CCRDA-AMBO UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM IN DEVELOPMENT

MANAGEMENT

COURSE MODULE ON

DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION AND ETHICS

DMGT 5022

Oct., 2016

AMBO, ETHIOPIA

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COURSE DESCRIPTION 

The first part of the course, development communication, is designed to

address the importance of effective communication primarily in the process
of undertaking and managing developmental activities by government and
non-for profit organizations. It is designed to equip students to realize the
importance of effective communication in discharging their responsibilities.
It will acquaint them with the process of communication, communication in
organizational setting, the main causes of communication barriers and
breakdown that could cause misunderstanding between the sender and the
receiver of a message and the need for ethical communication.

The second part of the course, Development ethics is a field of enquiry that
reflects on both the ends and the means of economic development. It
typically takes a normative stance asking and answering questions about the
nature of ethically desirable development, what ethics means for achieving
development, and discusses various ethical dilemmas that the practice of
development has led to. In short its aim is to ensure that value issues are an
important part of the discourse of development.

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Course Objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to:
 Comprehend the basic concept of communication,
 Discuss the roles of communication and types of communication in
organizations;
 Identify the causes of communication breakdown and improve
communication;
 Write research reports and use oral communication effectively in
presentation of projects;
 Understand the concept of ethics and how it relates to development
 Explain principles that guide ethical thinking related to development
 Examine practical and culturally sensitive approaches to planning and
managing development in communities,
 Discuss the practice of NGOs with the lens of development ethics
 Describe the challenges of ethical development in the globalization
era.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

COURSE DESCRIPTION............................................................................................2
Course Objectives..................................................................................................3
TABLE OF CONTENTS..............................................................................................4
PART ONE: DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION......................................................8
CHAPTER ONE: CONCEPTS, CHARACTERISTICS, FUNCTIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF
COMMUNICATION.................................................................................................8
Introduction...........................................................................................................9
1.1. Concept and definition of communication and development communication
9
1.2. Modes of development communication application...................................12
1.3. The characteristics of communication.........................................................16
1.4. Functions of communication........................................................................19
1.5. Basic principles of development communication.........................................21
1.6. Ethical communication.................................................................................25
1.7. Clarifying misconception of (development) communication.......................28
1.8. Chapter Summary.........................................................................................33
CHAPTER 2: HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION..............................34
Introduction.........................................................................................................34
2.1. Modernization..............................................................................................34
2.2. Dependency theory......................................................................................37
2.3. The emerging paradigm: participation.........................................................39
2.4. Social marketing paradigm...........................................................................42

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 2.5. Media advocacy...........................................................................................44
2.6. Chapter summary.........................................................................................46
CHAPTER 3: ELEMENTS AND TYPES OF COMMUNICATION..................................49
Introduction.........................................................................................................49
3.1. Elements of Communication.........................................................................49
3.2. Types of communication...............................................................................54
3.3. Formal communication types in the organization.........................................56
3.4. Informal communication...............................................................................58
3.5. Problems in communication and strategies for improving communication..58
3.5.1. Problems in communication...............................................................................58
3.5.2. Techniques/strategies for improving communication........................................59
3.6. Chapter summary..........................................................................................61
CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND PLANNING OF
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION 63
Introduction.........................................................................................................63
4.1. Communication-Based Assessment (CBA)...................................................63
4.2. Communication strategy design...................................................................64
4.3. Core elements in designing a strategy.........................................................70
4.4. Development communication planning.......................................................75
4.5. The main elements of communication planning..........................................81
4.6. Implementation of communication plan......................................................88
4.7. Communication for monitoring and evaluation...........................................91
4.8. Elements of the monitoring process............................................................94
4.9. Community participation in development initiative.....................................96
4.10.Value addition of development communication in programs and projects. 99
4.11.Chapter summary.......................................................................................101
CHAPTER 5: COMMUNICATION FOR POVERTY REDUCTION AND STAKEHOLDER
MANAGEMENT...................................................................................................104
Introduction.......................................................................................................104

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 5.1. Poverty Reduction Strategy.........................................................................104
5.2. Communication in the Formulation of Poverty Reduction Strategies.........105
5.3. Contribution of Communication to Fight Poverty through PRSPs...............108
5.4. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Communication and Beyond..............109
5.5. Components of a strong stakeholder management system........................110
5.5.1. Stakeholder identification.................................................................................111
5.5.2. Stakeholder analysis..........................................................................................112
5.5.3. Stakeholder engagement..................................................................................116
5.5.4. Stakeholder Communication.............................................................................121
5.6. Chapter summary........................................................................................124
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT ETHICS...................................................................127
CHAPTER SIX: OVERVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT ETHICS.....128
Introduction.......................................................................................................128
6.1. Definition and Origins of Development Ethics.............................................128
6.2. Why Development Ethics?..........................................................................138
6.3. The Perspectives of Development Ethics....................................................143
6.4. The Forms of Development Ethics...............................................................147
6.5. The Models of Development Ethics.............................................................150
6.6. Chapter Summary.......................................................................................152
CHAPTER SEVEN: ETHICAL GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR AUTHENTIC
DEVELOPMENT...................................................................................................155
Introduction.......................................................................................................155
7.1. Ethical Goals of development......................................................................156
7.2. Ethical Strategies of Development..............................................................158
7.3. The Concept of the Authentic Development...............................................161
7.4. Development Ethics and Gender Justice.....................................................165
7.5. Chapter summary........................................................................................166
CHAPTER EIGHT: NGOs AND THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT ETHICS......169
Introduction.......................................................................................................169

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 8.1. Ethical Issues Facing NGOs..........................................................................171
8.2. The Relevance of the Concept of Development Ethics for NGOs Practices. 179
8.3. Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs.........................................................185
8.3.1. WANGO’s Code of ethics and conduct..............................................................185
8.3.2. Ethiopian Code of Conduct for NGOs................................................................188
8.4. NGOs Accountability...................................................................................190
8.4.1. What is Accountability?....................................................................................191
8.4.2. Mechanisms for Accountability.........................................................................193
8.5. Ethical Consideration in Planning the Provision of Social Services..............197
8.6. Chapter Summary.......................................................................................200
CHAPTER NINE: GLOBALIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT ETHICS..................203
Introduction.......................................................................................................203
9.1. Defining globalization..................................................................................204
9.2. Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality........................................................210
9.3. Ethical Assessment of Globalization............................................................216
9.4. Humanizing and Democratizing Globalization.............................................222
9.5. Social impacts of Globalization....................................................................227
9.6. Chapter summary........................................................................................233
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................237

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PART ONE: DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION

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CHAPTER ONE: CONCEPTS, CHARACTERISTICS,
FUNCTIONS AND PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION

Introduction

Dear student, in this chapter, you will learn concepts, characteristics,

functions and principles of development communication. This chapter gives
you a base for capturing the subsequent chapters of the course. Hence, pay
due attention for grasping the whole content of the chapter.
Learning objectives

To be able to grasp communication concepts, characteristics and
principles

To be able to use communication principles to manage development
activities

To be able to identify different function and modes of communication

1.1. Concept and definition of communication and

development communication
Dear student, attempt to give your own definition for the terms
communication and development communication.
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Communication was a Latin root ‘communis’ which means common. It also
requires a degree of commonness between individuals for communication to
occur. The purpose of communication is to establish commonness.
Scholars defined communication in different ways which shares common
ideas and some of the definitions of communication are:
 Communication is the process by which two or more people exchange
ideas, facts, feelings or impressions in ways that each gains a common
understanding of the meaning, intent and use of message.
 Communication is the process whereby one person transmits a message
through a channel to another person, with some effect.
 Communication is the process by which the message is transmitted from
the source to the receiver.
 Communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals using a
common symbol system.
 Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another
Similarly, scholars and practitioners defined development communication in
various ways and some of the definitions are:
 World Bank considers development communication as an interdisciplinary

field based on empirical research that helps to build consensus while it

facilitates the sharing of knowledge to achieve positive change in

development initiatives. It involves creating mechanisms to broaden public

access to information on reforms; strengthening clients’ ability to listen to

their constituencies and negotiate with stakeholders; empowering grassroots

organizations to achieve a more participatory process; and undertaking

communication activities that are grounded in research. That is it is not only

about effective dissemination of information but also about using empirical

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research and two-way communication among stakeholders. It is also a key

management tool that helps assess sociopolitical risks and opportunities

(World Bank, 2006).

 Development Communication is the study of social change brought about

by the application of communication research, theory, and technologies to

bring about development. Development is a widely participatory process of

social change in a society, intended to bring about both social and material

advancement, including greater equality, freedom, and other valued qualities

for the majority of people through their gaining greater control over their

environment (Everett Rogers, 1976).

First World Congress of Communication for Development (2006) conceives

development communication as a social process based on dialogue using a
broad range of tools and methods. It is also about seeking change at different
levels, including listening, building trust, sharing knowledge and skills,
building policies, debating, and learning for sustained and meaningful
change.
Development communication is the process of intervening in a systematic or
strategic manner with either media (print, radio, telephony, video, and the
Internet), or education (training, literacy, schooling) for the purpose of
positive social change. Interpersonal communication too must play a
fundamental role. The change could be economic, personal, as in spiritual,
social, cultural, or political.

Communication for Development is about dialogue, participation and the

sharing of knowledge and information among people and institutions. It

takes into account the needs and capacities of all concerned in the

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development process. Thus, broadly development communication refers to

the sharing of knowledge aimed at reaching a consensus for action that takes

into account the interests, needs and capacities of all concerned. It is thus a

social process.

It describes an approach to communication which provides communities

with information they can use in bettering their lives, which aims at making

public programs and policies real, meaningful and sustainable.

Scholars and practitioners may differ in the wording they use to define the
subject (development communication), but their intent is constant. Put
simply, development program cannot produce change without an ongoing,
culturally and socially relevant communication dialogue among development
providers and clientele, and within the recipient group itself. Development
communication enables to explore and assess operational situations, building
wider consensus among stakeholders and using communication approaches,
methods, and media to promote change and enhance project effectiveness
and sustainability. There are some keywords in development
communication: dialogue, stakeholders, sharing knowledge and mutual
understanding. The first keyword associated with development
communication is dialogue. No matter what kind of project, it is always
valuable and essential to establish dialogue among the stakeholders.
Dialogue is necessary ingredient in building trust, sharing knowledge and
ensures mutual understanding.

1.2. Modes of development communication application

Dear student, compare and contrast the importance of monologic and
dialogic modes of communication

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Development communication has two modes of application: monologic
mode and dialogic mode.

1. Monologic mode: one-way communication

The monologic mode is linked to the development communication
perspective known as diffusion. It is broadly equivalent to the diffusion
perspective and is based on the transmission model. It adopts one-way
communication to send messages, disseminate information, or impart
knowledge aimed at increasing awareness of knowledge or changing
attitudes and behaviors. In the monologic mode, the scope of the
communication program is set from the beginning of the process; it is
expected to inform and persuade people to adopt innovations or change
behaviors. That is its main intentions can be divided into two different types
of applications: (1) communication to inform; and (2) communication to
persuade. “Communication to inform” typically involves a linear
transmission of information, usually from a sender to many receivers. It is
used when raising awareness or providing knowledge on certain issues is
considered enough to achieve the intended goal (for example, informing a
community about the activities of a project or informing the public about a
reform coming into effect). In other instances, the dissemination of
information is only a temporary stage to be reached in a longer process
aimed at achieving behavior changes. This modality can be labeled
“communication to persuade.” Approaches in communication for behavior

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change use methods and media to persuade individuals to adopt specific
practices or behaviors.
These approaches are frequently used in health initiatives. The aim is to

foster positive behavior; promote and sustain individual, community, and

societal behavior change; and maintain appropriate behavior. Its underlying

assumption is that individual attitudes and behaviors can be changed

voluntarily through communication and persuasion techniques and the

related use of effective messages. Since the approaches, methods, and media

used for this modality rely mostly on the one-way model, the mode of

reference is monologic communication. In many cases, approaches to

persuade still rely on the classic notion of one-way communication. The

primary objective is for the sender to be able to persuade the receivers about

the intended change. In this model the feedback is a sort of tune-up, allowing

the sender to refine its persuasive message. A common approach closely

associated with this communication mode is strategic communication, which

is often used in development initiatives to support management objectives.

