of most important needs to establish campaign objectives.
•
• To identify target groups while it also involves measuring of attitudes, practices, conduct
focus group sessions, set specific communication campaign objectives, determine multi-
media mix and message design strategies for target audience.
• Focus on situation & sponsor.

13. CREATING THE DSC CAMPAIGN PLAN
• Stage 3:
• Formulation of the plan:
• It includes selection of the suitable method, timing the campaign, using
slogans and symbols, pretesting the messages, providing channels for
information, seeking and involving people.
• In easy words it means to draw up action plan.

14. CREATING THE DSC CAMPAIGN PLAN
• Stage 4:
• Evaluation:
• Carry out small scale field evaluations at strategic points during campaign to suggest
where "in-course" changes may be warranted.
• Conduct full scale post-campaign impact evaluation survey and use as feed-forward for
future campaigns.
• Looking the factors of success or failure on behalf of those the project can be improved in
future.

15. TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL DSC CAMPAIGN PLAN
• Examination of the problems identified by the groups in the light of local conditions.
• Selection of priority problems by the groups.
• Formulation of a durable methodology for seeking solutions.
• Identification of the amount of information required and easy ways to access this
information.

16. FACTORS THAT AFFECT DSC CAMPAIGN
• Noise
• Distortions
• Filtering
• Selective Perceptions
• Language and Non-Verbal Cues

17. EXAMPLE OF DSC CAMPAIGN IN PAKISTAN
• End-Polio Pakistan Campaign
• 16-19 March National Immunization Days
• New strategies in place to identify and immunize
missed children

18. CONCLUSION
• Development Support Communication is not merely concerned with providing
information on development activities but it involves creating opportunity for the
people to know about the technical nature of new ideas and on how they work and
with what effect.
• Development Support Communication plays the more important role of creating an
atmosphere for understanding how these new ideas fit into the real social situation in
which the people operate.
• Its ultimate goal is to catalyse local development activities, local development
planning and implementation, and local communication to smoothen the path to
development.
• In addition, those in charge of planning Development Support Communication
campaign must be those who understand the social structure (those who have
entered into the socio-cultural contexts of the people) and how change can take
place in it, not merely how development messages can be disseminated.