2. Dialogic mode: two-way communication

The dialogic mode is closely associated with the participation perspective

and uses two-way communication methods to build trust, exchange
knowledge and perception, achieve mutual understanding and assess the risk
and opportunities. The dialogic mode is associated with the emerging
participatory paradigm. It is based on the horizontal, two-way model of

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communication, creating a constructive environment where stakeholders can
participate in the definition of problems and solutions. The main purposes of
this model can be divided into two broad types of applications:
(1) Communication to assess; and (2) communication to empower. This

categorization helps one to understand the way in which the ultimate scope

of the communication interventions shapes the choice of communication

approaches, methods, and models of reference. Both of these types of

applications take a radical turn away from the common conception of

communication, since they do not involve any dissemination of information

or messages. Even if these two types of communication cannot be easily

positioned in a sequence because their scope is often closely intertwined, the

use of dialogic communication to ensure mutual understanding and explore a

situation often becomes the best tool to facilitate empowerment.

“Communication to assess” is used as a research and analytical tool and

because of its interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature; it can be used

effectively to investigate any issue, well beyond those strictly related to the

communication dimension.

The “communication to empower” of dialogic communication is applied to

engage stakeholders in exploring, uncovering, and assessing key issues,
opportunities, and risks of both a technical and political nature. The use of
two-way communication engages experts and local stakeholders in the
problem-analysis and problem-solving process leading to change.
Dialogic communication is not only effective as a problem-solving tool, but

it also builds confidence, prevent conflicts, and addresses the issue of

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poverty by engaging the poorest and most marginal sectors in the process

concerning issues of relevance to them. By involving the poor in the

assessment of problems and solutions, by engaging them, and not just the

experts, in the decision-making process, and by making the voices of the

poor heard, the dialogic mode can address and reduce one key dimension of

poverty: social exclusion.

The overall goal of the dialogic mode is to ensure mutual understanding and
to make the best use of all possible knowledge in assessing the situation,
building consensus, and looking for appropriate solutions. By facilitating
dialogue with key stakeholders, this type of communication enhances the
analysis and minimizes risks. On the other hand, the primary scope of the
monologic mode emerges especially when information needs to be packaged
and disseminated to address specific needs and gaps.The difference between
these two modes is reflected in how each perspective defines or conceives a
communication objective and the relative implications for evaluating the
impact of the intervention. In monologic or diffusion approaches, the
communication objective is something that requires changes at the level of
awareness, knowledge, attitude, and, ultimately, behaviors or practices of
specific groups of people. The impact of the communication intervention can
be assessed by carrying out a baseline study before the intervention, and then
a similar survey after the intervention.
The difference between the pre- and post-survey should provide the

measurement of the impact, or change that is due to the communication

intervention. In dialogic, participatory approaches, the main scope relates to

the engagement of stakeholders in assessing risks, identifying opportunities,

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preventing problems, and identifying or confirming the needed change. In

other words, in most cases the objectives cannot be specifically defined

beforehand because they are the results of a heuristic process that provides

new knowledge and valuable inputs for better strategy design. The

characteristics of the two modes of communication is summarized in the

following Table1.

Table 1. Basic Features of Communication Modes

Monologic Mode Dialogic Mode

Compare Communication Communication Communication Communication to
and to to Persuade to assess Empower
Contrast Inform

Main To raise To change To assess,

Purpose awareness attitudes probe, To involve
of increase and behaviors and analyze the stakeholders in
knowledge of of situation decisions over key
key key audiences issues
audiences

Model of One-way model One-way model Tow-way

reference (monologic) (monologic) model Two-way
(dialogic) model(dialogic)
Preferred Predominant Predominant Wide range of
Methods use of mass use methods to Use of dialogue to
and media of media investigate promote
media issues participation

1.3. The characteristics of communication

Dear student, what are the major characteristics of communication?

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There are several characteristics shared by all communication. These are:

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A. Communication is a process. Unlike objects, communication is not

discrete, static, or solitary. It involves at least two persons, one sender and

the other receivers. There is interchange of information among persons. It is

a systematic and continuous process. As a process, communication exists in

time and changes constantly. Communication involves an interaction

between or among people. The interaction is usually complex. The process,

on its most basic level, communication involves someone who initiates the

exchange, usually called a sender or source. The sender has something to

communicate and sends a message to a second person, the receiver. This

indicates one has to be sensitive to the many things occurring all at the same

time as well as over a period of time.

B. Communication uses symbols. The media of communication can be

numerous such as oral media (conversation, meetings, telephone calls and

presentations), written media (memos, letters, reports, language and

environmental elements). When we say that communication is symbolic, we

are referring to the nature of messages rather than to the process of

communicating. Several of the definitions of communication given above

emphasize the exchange of meaning or the transmission of messages. If we

define communication simply as a process, then we can never get at the

important issue of the exchange of meaning. Human evolution made it

possible for us to develop into complex, interesting creatures by developing

our ability to use symbols.

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C. Communication is contextual. The shared or common symbol system is
part of what we refer to when we say that communication occurs in a
context. All English speakers, for example, share a certain basic
understanding of the world. Other languages provide different contexts.
Amharic is one way that communication is contextual. Our languages are
conditioned by our job (specialized languages; eg Medical Doctors have
specialized language), hobbies class (social group), culture, and educational
levels.
This indicates a context in which communication occurs can limit or
facilitate communication. Unless we share a common idea of what is to be
done in banks, for example, we will not know what is appropriate to say and
what is not. Additionally, because we know that certain specialized
languages are associated with certain situations, we have to match our
vocabulary to the circumstance in which we hope to communicate. Many
miscommunications and misunderstandings could arise if the sender and
receiver of a message do not share the same context.
D. Communication is purposive. Basically, communication is done for a

purpose. We have some motivation for communicating, even if we may not

be consciously aware of it. We turn on the radio to relax, or because we are

lonely, or to cover up the sounds of an argument in the next neighborhood.

We strike up a conversation with new people at work because we think they

are attractive, or because we want to impress them, or because we are

curious about their backgrounds.

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E. Communication is two ways. The existence of both a sender and a

receiver in a communication activity presupposes that the communication

process is, generally speaking, two-way. Even in intrapersonal

communication, when we are talking to ourselves, communication is

essentially two-way because we are acting both as sender and receiver.

F. Communication is irreversible. At one time or another, we have all

wished we could take back words we regretted uttering. Unfortunately, this

is not possible. Our words and deeds are recorded in others‘ memories that

we can‘t erase them. As the old saying goes, people may forgive, but they

don‘t forget. In fact, often the more vigorously you try to erase an act, the

more vividly it stands out. This means you should weigh your words

carefully. An offhand comment or a critical remark uttered in the heat of a

conflict can haunt you long afterwards.

G. Communication is not a panacea. It is the indispensable part of

management process. An organization cannot exist without communication.

It aims at developing mutual understanding and cooperation towards the

achievement of organizational goals. Although communication can smooth

out the bumps and straighten the road to success, it will not always get you

what you want. If the quality of communication is poor, the results are likely

to be disappointing. This explains why some problems grow worse, the

longer they are discussed. Misunderstandings and ill feelings can increase

when people communicate badly.

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1.4. Functions of communication
Dear student, what are the key functions and purposes of communication?
Write your answer here and compare your responses with the discussion that
follows.
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The communication process has four basic functions and presented as

follows;
i. Informative function: For a farmer or rural people the basic requirement
for adapting and adjusting one-self to the environment is information. There
must be some information about what is happening in environment, which is
concerned with the farmer
ii. Instructive function: The head of the family, Society or organization,
often communicate to their juniors for the purpose of telling them what to
do, how to do, when to do etc. These types of communication are more
observable in formal organizations than in informal organizations.
iii. Persuasive function: The only purpose of this function is to influence
people. It is extremely important for development practitioners in changing
the people’s behavior in a desirable direction.
iv. Integrative function: The major role of this function is to keep people
and society organized. This helps to maintain individual, organization and
society stability and identity.
Communication in an organization also serves at least one of four purposes.
Of course, many instances of communication serve two or more of these
purposes at the same time. The four purposes of communication are:
To Tell: Job related communication that presents information is common in
most jobs. Sometimes this means explaining how to do a job, for example,

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how to write technical report, how to make project monitoring and
evaluation, how to identify resource poor farmers. Sometimes you need to
explain what is going on in your organization, for example, you may have to
report your progress on an assignment to a client or explain to new
employees about the overall activities of the organization.
To Learn: The ability to understand others might be less obvious and

dramatic than telling skills, but it is no less important. Take a moment to

recall the most effective on-the-job communicators you have known, and

you will see that they were almost certainly good listeners.

To Decide: As you advance in your career, the number and importance of

decisions you face will grow. What is the best approach to a new job? How
can we handle these people? Where should we put the resources we have?
Even the highest decision makers in the higher level of the organization do
not make judgments of their own. They trade ideas with others; testing and
evaluating. In other words, good decisions require good communication.

1.5. Basic principles of development communication

Dear student, identify the main development communication principles that

are applied in your organization and compare your answer with the following
principles of development communication
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According to World Bank (2008), development Communication consist the
following basic principles.

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1. Dialogic —Dialogue is the heart of the new communication paradigm.
The professional application of dialogue, the two-way model of
communication, is widely endorsed by most development institutions and
should be the basis of any initiative. Development communication should
foster dialogue to facilitate mutual understanding, to assess the situation, and
to seek wider consensus. Dialogic approaches guarantee that relevant
stakeholders have their voices heard and that project priorities are aligned
with people priorities. Professionally directed, dialogue is an invaluable
research tool and is absolutely to build trust, optimize knowledge, minimize
risks, and reconcile different positions. To facilitate dialogue professionally
and effectively, a communication specialist must be conversant with proper
communication skills, including principles of active listening.
2. Inclusive —Inclusion is a first step in any situation analysis, whereby
Development Communication identifies, defines, hears, and understands
relevant stakeholders. In this respect, inclusiveness is one of the basic
principles of the Development Communication methodological framework,
even if the appropriate strategy might focus only on selected groups of
stakeholders. Omitting a group from the assessment on a basis that might not
seem relevant can cause problems further along and can increase the risk
factors in the successful achievement of the intervention. Two-way
communication should always pay special attention to groups that are
marginalized or at a disadvantage in society. Gender issues are always a
primary concern in this context, as well as issues related to the poor, or any
other vulnerable group.
3. Heuristic —the investigative use of communication to discover or solve
problems during the initial phases of a development initiative is essential.

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Communication is often defined as a way of sharing meanings or as a
process in which two or more people share information and converge toward
mutual understanding, mutual agreement, and collective action.
This definition denotes the sharing of information and knowledge, which
usually generates more knowledge that, in turn, can lead to effective
collective action. The heuristic and explorative scope of development
communication, strengthened by its analytical and dialogic features,
constitutes its main value-added in addressing and rectifying the past failures
in development.
4. Analytical —Going beyond communicating could be a Development

Communication motto; a large amount of its work, such as the assessment of

political risks and opportunities, is analytical. In this context, the

communication function is not about relating messages but about uncovering

and generating knowledge to design better projects and programs that lead to

sustainable change. The effectiveness of diffusion and dissemination

activities depends significantly on how appropriately the analytical work is

conducted and how effectively people are empowered to voice their

perceptions and opinions.

5. Participatory —While rarely employed in practice to its ideal and fullest

extent, participation is applied in different degrees according to the
intervention. Its relevance is echoed in virtually all development
organizations and communities, at the national and international levels. Only
genuine communication can facilitate effective participation, especially in its
most advanced forms. Participation can be applied in different degrees, and
there are several classifications describing the different types of

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participation. The most common type and levels of participation include:
information sharing, consultation, collaboration, and empowerment.
While the most common mode of operation in development practices can be
categorized as Participation by consultation, Development Communication
also operates at a higher level, by collaboration. This occurs specifically in
the research phase, where dialogue with relevant stakeholders is sought and
promoted and their input valued, especially in community-driven
development projects. This application is adopted according to the
circumstances; although it is a main feature in communication based
assessments, participation is not always a feature of communication
approaches in subsequent activities, such as a campaign to raise awareness
about how to react to an avian flu pandemic.
6. Contextual —There is no precooked universal formula applied a priori
in development communication. This means encouraging participatory
processes that are necessarily rooted in the cultural context of specific
countries and their socioeconomic reality. While investigating a local context
and assessing needs, problems, risks, and opportunities, Development
Communication specialists tap local resources to obtain a better
understanding of the relevant situation and to triangulate their findings. Even
if the overall process of a communication intervention (that is, executing
communication-based assessment, designing communication strategies, and
implementing and evaluating related activities) is consistently similar, the
tools, content, and modes of applications vary significantly according to the
specific situation.
7. Interdisciplinary —To be effectively applied, a development
communication body of knowledge includes a number of principles
borrowed from other disciplines. In addition to specific expertise in the
theory and practices of development communication, the specialist in this

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field is often required to be familiar with other disciplines, such as
ethnography, sociology, political economy, adult education, and marketing.
The specialist might be asked to assess political risks, conduct negotiations
to reduce conflicts, or mediate between opposing views. While sector experts
could address each of these areas with a specific and narrower focus, the
cross-cutting nature of communication makes it an easier and more effective
tool to acquire a comprehensive overview of the situation.
8. Strategic —The principle of strategy, which contains many of the
previous elements, emphasizes the professional and timely application of
communication techniques and methods to achieve intended objectives. At
the risk of oversimplification, a strategy could be defined as a plan to achieve
set objectives with available resources in a given time frame. It is surprising
how often the basics of a strategy are overlooked, not only by
communication specialists, but by all sorts of decision makers.
Often this occurs when practitioners jump into strategy design without
making sure that the objectives are technically sound, well understood, and
relevant to most stakeholders. If the project objectives do not meet all these
criteria, no matter what strategy one adopts, the initiative is bound to fail like
building a house on a faulty foundation. The principles of strategic simply
that all parts of the process, from setting the objectives to selecting the
media, are carefully assessed, triangulated, and, if needed, modified to allow
the design and implementation of an effective strategy. The strategic use of
development communication should not be confused with strategic
communication, the narrower use of communication to persuade individuals
to change behaviors.
9. Persuasive — At times this term has a negative connotation, mostly due
to past uses of persuasion techniques taken to an extreme and often
associated with manipulation and propaganda. Persuasion per se should not

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be thought of in negative terms. The renowned Greek philosopher Aristotle
considered it as an effective way to communicate. In development
communication, persuasion can be used to induce voluntary changes in
individuals. The legitimacy for its use is derived from this rationale and the
definition of change.
To avoid the manipulation connotations of the past and be ethically
appropriate, persuasion should be based on accurate information and within a
context of two-way communication. Each party can present its points of view
with the intention of achieving the most appropriate change. Healthy two-
way persuasive approaches ensure that the best available options among the
various parties are considered and agreed upon, leading to sustainable
change.
In addition to the aforementioned main principles of communication, any
forms of communication should also adhere to the 7C‘s principles for
effective communication it needs to have: Credibility, Courtesy, Clarity,
Correctness, Consistency, Concreteness, and Conciseness.

1.6. Ethical communication

Ethics is the study of values, of what is more or less important, of the good,
of behavioral guidelines and norms. Ethics provides frameworks and tools
for recognizing and assessing available options and for differentiating
between more or less morally justified pathways in any given situation.
Scholars have identified numerous approaches to the study of
communication ethics. In spite this fact, all scholars agree that unethical
communication has been one of humanity's most potentially harmful
weapons.

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In interpersonal contexts, communication has the power to wound deeply, to
undermine connection, and to thwart (prevent) healthy human development.
Within institutional contexts, unethical communication has been used to
support greed and corruption, to bolster tyranny, and otherwise to foster
oppression. They state that communication has been instrumental in sparking
and justifying economic injustice, violence, war, genocide, and tribal
conflicts. At the same time, the art of communication has been instrumental
to the pursuits of truth, wisdom, justice, and peace. Historically, responsible
and effective communication has fostered loving connection, compassion,
and understanding.

All types communication occurs within a context, including goals, means,

and occasion. Ethical communication requires understanding of and
responsiveness to each of these three key elements. What one hopes to
achieve through the communication (the ends), how one chooses to
communicate (the means), and the “real-world” outcomes (the
consequences) of communication are particularly important features of
ethical communication. Communication ethics is, first and foremost, about
choice. To the extent an individual or group has options available in any
given situation, moral agency is at play. With moral agency-the relative
freedom to choose one's pathway in any given situation comes responsibility.
Ethical communication across contexts requires attentiveness to at least the
following: one's intention, the means used to fulfill these ends, and the likely
consequences of one's choices. Even within these parameters, however,
differentiating more or less ethical communication pathways is often

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difficult. Each set of circumstances is unique, and often the most ethical
choice is not readily apparent. A number of resources are available to
address these complexities. No set of rules or norms can provide certainty
regarding the most ethical pathway in specific cases. Usually, some measure
of uncertainty is inevitable. However, people unable to make absolute
decisions nevertheless have the potential to make well-informed, ethical
choices.

General guidelines for ethical communication provide tools for discerning

more or less ethical pathways, assisting decision makers in their efforts to
make responsible choices. The following guidelines will help professional
communicator to communicate ethically.

1. Professional communicators uphold the credibility and dignity of their

profession by practicing honest, candid and timely communication, and by
fostering the free flow of essential information in accord with the public
interest.
2. Professional communicators disseminate accurate information and
promptly correct any erroneous communication for which they may be
responsible.
3. Professional communicators understand and support the principles of free
speech, freedom of assembly, and access to an open marketplace of ideas;
and act accordingly.

4. Professional communicators are sensitive to cultural values and beliefs

and engage in fair and balanced communication activities that foster and
encourage mutual understanding.

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5. Professional communicators refrain from taking part in any undertaking
which the communicator considers to be unethical.
6. Professional communicators obey laws and public policies governing their
professional activities and are sensitive to the spirit of all laws and regulation
and, should any law or public policy be violated, for whatever reason, act
promptly to correct the situation.

7. Professional communicators give credit for unique expressions borrowed

from others and identify the sources and purposes of all information
disseminated to the public.

8. Professional communicator protects confidential information and, at the

same time, complies with all legal requirements for the disclosure of

information affecting the welfare of others.

9. Professional communicator do not use confidential information gained as

a result of professional activities for personal benefit and do not represent
conflicting or competing interests without written consent of those involved.
10. Professional communicator does not accept undisclosed gifts or
payments for professional services for anyone other than a client or
employer.
11. Professional communicators do not guarantee results that are beyond the
power of the practitioner to deliver.

12. Professional communicators are honest not only with others but also, and
most importantly, with themselves as individuals; for a professional
communicator seeks the truth and speaks that truth first to the self.

1.7. Clarifying misconception of (development)

communication

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The 10 points presented hereunder address some of the myths and

misconceptions about communication, especially when related to the field of

development (World Bank, 2008). These misconceptions can often be the

cause of misunderstandings and lead to inconsistent and ineffective use of

communication concepts and practices. The first two points on this list are

about communication in general, while the others refer to development

communication in particular.

1. “Communications” and “communication” are not the same thing. The

plural form refers mainly to activities and products, including information
technologies, media products, and services (the Internet, satellites,
broadcasts, and so forth). The singular form, on the other hand, usually refers
to the process of communication, emphasizing its dialogical and analytical
functions rather than its informative nature and media products. This
distinction is significant at the theoretical, methodological, and operational
levels.
2. There is a sharp difference between everyday communication and

professional communication. Such a statement might seem obvious, but the

two are frequently equated, either overtly or more subtly, as in, “He or she

communicates well; hence, he or she is a good communicator.” A person

who communicates well is not necessarily a person who can make effective

and professional use of communication. Each human being is a born

communicator, but not everyone can communicate strategically, using the

knowledge of principles and experience in practical applications. A

professional (development) communication specialist understands relevant

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theories and practices and is capable of designing effective strategies that

draw from the full range of communication approaches and methods to

achieve intended objectives.

3. There is a significant difference between development communication

and other types of communication. Both theoretically and practically, there

are many different types of applications in the communication family. Each

type of communication has a different scope and requires specific knowledge

and skills to be performed effectively. Expertise in one area of

communication is not sufficient to ensure results if applied in another area.

4. The main scope and functions of development communication are not

exclusively about communicating information and messages, but they also

involve engaging stakeholders and assessing the situation. Communication

is not only about “selling ideas.” Such a conception could have been

appropriate in the past, when communication was identified with mass media

and the linear Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver model, whose purpose was

to inform audiences and persuade them to change. Not surprisingly, the first

systematic research on the effects of communication was carried out soon

after World War II, when communication activities were mostly associated

with a controversial concept-propaganda. Currently, the scope of

development communication has broadened to include an analytical aspect

as well as a dialogical one —intended to open public spaces where

perceptions, opinions, and knowledge of relevant stakeholders can be aired

and assessed.

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5. Development communication initiatives can never be successful unless
proper communication research is conducted before deciding on the
strategy. A communication professional should not design a communication
campaign or strategy without having all the relevant data to inform his or her
decision. If further research is needed to obtain relevant data, to identify
gaps, or to validate the project assumptions, the communication specialist
must not hesitate to make such a request to the project management. Given
its interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature, communication research should
ideally be carried out at the inception of any development initiative,
regardless of the sector or if a communication component would be needed
at a later stage.
6. To be effective in their work, development communication specialists

need to have a specific and in-depth knowledge of the theory and practical

applications of the discipline.

In addition to being familiar with the relevant literature about the various
communication theories, models, and applications, development
communication specialists should also be educated in the basic principles
and practices of other interrelated disciplines, such as anthropology,
marketing, sociology, ethnography, psychology, adult education, and social
research. In the current development framework, it is particularly important
that a specialist be acquainted with participatory research methods and
techniques, monitoring and evaluation tools, and basics principles of strategy
design. Additionally, a good professional should also have the right attitude
toward people, being empathic and willing to listen and to facilitate dialogue
in order to elicit and incorporate stakeholders’ perceptions and opinions.

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Most of all, a professional development communication specialist needs to
be consistently issue-focused, rather than institution-focused.
7. Development communication support can only be as effective as the
project itself. Even the most well-designed communication strategy will fail
if the overall objectives of the project are not properly determined, if they do
not enjoy a broad consensus from stakeholders, or if the activities are not
implemented in a satisfactory manner. Sometimes communication experts
are called in and asked to provide solutions to problems that were not clearly
investigated and defined, or to support objectives that are disconnected from
the political and social reality on the ground. In such cases, the ideal solution
is to carry out field research or a communication-based assessment to probe
key issues, constraints, and feasible options. Tight deadlines and budget
limitations, however, often induce managers to put pressure on
communication experts to produce quick fixes, trying to force them to act as
short-term damage-control public relations or “spin doctors.” In such cases,
the basic foundations of development communication are neglected, and the
results are usually disappointing, especially over the long term.
8. Development communication is not exclusively about behavior change.

The areas of intervention and the applications of development

communication extend beyond the traditional notion of behavior change to

include, among other things, probing socioeconomic and political factors,

identifying priorities, assessing risks and opportunities, empowering people,

strengthening institutions, and promoting social change within complex

cultural and political environments. That development communication is

often associated with behavior change could be ascribed to a number of

factors, such as its application in health programs or its use in mass media to

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persuade audiences to adopt certain practices. These kinds of interventions

are among the most visible, relying heavily on communication campaigns to

change people‘s behaviors and to eliminate or reduce often fatal risks (for

example, AIDS). The reality of development, though, is complex and often

requires broader changes than specific individual behaviors.

9. Media and information technologies are not the backbone of

development communication. As a matter of fact, the value-added of

development communication occurs before media and information and

communication technologies (ICTs) are even considered. Of course, media

and information technologies are part of development communication, and

they are important and useful means to support development. Their

application, however, comes at a later stage, and their impact is greatly

affected by the communication work done in the research phase.

Project managers should be wary of “one-size-fits-all” solutions that appear

to solve all problems by using media products. Past experience indicates that
unless such instruments are used in connection with other approaches and
based on proper research, they seldom deliver the intended results.
10. Participatory approaches and participatory communication approaches
are not the same thing and should not be used interchangeably, but they
can be used together, as their functions are often complementary,
especially during the research phase. Even if there are some similarities
between the two types of approaches, most renowned participatory
approaches, such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) or Participatory
Action Research (PAR), do not usually assess the range and level of people‘s

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perceptions and attitudes on key issues, identify communication entry points,
and map out the information and communication systems that can be used
later to design and implement the communication strategy. Instead, these are
all key activities carried out in a participatory communication assessment.
Dear student, why is development communication not exclusively about
behavior change?
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1.8. Chapter Summary

In this chapter, you have learned the concept of communication and

development communication, its characteristics, functions and principles.
Communication is the key for organizational success and in organizational
setting. No organizational activity can be undertaken without
communication. In an organization communication among others serves to
tell, learn, and decide job related agendas. In order to achieve these purpose
organizations should apply the 7C‘s principles: credibility, courtesy, clarity,
correctness, consistency, concreteness and conciseness
Broadly development communication refers to the sharing of knowledge
aimed at reaching a consensus for action that takes into account the interests,
needs and capacities of all concerned. There are two basic modes, or
families of approaches development communication: the ―monologic
mode, based on the classical one-way communication model associated with
diffusion, and the ‘dialogic’ mode, based on the interactive two-way model,
associated with participatory approaches. In the monologic mode, the

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purpose of the communication program is to inform and persuade people to
adopt innovations or change behaviors. The main purposes of dialogic model
are to assess the situation and empower people.
Development communication is characterized by dialogue, inclusiveness,

heuristic, analytical, participatory, contextual, interdisciplinary, strategic and

persuasive features.

Chapter Reflections:

1. Discuss how communication can contribute to development interventions.

2. Evaluate the extent of the application of communication principles in your
organization
3. Discuss the relevance and implications of the ‘monologic’ mode, and
‘dialogic’ mode of development communication for today‘s NGOs

CHAPTER 2: HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT

COMMUNICATION

Introduction
As already pin pointed elsewhere communication is a two-way process of
giving and receiving information through any number of channels.
Awareness of the different purposes and functions of various types of
communication is the first step toward a better understanding of the field of
development communication and an effective way to enhance necessary
quality standards. Being familiar with the origin of this particular discipline
and the major theoretical frameworks underpinning it can help to achieve a

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much better understanding. The most dominate model are modernization,
dependency, participation, social marketing and media advocacy.
Learning objectives

 To be able to grasp different development communication theories

 To be able to identify model of communications used in the history
of development.

2.1. Modernization
Dear student, what was the main role of communication during the
modernization period?
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This is oldest paradigm, rooted in the concept of development as
modernization, dates back to World War II. It has been called the dominant
paradigm because of its pervasive impact on most aspects of development.
The central idea of the old paradigm was to solve development problems by
modernizing underdeveloped countries advising them how to be effective in
following in the footsteps of richer, more developed countries by promoting
economic growth spurred by free-market approaches. It is believed that the
best way, if not the only way, to achieve these goals consisted in the
diffusion and adoption of the values, principles, and models that ensured the
success of the way of life in wealthier countries.
At the cultural level, modernization advocated for a change in the mindset of
individuals in poor countries who had to abandon traditional beliefs,
considered an impediment toward modernization, and embrace attitudes and
behaviors favorable to innovation and modernity. At the technocratic level,

38 | P a g e
modernization required people with inquisitive minds who were guided by
faith in the scientific method and rooted in the principles of enlightenment.
At the political level, it required staunch advocates of the doctrine of
liberalism based on political freedom and the adoption of democratic
systems. Finally, at the economic level, it required blind faith in the virtues
and power of the free market, with no or minimal government intervention.
Here development was equated with economic growth, and communication
was associated with the dissemination of information and messages aimed at
modernizing “backward” countries and their people. Development is
conceived as a linear one based on trust in science, reason, technology, and
the free market. The main role of communication was to persuade people to
embrace the core values and practices of modernization.
Among the merits of this paradigm, in addition to a certain number of
successes in specific instances and projects, there was the establishment of a
more systematic and rigorous approach to development initiatives. Overall,
however, this theoretical approach to development, with its related bag of
practical tools, did not deliver the expected results. By the end of the 1980s,
it became evident that the promises of the modernization paradigm had not
materialized and that poor peoples‘conditions across the world had failed to
improve significantly. It is acknowledged. (that because of too much focus
on economic development) modernization neglected to consider the
relevance of other social dimensions and failed to take into account a number
of historical and broader sociopolitical factors that impeded the autonomous
development of many developing countries. In the communication field,
modernization theory led to the first systematic and rigorous attempts to
research communication applications in the development context. Many
scholars were particularly interested in studying how communication could
be used to foster national development, which at that time was conceived

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predominantly in economic terms. Communication was expected to help
modernize people‘s attitudes and ways of thinking, which would be
conducive to support of the economic model already adopted successfully by
the West, in accordance with the belief that individuals had to change before
development could truly take off.
Communication in the dominant paradigm is basically associated with the
linear, mass media model aimed at transmitting information and messages
from one point to another or many others, usually in a vertical or top-down
fashion. It relied heavily on the traditional vertical one-way model: Sender-
Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR). This has been the model of reference
for the diffusion perspective, which has often been adopted to induce
behavior changes through media-centric approaches and campaigns. This
idea was rooted in the strong belief in the persuasive power of media,
especially until the 1970s. Development communication was associated with
the use of media to persuade people to achieve, maintain, and strengthen
development goals, and media‘s role was paramount.
The failures attributed, directly or indirectly, to modernization caused a
rethinking of the theoretical models of reference for communication. It has
become increasingly evident that media alone could not change people‘s
mind-sets and behaviors. With time, it became progressively more evident
that media impact was not as direct and as paramount as commonly believed,
and that audiences were not as passive, either.
It should be noted that none of the newly emerging theoretical approaches
questioned the overall validity of the one-way, and usually top-down, flow of
information. However it is pointed out that the emphasis placed on tangible
communication products neglected the potential of communication as a
dialogic (two-way horizontal model), cross-cutting investigative tool. Thus,

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modernization model has been party abandoned (one way model) and its
weakness has resulted in the development of new models.

2.2. Dependency theory

Dear student, what was the reason for the evolution of dependency theory?
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In the 1960s strong opposition to the modernization paradigm led to the
emergence of an alternative theoretical model rooted in a political-economic
perspective: the dependency theory. The proponents of this school of thought
criticized some of the core assumptions of the modernization paradigm
mostly because it implicitly put the responsibility, and the blame, for the
causes of underdevelopment exclusively upon the recipients, neglecting
external social, historical, and economic factors. They also accused the
dominant paradigm of being very Western-centric, refusing or neglecting any
alternative route to development. Dependency theory claims that the
imbalances in the world‘s state of affairs were mainly owing to the
international division of labor and to the continuation of past patterns of
domination. The world was separated into two blocs: the core, composed of a
few rich countries, and the periphery, composed of many poor countries.
According to this perspective, core countries took advantage of their
technological knowhow, superior infrastructure, and economic power to
strengthen their lead. The main role of the peripheral countries was restricted
to that of supplying raw materials and cheap labor to the richer ones, making
it impossible for them to ever catch up.
To address this problem, dependency advocates proposed a plan that works
on two levels. Nationally, developing countries on the periphery were to
become economically self-reliant and less dependent on foreign imports.

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This focus on the adoption of import-substitution policies. This strategy
aimed to protect national industries from outside competition by subsidizing
them and putting high tariffs on imported products. The main idea was to
stimulate growth of domestic industrialization and to reduce or sever
dependent ties with richer countries. However, the overall results of import-
substitution policies have been rather unsatisfactory.
It failed to achieve its goals in most countries. Protecting and supporting
local industries did not produce the expected objectives, and it often resulted
in poor-quality products and inefficient processes. Many poorer countries
were forced to borrow more, a situation that led to a refined version of
financial and political dependency. Internationally, they would form
alliances among themselves to create a stronger political presence. The
ultimate goal would be to change the overall international set of relationships
by forming a bloc of many countries with similar aspirations.
The dependency theory is criticized for ascribing causes of
underdevelopment exclusively to the centers of international capitalism.
Proponents failed to consider relevant internal causes contributing to the
problem such as the role played by national elites. Dependency theories are
also criticized for the little attention they pay to the differences in political-
economic status among developing countries (Brazil and India are the same
category (DC) but with different socio economic and political context).
In the field of communication the basic conception remained rooted in the
linear, one-way model, even though dependency theorists emphasized the
importance of the link between communication and culture. They were
instrumental in putting forward the agenda for a new world information and
communication order which was at the center of a long and heated debate
that took place mostly in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in the 1980s . One of the sharp issues was

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the demand for a more balanced and equitable exchange of communication,
information, and cultural programs among rich and poor countries. Although
the dependency theory had gained a significant impact in the 1970s, in the
1980s it started to lose relevance gradually in tandem with the failure of the
alternative economic models proposed by its proponents.
The proponents of the dependency theory vigorously supported rethinking
the communication agenda along the lines of a more balanced flow of
communication at the international level. Yet, at the national level, they often
neglected to consider the horizontal component of communication within
countries and failed to give proper attention to the potential of privately
owned media and community media. The dependency theorists remained
rooted in the classic media-centric conception of communication, mostly
from the state perspective; the state is expected to represent the wider
public‘s interest (but seldom been the case). Despite significant differences
between modernization and dependency theories, their communication
model was basically the same: a one way communication flow, with the
main difference between the two theories being who was controlling and
sending the message and for what purpose.

2.3. The emerging paradigm: participation

Dear student, what are the main reasons for the adoption of participation in

development?

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When the promises of the modernization paradigm failed to materialize, and

its methods came increasingly under fire, and the dependency theorists failed

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to provide a successful alternative model, a different approach focusing on

people‘s participation began to emerge.

In contrast to the proponents of modernization and dependency theories,

most of the advocates of the participatory theoretical perspective do not seem

particularly interested in defining a grand theory to provide a universal

analysis and interpretation of the world.

They seem more interested in identifying and analyzing drawbacks and

limitations of current development practices, especially at project and

community level, and in attempting to identify normative approaches that

could provide operational guidelines in the field. Common features of this

perspective are the emphasis on people, the endogenous vision of

development, and the attention to power and rights issues. People‘s

participation has been gaining increasing recognition and prestige in the

development discourse and its practices.

The development focus has shifted from economic growth to include other

social dimensions needed to ensure meaningful results in the long run.

Participatory approaches require a shift in the way individuals are

considered, from passive recipients to active agents of development efforts.

Sustainability and people‘s participation became key elements of this new

vision. Internationally, emphasis is being placed on the challenge of

sustainable development, and participation is increasingly recognized as a

necessary part of sustainable development strategies.

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There are many reasons for the adoption of participation in development

includes (1) services can be provided at a lower cost; (2) participation has

intrinsic values for participants, alleviating feelings of alienation and

powerlessness; (3) participation is a catalyst for further development efforts;

(4) participation leads to a sense of responsibility for the project; and (5)

participation ensures the use of indigenous knowledge and expertise. It is

believed that by engaging stakeholders who often have been excluded from

any form of decision making in their lives and allowing them to engage in

the decision-making process, development communication not only reduces

poor people‘s “capability deprivation.” but also facilitates the process of

empowerment, going well beyond the specific initiative in question. Using

dialogue to engage stakeholders in probing and assessing the situation can

help break the broader vicious circle of poverty, where income cannot be

earned without a proper level of individual capabilities, and individual

capabilities cannot be improved while the individual remains in conditions of

poverty.

The emphasis on participation in development also implies increased

attention to communication, because there can be no participation without

communication, at least without a certain type of communication. In other

words, the added emphasis on participation helps to mainstream

communication in many initiatives, and at the same time promotes a more

dialogic and two-way conception of communication. The model is

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significantly different from the traditional one, since it is characterized by

dialogue and by a horizontal flow, enabling the balanced sharing of

perceptions and knowledge. It is underscored that communication acquires a

more interactive connotation aimed at facilitating participation and

empowerment. In other wards meaningful participation cannot occur without

communication. Thus, even when using mass media, messages can be

expected to originate from people themselves rather than from “outside

experts.” This model emphasizes the application of genuine two-way

communication principles and practices. The participatory communication

model takes into account the issues of power and empowerment. This meant

that local people should have the power to take part in the decision-making

process, since power can be conceived as the ability to shape social context.

Communication is increasingly considered as essential in facilitating

stakeholders’ engagement in problem analysis and resolution. Similarly,

there is an increasing recognition that the old, vertical, top-down model is no

longer applicable as a “one-size-fits-all” formula.

While acknowledging that the basic principles behind the Sender-Message-

Channel-Receiver model can still be useful in some cases, development

communication has increasingly moved toward a horizontal, “two-way”

model, which favors people‘s active and direct interaction through

consultation and dialogue over the traditional one-way information

dissemination through mass media. The horizontal use of communication,

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which opens up dialogue, assesses risks, identifies solutions, and seeks

consensus for action, came to be seen as a key to the success and

sustainability of development efforts.

The new paradigm is also changing the way communication is conceived and

applied. It opens up new spaces for dialogue among stakeholders and

facilitates the exchange of knowledge, empowering people to participate

actively in the process affecting their own lives. It shifts the emphasis from

information dissemination to situation analysis, from persuasion to

participation. Rather than substituting for the old model, it is broadening its

scope, maintaining the key functions of informing people and promoting

change, yet emphasizing the importance of using communication to involve

stakeholders in the development process.

2.4. Social marketing paradigm

Dear student, what do you understand by social

marketing?-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Social marketing has been one of the approaches that have carried forward

the premises of diffusion of innovation and behavior change models. Since

the 1970s, social marketing has been one of the most influential strategies in

the field of development communication. Social marketing is an approach

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rooted in the principles of marketing applied to social issues. It has been

widely used, especially to promote health practices, such as immunization

campaigns, sanitation, and others. It applies commercial marketing

techniques to solve social problems. It putts into practice standard techniques

in commercial marketing to promote pro-social behavior. It is also a multi-

disciplinary approach because it concerns education, community

development, psychology and communication.

It is believed that what made McDonald‘s and Coca-Cola a world class can

also have dramatic impact on social problems such as HIV/ AIDS, and child

mortality in developing nations. One of its goals could be to position a

product such as condoms by giving information that could help fulfill, rather

than create, uncovered demand. The process involves the planning,

implementation and monitoring of programs to persuade the acceptance of

social ideas. It applies the basic elements of the process lie on product, price,

place, and promotion. Unlike commercial marketers, social marketers

commit themselves to people‘s health and well-being; are not profit-oriented

and are seeking a larger market share.

Social marketing‘s focus on behavior change, understanding of

communication as persuasion (transmission of information), and top-down

approach to instrument change suggested an affinity with modernization and

diffusion of innovation theories. Similar to diffusion theory, it conceptually

subscribed to a sequential model of behavior change in which individuals

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cognitively move from acquisition of knowledge to adjustment of attitudes

toward behavior change.

Social marketing has greatly influenced the way communication and

information is incorporated in development programs. Principally, it

involves a multi-disciplinary approach. It increases our sensitivity to the

needs for research prior to developing and sending messages and it has

shifted emphasis from the needs of the social change agent to the needs and

perspectives of the beneficiary groups. One may use for example, carefully

radio and pictorial print media, interpersonal communication in the form of

community volunteers, traditional birth attendants, community health

workers, and midwives to reach illiterate target groups. Despite this fact,

unfortunately, social marketing has many attackers who equate social

marketing with commercial marketing and especially with its excesses.

However, when one gets away from the `marketing’ label the value of the

approach stands out.

2.5. Media advocacy

Dear student, what is the main purpose of media advocacy?

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Advocacy for development refers to a combination of social actions designed

to gain political commitment, policy support, social acceptance and systems

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support for a particular goal or program. It involves collecting and

structuring information into a persuasive case; communicating the case to

decision-makers and other potential supporters, including the public, through

various interpersonal and media channels; and stimulating actions by social

institutions, stakeholders and policy-makers in support of the goal or

program. Advocacy communication is primarily targeted at policy-makers or

decision-makers at national and international levels. The emphasis is on

seeking the support of decision makers in the hope that if they are properly

“enlightened” or “pressured”, they will be more responsive to societal

change. Advocacy communication effectively promotes key issues to raise

awareness and to win support with the public or to influence relevant policy-

making processes.

Advocacy is most effective when individuals, groups and all sectors of

society are involved. Therefore, three main interrelated strategies for action

can be identified:

Advocacy – generating political commitment for supportive policies and

heightening public interest and demand for development issues; Social

support – developing alliances and social support systems that legitimize and

encourage development-related actions as a social norm;

Empowerment – Equipping individuals and groups with the knowledge,

values and skills that encourage effective action for development.

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Media advocacy is the strategic use of mass media to advance social or

public policy initiatives. Advocacy requires the mobilization of resources

and groups in support of certain issues and policies to change public opinion

and decisions. It consists of the organization of information for

dissemination through various interpersonal and media channels towards

gaining political and social acceptance of certain issues.

Media advocacy criticizes social marketing for having an individualistic,

behaviorist approach to health and social problems that narrows

interventions to public information campaigns. Media advocacy espouses a

community-level model of intervention in health issues. According to media

advocacy theory, campaigns are not the panacea not only because their

effectiveness is questionable but also because they ignore the social causes

of unhealthy behavior.

Media advocacy adopts a participatory approach that emphasizes the need of

communities to gain control and power to transform their environments. It

assigns the media a pivotal role in raising issues that need to be discussed

and putting pressure on decision-makers. However, advocacy is not solely

concerned with media actions. The theory assumes that the media largely

shape public debate and, consequently, political and social interventions. To

be effective in development campaign, then, influencing news agendas is

mandatory.

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 2.6. Chapter summary
Modernization, dependency, participation, social marketing and media

advocacy are the dominate models of development communication

dominate. Modernization theory equated development with economic

growth. Communication in this paradigm is basically associated with the

linear, mass media model aimed at transmitting information and messages

from one point to another or many others, usually in a vertical or top-down

fashion and aimed at modernizing “backward” countries and their people.. It

relied heavily on the traditional vertical one-way model.

Dependency theory is rooted in the classic media-centric conception of

communication (mostly from the state perspective) and claims that the

imbalances in the world‘s state of affairs were mainly owing to the

international division of labor and to the continuation of past patterns of

domination. The proponents vigorously supported rethinking the

communication agenda along the lines of a more balanced flow of

communication at the international level. Both modernization and

dependency theories emphasizes a one way communication flow. The main

difference between the two theories is who is controlling and sending the

message and the purpose of communication.

Participatory approaches to development require a shift in the way

individuals are considered, from passive recipients to active agents of

development efforts. This approach to development gives special attention to

communication and underscore that no participation without communication,

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at least without a certain type of communication. This model emphasizes the

application of genuine two-way communication principles and practices. It

takes into account the issues of power and empowerment.

Social marketing‘s focus on behavior change, understanding of

communication as persuasion (transmission of information‖), and top-down

approach to instrument change suggested an affinity with modernization and

diffusion of innovation theories. Media advocacy adopts a participatory

approach and emphasizes the need of communities to gain control and power

to transform their environments.

Chapter Reflections

1. Discuss the relevance of development communication paradigms for

today‘s NGOs.

2. Which type of development communication paradigm is commonly

used by NGOs today and why?

3. The choice of development communication paradigm is conditioned

by the type of program/ project the NGO is running/ operating. Discuss

4. Find any NGO in your surrounding and evaluate development

communication practices of the selected NGO (please use at least two data

gathering tools). You can evaluate development communication practices of

the NGO you are working with.

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CHAPTER 3: ELEMENTS AND TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
Introduction
The basic elements of communication are; the sender, the receiver, the

message, the channel and feedback. The sender codes the information or

message, chooses an appropriate channel to convey the message, and then on

receiving the information, the recipient decodes it and gives feedback to the

sender. Effective communication necessitates understanding between the

sender and receiver. This chapter briefly discusses elements of

communication and types of communication.

Learning objectives:

 To be able to distinguish communication process and elements of

communication

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 To be able to identify different types of communication

3.1. Elements of Communication

Dear student, what are the basic elements of communication?

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Communication has eight basic elements. We might think of the

communication process in terms of the over simplified but useful or essential

elements. These are:

1. Communicator (sender) – communicators in development organization

can be project leader, individuals, departments or the organization itself.

Each of these communicators has a message, an idea, or information to

transmit to someone or some group.

2. Perception and interpretation – A persons view or perception of what is

being communicated is crucial. Perception is reality to the person. It is how

the person views the message. In perceiving, a person often must make an

interpretation:

3. Encoding - is the process of selecting and organizing bits of information

into transmissible message language. Within the communicator, an encoding

process must take place that translates the communicator’s purpose. The

major form of encoding is language. The function of encoding then is to

provide a form in which ideas and purposes can be expressed as a message.

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4. Message – The result of the encoding process is the message- either verbal

or nonverbal. Researchers have numerous purposes for communicating, such

as to have others understand their ideas, to understand the ideas of others, to

gain acceptance of themselves or their ideas, and to produce action. The

message then is what individual hopes to communicate, and the exact form

that message takes depends to a great extent on the medium used to carry it.

The content of the message should be relevant to the receiver. That is it

would be something of interest to him. It must be related to something he

understands feels or thinks. It should also be something that he can accept.

The treatment of the message lies much to make it acceptable and

understandable to the receiver. It should be logically organized in terms of he

or she understands. Furthermore, it should contain the accepted social

standards.

5. Channel – is the carrier of the message. The development worker

provides information for their members by a variety of means, including

face-to-face communication, telephone, group meetings, etc. Channels are

means of physically connecting the source and receiver of the message.

Based on our sense organs channels are classified in to three:

1. Audio- sensed by our ear e.g. Radio, Tape

2. Visual – sensed by our eye. E.g. All printed media like posters,

newspapers etc

3. Audio-visual – the combination of the two. E.g. TV, Film etc

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How to Select Channels

Channels should be selected depending on

a. Their accessibility (local availability)

b. Their compatibility (understand ability)

c. Their preference use

d. The level of knowledge, skills, attitude of the audience

6. Decoding – For the process of communication to be completed, the

message must be decoded by the receiver. Decoding is a technical term for

the thought processes of the receiver. Thus, it involves interpretation.

Receivers interpret (decode) the message in light of their own previous

experiences and frames of reference. The closer the decoded message is to

the intent of the communicator, the more effective is the communication.

7. Receiver (person) – By definition, communication requires a

communicator and a receiver. The foregoing discussion of decoding

difficulties underlines the importance of taking the receiver into account

when a communicator attempts to transmit information. ‘’Telling is not

teaching’’ if the teacher uses language that the student cannot understand

(decode). Effective communication requires the communicator to anticipate

the receivers decoding ability, to know where the receiver ‘’comes from’’.

Effective communication is receiver oriented, not media oriented. The

receiver or audience is whom the communicator wishes to receive,

understand and use the message or information.

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8. Feedback – one-way communication processes do not allow receiver- to –

communicator feedback. Two ways communication process provide for such

feedback. It is desirable to make provision for feedback in the

communication process. It decreases the potential for distortion between

intended message and the received message. A feedback loop provides

channel for receiver response, enabling the communicator to determine

whether the message has been received and has produced the intended

response. In face-to-face situations direct feedback is possible through verbal

exchanges as well as through such subtle means as facial expressions that

indicate discontent or misunderstanding. Feedback is the return message or

response from receiver to sender.

In face-to-face communication there is immediate and continuous feedback;

the facial expression of the listener can tell the speaker whether his message

is understood, accepted resented or liked. In written communication like

distance education, feedback is slow: the writer or the tutor cannot see the

readers’ facial expressions or his immediate reactions.

In mass communication, that is radio, TV, film and newspaper

communications feedback is so little and so delayed and thus it is almost

negligible.

In general, the only real hope of an improvement in our communication

system is for the sender to assure himself that his communication has been
thoroughly understood by the receiver. All the way through a
communication, he must use a control that will ensure the degree of meaning

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which has placed on his words is appreciated when received. A piece of
message transmitted is said to be effective only when there is a provision for
feedback in communication. A communication process is said to have
feedback, when the receiver of the message has given his response to the
sender’s message. On the other hand the communicator must know how well
the message has been received by the receiver, understood, interpreted and
acted upon.
Feedback helps to determine this process. Sending back the knowledge about
the message to the communicator is known as feedback. Thus, feedback is
one of the important elements of the communication process. Two-way
communication is essential in good feedback between the sender and
receiver which promotes good relations between them and motivates them to
do their best. An effective two-way communication occurs when the sender
transmits message and the receivers involves in feedback to the sender.
9. Noise – In the framework of communication, noise is any interfering

factor that, if present, can distort the intended message. Noise can be present

in any element.

For example, when a development worker talks to one farmer, he/she may

start the conversation, therefore, he/she is the sender, what he/she says is the

message, the farmer is the receiver and when the farmer replies the

development worker becomes the receiver. i.e. the roles are temporarily

reversed. Good communicator knows his/her audience, their needs, his/her

message, its content and how to present it. He/she also knows effective

channels of communication to teach his/her audience appropriate with

his/her message and knows his/her own abilities and limitations. He/she is

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also interested in his/her audience and their welfare and how his/her message

can help and is interested in improving his/her skills in communication.

He/she also prepares his/her messages carefully using appropriate materials

and devices to arouse interest and insure a successful reception of the

messages. Besides, he/she does the following:

 Speaks clearly

 Uses words and languages the people can understand

 Realizes that mutual understanding between teacher and learner is a

common bond

 Is aware of the limit of time; try to unload the whole burden of any

topic at one time, chooses only those parts most appropriate for the particular

teaching situation.

Let communication process with the use of a diagram depicted as follows;

3.2. Types of communication

Dear student, list the common types of communication that your are
commonly using for the development intervention

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When we are saying types of communication it is the way that message

passes from sender to receiver. Different types of communications are
presented as follows;

1. Intra-personal communication

It refers to speaking to oneself. Thinking, encoding, decoding, individual

study and the like are examples of intra-personal communication. This shows
that Intra-personal communication is the foundation for Interpersonal
communication. The channel (medium) is the brain of the person. The sender
and receiver of the message is the individual himself/herself. It’s very much
affected by personal biasness because his/her judgment can be affected by
attitude, skills, knowledge etc
2. Interpersonal communication
Interpersonal communication is communication flow from one individual to
another individual in face- to- face and group settings. It uses different
channels (media) e.g. oral, letters, telephone etc. The pre-conditions for
effective inter-personal communication are trust, self-disclosure, flexibility
etc.
3. Group communication
Communication among a group of people of 10-12 (small group) and 12-30
(medium group) and large group of 30 persons is called group
communication. There are two groups’ in-group communication namely
primary group (leaders) and secondary group (followers). Lectures,
demonstrations and group discussions are considered group communication.

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4. Mass communication
The producer or source is usually an institution at a national or international
level and the receiver is anonymous. Mass communication operates in the
public sphere to provide messages of a kind determined by what is culturally
and technically possible. In mass communication:
 Message flow tends to be one way
 Amount of feedback is low
 Speed to large audiences is relatively rapid
 The same message to all receivers usuall
E.g. TV, Radio, Magazine, Newspapers, Books etc

3.3. Formal communication types in the organization

The formal communication networks consist of vertical–upward and

downward, horizontal and diagonal communication, and are discussed as
follows;

1. Vertical communication
Patterns of Vertical communication have received a good deal of attention,
primarily because they are vital in organizational operations. In the
organization, vertical communications involve both upward and downward
flows
A. Downward Communication
Downward communication takes place whenever a supervisor sends a
message to one or more subordinates. It flows from individuals at higher
levels of the hierarchy to those at lower levels. The most common downward
communication is job instruction, official memo, policy statement,
procedure, manual, and institutional publication. In large organization, a

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trained staff of communication experts undertakes communicating with
employees often.
The usual function of the staff is to produce a publication aimed at three
purposes:
 To explain the organization‘s plans and programs as they are
implemented
 To answer complaints and criticisms
 To defend the existing strategy and those who are responsible for it
B. Upward Communication
Upward communication occurs when messages flow from subordinates to
superiors. In the other way, it consists of messages from subordinates to
superiors. Many leading NGOs/ businesses attribute their success to the
emphasis on upward communication in their organization. A high-
performing organization needs effective upward communication. However, it
is often necessary for sound decision making.
Widely used upward communication devices include suggestion boxes,
group meeting, reports to supervisors, and appeal or grievance procedures. In
the absence of these flows, employees find ways to adapt to nonexistent or
inadequate upward communication channels.
2. Horizontal Communication
Horizontal (sometimes called “lateral”) communication consists of messages
between members of an organization with equal power. The most obvious
type of horizontal communication goes on between members of the same
division of an organization; office workers in the same department, co-
workers on a construction project, and so on.
Although vertical communication flows are primary considerations in
organization design, effective organization needs horizontal communication.

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Horizontal communication is especially important in organizations for the
following purposes:
 To coordinate tasks when several employees or departments are each
working on part of an important project.
 To solve problems such as how to reduce waste or how to increase
the project works.
 To share information such as an easier way to perform a task or the
result of a new survey.
 To resolve conflict such as disagreements between coworkers.
 To save time and cost by shortening the length chains of
communication.
3. Diagonal Communication
It refers to the flow of messages between the superior of a certain department
and subordinates of another department. For example the management may
allow the coordinator of food security department to directly communicate
with coordinator of soil and water conservation division, Diagonal
Communication is the least used channel of communication in an
organization. It is important in situation in which members cannot
communicate effectively through other channel.

3.4. Informal communication

Informal communication is also known as ‘Grapevine’. It is free from all
sorts of formalities because it is used on informal relationships between the
parties, such as friendship, membership in the same club or association.
Persons at the executive levels also use informal communication when they
find it difficult to collect information from the workers. Such communication
includes comments, suggestions etc. It may be conveyed by a simple glance,
gesture, smile or mere silence. Managers and executives also favor the

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growth and development of informal network of communication off and on.
This process, in fact, serves a very useful purpose in disseminating certain
information which, in the general interest of the organization, cannot be
transmitted through the official channels. Apart from that, it also offers the
high and higher ups a clearer insight into what the subordinates think and
feel. But at the same time, the weaknesses of the informal communication
are also worth noting. It may be mentioned that this process very often tends
to pass distorted, misinterpreted, and inaccurate and half-truth information
and facts, depending on the circumstances and the message.

3.5. Problems in communication and strategies for improving

communication
3.5.1. Problems in communication
Dear student, what are the common communication blocks that you noticed
during your development intervention? How did you overcome the
problems?
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Development workers and project advisers often find to their disappointment

that rural community does not seem to show the desired response after a
message has been communicated. There can always be something that can
stand between you and the person with whom you are communicating, which
prevents the easy and complete transfer of the information. This is the
problem in communication. You must be able to trace out what and where
this block is and remedy it as soon as you can.
Some of the communication blocks are:
 Insufficient information

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 Information overload
 Overconfidence
 Language or code
 Not listening
 Too ahead of audience understanding
 Lack of empathy
 Ignoring the leaders
 Prejudices
 Beliefs
 Physical environment
 Egoism, complacency, over-confidence, Dogmatism and the feeling of
omniscience that seeing one knows everything
 Difference in thinking or perceptions

3.5.2. Techniques/strategies for improving communication

Dear student, what are the techniques that you use for improving
communication in your organization?
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Communication can be improved through applying several techniques of
which some are discussed as follows;
Follow Up; it involves assuming that you may have been misunderstood and
whenever possible, attempting to determine whether you intended meaning
was actually received.
Regulating information Flow: it ensures an optimum flow of information to
managers, thereby elimination the barrier of communication overload. Both
the quality and quantity are controlled.

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Feedback; it is an important element in effective two-way communication. It
provides a channel for receiver response, enabling the communicator to
determine whether the message has been received and has produced the
intended response.
Empathy: it is the ability to put oneself in the other person‘s role and to
assume the viewpoints and emotions of that other person. This ability
involves being receiver oriented rather than communicator oriented. The
form of a communication should depend largely on what is known about the
receivers. It requires the communicator to place himself in the receiver‘s
position for the purpose of anticipating how the message is likely to decoded.
Simplifying language: Complexity of language has been identified as a
major barrier to effective communication. The student often suffers when his
instructor uses technical jargon that transforms simple concepts into complex
puzzles. In an organization, the manager must remember that effective
communication involves transmitting understanding. If the receiver does not
understand, then there has been no communication. The management focus
indicates that simplifying and using correct language is taken seriously by
the organization.
Effective listening: Just listening is not enough; one must listen with
understanding. Numerous pointers for effective listening are useful in
organization settings. For example, ten commandments for good listening;
stop talking, put the speaker at ease, show the speaker you want to listen,
remove distractions, empathize with the speaker, be patient, hold your
temper, go easy on argument and criticism, ask questions, and stop talking.
Such lists of guidelines can be useful for manager. However, more important
than these lists is the decision to listen. The preceding guidelines are useless
unless the manager makes the conscious decision to listen. The realization
that effective communication involves being understood as well as

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understanding probably is far more important than lists of guidelines. Then
and only then can such guidelines become useful.
Utilizing the Grapevine:- The grapevine is an important informal
communication channel that exists in all organizations. It basically serves as
a by passing mechanism and often is faster than the formal system it by
passes. In most cases, manager can count on the fact that the grapevine is
fast, efficient, and accurate and fulfills peoples need to communicate.
Because it is flexible and it is usually involves face-to-face communication.
It is capable of transmitting information rapidly.

3.6. Chapter summary

Communication as a process involves a series of activities. Sender, encoding,
message, medium receiver, decoding, feedback and noise are the major
elements of communication. The process of communication involves seven
steps with possibility of overlaps in practice. It begins with the sender and
end ups with mutual understanding between sender and receiver, the
feedback system enhancing the effectiveness of communication. The formal
communication types in the organization consist vertical–upward and
downward, horizontal and diagonal communication. Informal communication
which is also known as ‘Grapevine’ is free from all sorts of formalities
because it is used on informal relationships between the parties, such as
friendship, membership in the same club or association.
A communication process is said to have feedback, when the receiver of the
message has given his response to the sender’s message. On the other hand
the communicator must know how well the message has been received by
the receiver, understood, interpreted and acted upon. Feedback helps to
determine this process. Characteristics of feedback are intention, specificity,
description, usefulness, timeliness, clarity, validity and readiness.

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Some of the communication blocks are insufficient feedback, information
overload, overconfidence, language/code, physical environment, ignoring the
leaders, prejudices, belief, not listening, too a head audience understanding,
lack of empathy and difference in thinking or perceptions.
Communication can be improved through applying several techniques such
as ; follow up, regulating information flow, feedback, empathy, simplifying
language, effective listening and utilizing the grapevine:

Chapter reflection

1. Explain the benefit of understanding the elements and process of

communication for development actors (eg NGO staff)

2. Based on your own experience in an organization, evaluate the

effectiveness of each communication types.

3. Identify the communication blocks of your organization and design a

strategy to overcome the problem of communication

4. For effective communication, how feedback take place in your

organization

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CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND
PLANNING OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
Introduction
In this chapter, our main focus is on the methodology of development
communication programs which can be divided into four stages, or phases.
These phases are: communication-based assessment; communication strategy
design; development communication planning, implementation; and
monitoring and evaluation. They are described briefly here under.
Learning objectives:
 To be able to design communication strategy, implementation and
monitoring and evaluation
 To be able to design development communication planning in programs
and projects
 To be able to identify the rationale of community participation in
development programs and types of community participation

4.1. Communication-Based Assessment (CBA)

Dear student, what are the benefits of CBA in the project cycle?
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This phase offers a comprehensive investigation of a situation and should be
the first step of any development initiative, regardless of the sector. It
illustrates how to select and use appropriate communication research

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methods and techniques, as well as how to engage stakeholders in the
investigation of the sociopolitical context before examining specific
technical issues. Regardless of the sector of intervention, Development
communication work facilitates achieving sustainable results through the
preliminary assessment of the situation. Naturally, empirical research is most
effective when performed during the initial phases of the intervention.
Nevertheless, even when it is included halfway through the project cycle,
CBAs can play a significant role in supporting the project‘s objectives.
Given its interdisciplinary and cross-cutting nature, communication-based
assessment is of particular value in exploring and assessing the overall
circumstances, building trust, and minimizing sociopolitical risks. CBA
addresses the what, who, and why of each situation investigated by involving
all relevant stakeholders. It utilizes the principles and tools of the
development methodological framework, facilitating dialogue, building trust,
analyzing political risk, and assessing conditions to identify entry points for
the communication strategy. A CBA is a flexible instrument and thus these
steps minimize possible risks and enhance projects‘ chances for success and
sustainability.

4.2. Communication strategy design

Dear Student, how do you conceptualize the term communication strategy?

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The common understanding of the term strategy is a plan or method for
achieving specific objectives. Yet in order to achieve a goal or objective,
certain requirements must be met. First of all, the objective must be not only

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specific but also feasible and clearly stated; secondly, the needed resources
should be available.
A communication strategy can be defined as a well-planned series of actions
aimed at achieving specific objectives through the use of communication
methods, techniques, and approaches.
Strategy design refers to the problem-solving or strategic thinking that
designs the best way to achieve the identified objectives. This phase defines
the type of change needed and helps to select the most appropriate
communication approach for each initiative. The most common approaches
of communication strategy include social marketing approach, Advocacy
approach, Information dissemination and campaigns approach, Information,
education, and communication (IEC) approach, Education and training
approach, Institutional strengthening approach, Community mobilization
approach, and Nondirective participatory communication approach. The
approaches are elucidated as follows;.
A. Social marketing is an approach rooted in the principles of marketing
applied to social issues. It has been widely used, especially to promote health
practices, such as immunization campaigns, sanitation, and others.
B. Advocacy is mainly applied to promote a specific issue or agenda,
generally at a national level. It is often directed at changing policies or
supporting policy-making changes, either addressing policy makers directly
or winning the support of the public opinion.

C. Information dissemination and campaigns refer to the targeted

dissemination of information to fill specific knowledge gaps. This approach
relies heavily on diffusion models through media campaigns, which can be
applied in a number of circumstances, either for broader national audiences
or for populations in specific areas. Different from the past, where they

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tended to rely heavily on a single specific medium, campaigns nowadays
take advantage of a mix of different media.
D. Information, education, and communication (IEC) refers to a broader set

of tactical approaches aimed at disseminating information and educating

large audiences. It is based on the linear transmission model where

information is disseminated through a number of media.

E. Education and training is an approach applied in programs requiring

instructional design, usually based on an interactive modality, often at an
interpersonal level. Educational approaches are generally aimed at increasing
knowledge and comprehension, while training approaches are usually
focused on improving professional skills.

F. Institutional strengthening is directed at strengthening the internal

capacities of an institution (for example, through training) and eventually
also at positioning and improving its image with external audiences.
G. Community mobilization is an approach that implies a systematic effort to
involve the community to take active part in the resolution of specific issues
related to their well-being. Sometimes it can require the formation of groups
designated to participate in the decision- making process and to follow up on
specific issues (for example, monitoring the activities indicated by a project
work plan).
H. Nondirective participatory communication occurs when two-way
communication is used not only to assess the situation but also to jointly
define objectives and design strategy. It is based on dialogue that seeks
consensus on social change considered meaningful and relevant by all local
stakeholders. The added term “nondirective” emphasizes the genuine use of

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participation from the beginning of the process and its being open to various
outcomes.

These approaches are not mutually exclusive and can stand alone or in

combination with each other. The planning done in this phase emphasizes the

strategic selection and application of methods, techniques, and media

resulting from research-based findings and objectives.

The aforementioned definitions for ‘strategy’ and “communication strategy”

highlight that the starting point should lie in the objectives. When called in to

provide support in an ongoing project through communication, the

development communication specialist‘s first step should be to obtain a clear

definition or validation of the project objectives. Once this is accomplished,

the specialist can work on defining the communication objectives in support

of the project.

The definitions of objectives constitute the link between the communication-

based assessment sequence and the sequence for strategy design. Once the
objectives have been defined and validated, the strategy can be delineated.
To make strategy design easier, the objectives should be identified in a way
that is specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely (SMART). A
communication strategy meant to support an ongoing project should start by
reviewing all relevant documentation of the project and then be followed by
a communication- based assessment to identify sound and SMART
objectives.

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The overall communication strategy, therefore, should be devised and

refined by constantly checking and revising each element of the design.

Objectives are the core of the strategy, but each element is important and

should be carefully considered because each is linked to the others and can

affect the final outcome. Most of the success of a communication strategy

depends on the way the objectives are identified and formulated

Effective definition of the objectives is not always an easy task because

proper identification and analysis of the main causes of a problem or

situation are needed. This information defines the strategy objectives. To be

effective, strategies should be based on sound research data, and in the new

communication paradigm, research is not simply an extractive tool (that is,

researchers extracting information to be elaborated on and used by outside

experts), but part of a heuristic process engaging stakeholders in the

investigative process.

In addition to the theoretical and applicative knowledge in communication

and related fields, development communication specialists should also be
familiar with research methods and the foundations of planning and strategy
design. Managers should rely on specialists with the proper skills for design
of communication operational strategies.
It is not likely that an architect would be asked to provide the complete
design of a building in a week, or that a sociologist would be asked to design
and conduct a national survey on three days’ notice. Regardless of how
strong the pressure is to deliver as soon as possible, the development
communication specialist should not hesitate to stand firm about what is

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possible to achieve and what is not, according to the available information
and the given time frame. It is usually feasible to make the case that it is in
the project managers’ interest to allow adequate time and resources to collect
and interpret the information needed to shape the proper strategy and
enhance the overall results.
Development communication specialists are not spin doctors or rainmakers,
they should not be asked to perform their work in less than rigorous ways.
When adopted in ongoing projects, development communication‘s
effectiveness is heavily dependent on the project objectives. If those
objectives are not well defined, if they are perceived differently by different
groups of stakeholders, or if there are knowledge gaps in the way they are
perceived, further research should be sought before defining the strategy
design.
When communication is used to assess and probe the situation from the start,
the strategy design will be proactive and more effective, since it can draw
from a wide range of options based on the inputs of the wider stakeholders’
engagement. On the other hand, when called to assist in an ongoing project,
development communication specialists may find themselves facing a
challenge different from what they expected. Sometimes they need to spend
a considerable amount of time persuading the project management to get
better data about the situation before operational work begins. In order to
design an effective communication strategy, it is not enough to have a
general idea about the solution. The key question to be addressed is not
‘what’ is happening, but ‘why’ it is happening.

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Communication-based assessment provides the basis for an effective strategy

since its outputs (that is, definitions of the objectives) become the inputs

needed to design the strategy leading to change. Development is all about

change. To be achieved effectively, that change must be agreed to by, and

not imposed on, relevant stakeholders. Communication ensures sound

foundations upon which to build the development initiative leading to

change. Those foundations typically include an extensive knowledge of the

stakeholders‘ socio-cultural background, their positions on the issues of

interest, an in-depth analysis of the causes of the situation to be changed, and

most important, the definition in a clear and measurable manner of the

objectives to be achieved.

Before entering into the various elements of the strategy, the communication

specialist should look at the broader picture and decide which type of

communication mix is needed. For instance, a communication strategy in

support of a decentralization program might require (1) strengthening the

internal communication of key institutions, (2) improving the image of the

project or institution, and (3) engaging stakeholders in order to support

change. In this case, the communication strategy will be multipronged, as it

will have internal, corporate, and development communication strategic lines

of intervention. In some cases, advocacy may also be required.

Quite frequently, the communication strategy is drawn within a single type

of communication. When considering which communication approaches,
media, or messages would be most effective to achieve the intended change,

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the development communication specialist must look back into the research
findings. Mass dissemination of brochures and other literature on how to
prevent the spread of a disease is of little use in areas with high illiteracy
rates. A social marketing approach might be most effective in a health
campaign, but it might not be so effective in a community driven
development project.
Every design of a communication strategy is unique in content, methods, and
media. The sequence to be followed when designing a strategy, however,
tends to be consistent across the whole range of applications. The sequence
described in this section intends to provide a basic frame of reference,
especially useful for those who might need to manage the planning and
monitoring of such a strategy.
When designing a strategy, it is always important to be fully aware that the

starting point is not the audience, nor is it the message. It is the problem or

the desired change to be achieved with all its implications and related

background information. That is why, in presenting the steps for designing

an effective communication strategy, it is helpful to start with a pre-

sequence, which could be used as a checklist to monitor the progress and

effectiveness of the strategy.

4.3. Core elements in designing a strategy

Dear Student, what are the core elements in designing communication

strategy?

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-
The type of method or approach to be used in designing a communication

strategy depends largely on the complexity of the objectives. The basic steps

to design communication strategy ( indicted) is straightforward, but in many

other instances, the degree of complexity and difficulty is much greater, and

the communication strategy needs to reflect that. For instance, a project

supporting decentralization at a national level may require different types of

communication (corporate, advocacy, and development communication), and

the development communication modality might contain different

approaches, such as awareness raising about the responsibilities and benefits

of decentralization; behavior change of local administrators; community

mobilization to ensure transparency and accountability; and, at a national

level, a multimedia campaign to support the reform of the state. Such a

multifaceted reality requires a complex strategy design. The core elements in

designing communication strategy are:

1. Audiences and Stakeholder Groups. In order to select the most

appropriate media and to design a message effectively, the communication

specialist needs to know the norms, values of reference, actions, and

aspirations of the audience. This can be achieved by adopting a high degree

of empathy and doing proper research. Communicating the scientifically

correct information is seldom enough to change audiences’ attitudes and

behaviors. To use a certain technique or visual aid, the communication

specialist might need to know the educational background and cultural

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sensitivities of the stakeholders to make sure that the material used is

appropriate to the context and not offensive to anybody. Stakeholders’ and

audiences’ interests and priorities in the issue must be consistent with that of

the project staff to avoid the common mistake of imparting knowledge that is

technically sound but out of harmony with people‘s perceptions.

2. Levels of Change. The communication objectives of approaches within

the monologic mode imply a level of change that usually falls within one of
the following categories: awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (or
practices) or AKAB. On the other hand, in the dialogic mode, change can be
addressing broader issues at a social level, such as mobilization,
collaboration, and (conflict) mediation or resolution. In the first case the
communication intervention will basically aim at raising awareness,
increasing knowledge, changing the attitudes, and changing the behaviors
(and/or adopting an innovation). This sequence, at times called the ladder of
change, needs to be followed in order to induce change. The communication
entry point is determined by the research, or CBA.
If there is no awareness at all, the communication strategy will need to raise
such awareness; it should then provide the knowledge about the issue and
finally address specific attitudes and behaviors. However, if the CBA reveals
that relevant actors are aware of the problems and have the knowledge of
how to change, the communication intervention could focus on the attitudes
and behaviors right away. In any case one should not address specific
behavior changes unless the previous steps have been addressed successfully
or are already fulfilled. Trying to induce behavior change without the

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audience having the required knowledge or attitudes is likely to result in
failure.
Sometimes there is the need to address a change more on a social level, such
as mobilizing communities to play an active part in the decentralization
effort, having different groups of stakeholders collaborating on a common
initiative, or mediating a conflict that has negative repercussions on the
social development of the area. Such change is usually addressed by dialogic
approaches. Inserting the required level of change in the strategy matrix
helps to focus the intervention and ensure that the communication
approaches and the evaluation indicators are in line with the objectives.
3. Basics of Message Design- In development, message design should be

first and foremost about listening in order to understand and ensure that

messages convey what is relevant and needed by stakeholders in a given

situation. The design of appropriate and effective messages refers to the

packaging of information deemed important to induce a desired voluntary

change in specific audiences. Even if messages are determined and designed

in advance, there are instances where relevant content is presented and

discussed in an open form through discussion themes.

In general, the type of message design adopted depends on the objectives and
the communication approaches selected for the development initiative.
Whatever the message, it is necessary to have an in-depth understanding of
the intended audiences and all the relevant background data. An effective
message design cannot be delegated solely to experts of the specific sector

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(engineer, medical specialist, or economist, for example) but needs to be
shaped by the professional skills of communication experts.
When designing a message, it is helpful to think about both the content of the

message, the information to be included in the message, and the take-away

message, the main message or idea for the audience to retain, which usually

is not the whole package of information received. With this duality in mind,

it is easier to avoid the common mistake of assuming that a message received

is a message understood and retained by the audience. Effective messages

are those that have the information packaged in a clear and easily

understandable manner, contain the right appeal to get the audience‘s

attention, and fill the gap between what the audience knows and what they

need to know. Messages get “decoded” or interpreted in different ways by

individuals, and they can also be reinterpreted or negotiated through

interpersonal communication among individuals. It is imperative that

messages be pretested with a relevant sample of the intended audiences

before starting the production of communication materials.

While designing message for Development Communication and thereby to

ensure effectiveness when defining or supervising the design of messages,

the following items should be kept in mind.

A. Socio-cultural sensitivity
B. Language appropriateness

C. Political compatibility

D. Economic compatibility

E. Psychological appropriateness

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F. Expected achievements

4. Communication Channels and Media- Often this topic is simply

referred to as media. Communication channels and media can range from
electronic media, such as video, radio, and the Internet, to traditional
channels, such as popular theater, drums, and storytelling, and pass through
the whole range of printed products, such as newspapers, leaflets, brochures,
posters, and flip charts. Sometimes opinion leaders or individuals having a
significant influence or credibility in the community can become effective
channels in a communication program. Which specific channel or media mix
to use depends on a number of factors: objectives of the communication
intervention (for example, awareness raising, advocacy, mobilization),
characteristics of the audiences (such as literacy rates, preferred information
sources), the social environment (available media, cultural context), and
available resources, among others. Without necessarily mastering all the
specific aspects involved in the production and use of each medium or
channel, the communication specialist should always be aware of the
strengths and weaknesses of each. While television is known for its high
appeal for entertainment and awareness rising on specific issues, it is not
equally effective in changing audience attitudes and behaviors, unless used
in conjunction with other channels. Often, radio is the preferred medium in
rural settings, but, except in the case of the many community radios that use
it in a more participatory way for development-oriented purposes; it has
similar limitations to television. Printed materials can be of value when most
of the population can read and write, which is not always the case in project
settings. Traditional forms of communication, such as storytelling or popular
theater, even if reaching more limited numbers of individuals, can be rather
effective in discussing sensitive issues and gradually inducing change in the
attitudes and behaviors of the audience.

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Whatever channel is selected, it is important to have a sound rationale for the
selection. Using a communication mix is often crucial. In many instances,
multimedia campaigns have been demonstrated to be more effective than
one-medium campaigns in achieving intended results. New information
technologies, such as the Internet, provide a wider range of options whose
potential is yet to be fully explored and taken into account. Once all the
elements of the strategy have been discussed, assessed, and defined, the path
is clear for implementation of the message design activities.
In designing communication strategies, besides what has been discussed
above, one has to take into account resources and timescales, and evaluation
and amendment. The strategists should identify and use resources and
timescales to set legitimate levels of expectations and outline the case for
more dedicated resources. The strategist should also assess the effectiveness
of communication strategy with both internal and external audiences. While
drawing up communication strategy, one should involve team, and on a
smaller scale, the entire organization. This will help to feed the
communications strategy into the organizational strategy to ensure maximum
alignment and efficiency.

4.4. Development communication planning

Development communication rests on the premise that successful rural
development calls for the conscious and active participation of the intended
beneficiaries at every stage of the development process; for in the final
analysis, rural development cannot take place without changes in attitudes
and behavior among the people concerned.

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Development Communication is the planned and systematic use of

communication, through inter-personal channels, audio-visuals and mass

media which is used:

 To collect and exchange information among all those concerned in the

planning a development initiative with the aim of reaching a consensus on

the development problems being faced and the options for their solution.

 To mobilize people for development action, and to assist in solving

problems and misunderstandings that may arise during development plan

implementation.

 To enhance the pedagogical and communication skills of development

agents (at all levels) so that they may dialogue more effectively with their

audience.

 To apply communication technology to training and extension program,

particularly at the grassroots level, in order to improve their quality and

impact.

Development communication is useful for addressing some of the following

problems;

1. Problems of designing projects that take into account the

perceptions and capacities of the intended beneficiaries.

Development communication can help to ensure that the design and action

plan of a development project take into account the attitudes, perceived

needs and capacities of the people which the project is trying to help. Many

projects have failed in the past because assumptions were made about the

willingness and capacity of rural people to absorb new technology and

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development infrastructures into their way of living and working.

Abandoned irrigation schemes and settlement programs, broken down

equipment, and the slow adoption of improved crop varieties, are examples

that bear witness to this failure to bring about attitudinal and behavioral

change.

2. Problems of mobilizing rural people for development action and

ensuring an information flow among all concerned with a development

initiative.

If a rural development project has been planned with its beneficiaries, their

participation and mobilization are almost certain to follow quite naturally.

However, in any event, communication support during project

implementation keeps people informed helps to mobilize them, and to

stimulate the more conservative to action. This is especially so when

communication, (in the form of audio-visual presentations for example) is

used to spread knowledge of successful development action taken by some

communities and individuals in other communities and individuals those

have not yet mobilized.

Furthermore, even the best project, designed with its beneficiaries, cannot be

cast in concrete; as it progresses, there will be an inevitable need to fine-tune

its activities and introduce changes of emphasis. A good communication

system can keep a dialogue open between all those involved in a

development project, thereby nipping problems in the bud as they arise. Such

an ongoing information flow can also help to ensure co-ordination and

proper harmonization of inputs and services to a development initiative.

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 3. Problems of improving the reach and impact of rural training

program

Training at the grassroots level had become a major priority in recent years.

At the same time, communication technology has been improving and

becoming even cheaper and easier to use in rural areas. Audio-visual media

make it possible to:

 help overcome the barriers of illiteracy and incomprehension (by

conveying ideas and practices in an audio and visual form);

 illustrate new ideas and techniques more effectively than by word-of-

mouth alone, and this improve the impact of extension and training;

 compress time (a whole crop cycle can be shown in a short

presentation);

 compress space (events and practices in distant locations can be

transferred to other places where they can be useful testimonials);

 standardize technical information (by creating audio-visual materials

that illustrate the best available advice to farmers and having these materials

used throughout the extension and farmer training chain, thereby ensuring

that the technical information will not become distorted during its passage

from its source to the smallest and most remote farmer).

Questions needs response for using communication plan

 What types of development initiatives require communication inputs?

 Are development communication activities always planned as part of a

development project?

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 What are the overall considerations when planning communication inputs?

 Who should plan communication inputs?

Guidelines for project formulators

If you are responsible for formulating an agricultural and rural development

project, you may like to pose the following questions during the course of
your work as a means of checking on the possible need for communication
inputs and on how they might be implemented.

Will the project depend for its success on the intended beneficiaries making
considerable changes in the way they live and work?

Has research been done among the intended beneficiaries, or put more
simply, have they been systematically consulted regarding their knowledge,
attitudes and practice, and their capacity to carry out the changes foreseen for
them?

Will there be a need for people, especially of a low educational level, to

acquire new knowledge and skills on a wide scale? Apart from the
immediate project beneficiaries, are there other sectors of society whose
informed and positive action could contribute to the success of the project?
Typical examples are the religious and educational authorities, but there may
be others with influence over the beneficiaries. Might it be possible to enlist
the support of these influential groups by communicating with them about
the need for their help.

Is the government staff who will be responsible for implementing the project
at all levels sufficiently informed, motivated, and well-trained? If it emerges
from the answers to these first five questions that there is a need for

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communication inputs, further questions need to be asked concerning how
these inputs might be planned and implemented.

Is there any prior in-country experience of development communication? If

there is, and it was successful, who planned it, and could the same
organization or institution be called in to help plan the present
communication activities?

Is there an agricultural or rural development information or communication

unit that could do the communication planning for the project?

Are there any institutions such as university schools of communication,

private communication/advertizing organizations, or NGOs that could be
called in to help with the planning?

If you locate a suitable communication planner, make sure s/he is briefed to

look into the following aspects:

a. What could be the institutional framework for communication activities

for the project?
b. What existing communication resources are there those could be called
upon to assist, and do they need strengthening?

c. Who, or what institution, could help with audience research and

evaluation?

d. Will there be a need for external communication expertise, and if so, of

what nature and duration?

e. What communication equipment will be required, for producing material

and for using them in the project area?

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(Bear in mind the advantages of choosing equipment that is compatible with
existing equipment in the country, especially because of the related
maintenance and repair issue).

f. What operating budget will be required?

g. What, if any, are the training needs for national communication staff who
will be working with the project?

h. If you cannot locate a communication planner in-country, and if you are

still at the stage of project identification-- rather than detailed formulation--
can you obtain the services of an external communication planner in time for
the detailed formulation?

i. If you have reached the stage of a detailed formulation before the need for
communication has been identified, can you leave enough budget flexibility
to allow for the communication component to be formulated later?

4.5. The main elements of communication

planning

Dear student, what are the main components of communication planning?

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a) Situation Analysis and Communication Research

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No communication activities can be expected to succeed without a prior
understanding of how the people to be affected by a project perceive their
own problems and the development options being proposed, what they aspire
to, how they obtain and exchange information, which media sources and
interpersonal channels enjoy the most credibility, and so on.

Such information may already be available when a project is being

formulated, but if not, it will need to be obtained, for it is this information
which determines many of the features of a communication plan, including
the message design, the most appropriate media and channels to use, and
how and when to use them.

Part of the research may consist of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practise (KAP)
survey regarding the innovations being proposed by the project. This
research will also identify constraints involved in people changing their
attitudes and behavior in respect of these innovations.

Mention of KAP surveys and audience research of this nature often sends
development planners into a state of shock, for they envisage an operation
that will take many months, if not years, and they are under pressure to get
the project underway-- even if such haste may result in a project of faulty
design.

In the reality of the day-to-day world, however, quite rapid investigations

among sample audiences, carefully selected as representative of the sectors
of the population to be involved in the development initiative, will usually
reveal enough data as a basis for making a start.
b) The institutional framework

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The institutional framework for development communication is a factor
requiring a careful consideration. Development communication is a field of
activity that is a mixture of disciplines: it is part science, in that it draws
heavily on social and behavioral sciences, psychology, and diffusion theory;
it is part art, in that draws on the talents and skills involved in media
production; and it is part craft in that it uses a wide variety of aids and
technical equipment.

This, plus the fact that development communication should cut across and
intermingle with all sectors concerned with rural development if it is to yield
its full potential, means that there is no one organizational location for
development communication that is valid for every situation. Ministries of
information certainly have the media infrastructures, but they do not always
have appropriate staff for development communication, whereas the opposite
may apply at the ministry of agriculture.

For large-scale development projects, it is often economically viable to set

up a special communication unit which forms part of the project itself.
Experience shows that the investment for properly organized, and effective
communication in a large-scale project will usually require from 8% - 15%
of the total budget.

For smaller projects which cannot justify the establishment of their own
communication unit, the institutional framework will require more thought.
It may be possible to group several projects in the same, or even in different
sectors if they are working with the same rural populations and create a
communication unit that will work with them all.

c) An inventory of communication resources

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Drawing up an inventory of the available communication resources--
covering quantity. Quality and impact-- is a fundamental part of
communication planning. Where weaknesses are identified, an assessment is
made of the inputs required to bring the facilities up to the strength required
to meet the development communication needs.

Resources to carry out audience research and Knowledge, Attitude, Practice,

KAP surveys may be scarce in a typical developing country. However, after
an appropriate methodology has been selected and tailored to suit the
specific needs of the situation, such activities have been successfully been
carried out in a number of cases by government field staff, by students from
faculties of social sciences, by staff of marketing and advertizing agencies,
or by NGO staff chosen for their aptitude for this type of work. Normally,
some orientation and a little training will be required. The interpretation of
the findings in the field is usually more difficult than actually collecting the
information. This part of the research may require inputs from specialists.
d) The physical and technical environment

The physical circumstances in which the communication activities are to

function will have a strong influence on the plan. For example, if movement
in a project area is severely restricted by the rainy season for several months
a year, mass media such as radio will probably play a greater role than
projected audio-visual aids in a group setting.

The technical environment is equally important. For example, visual aids

requiring a laboratory process that is not available in the country may be
impractical. Or relatively sophisticated media for which there is no servicing
available locally may cause complications. Such factors need to be weighed
carefully in the balance of a communication plan.

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e) The type of communication required

The communication plan will be influenced by the type of communication

support that is to predominate in the project. Development communication
encompasses various types of activity Such as, communication for
participatory planning, for mobilization, for facilitating project
implementation, and for grassroots level training. These various media and
the approaches in using them lend themselves differently to these activities.

II. The main features and steps of implementing communication activity

are as follows:

Ideally, before a plan for a rural development project has been finalized,
there will have been a communication process for participatory planning
with people in the project area. This should lead to a mutual agreement on the
action to be taken, broken down into a series of clearly defined stages. The
first step may, with advantage, use media such as video recording and
playback to help people towards a clearer awareness of their reality and the
development options open to them. However, it can also be implemented by
sensitive people using inter-personal channels only, if they are prepared to
spend time listening to rural people and trying to understand their
perspectives.

Once development actions have been decided upon, the various groups
within society that have a role to play in realizing those actions will be
identified. These groups become target audiences; each will have a different
role to play and will need to be reached with different messages and through
different channels.

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Objectives are set for the attitude and behavior necessary from each
audience to help the development initiative to succeed, (e.g. better
understanding of and greater use of fertilizer by small farmers; or positive
and active involvement of school teachers in talking about plant nutrition and
fertilizer use with their pupils; or better informed and more active promotion
of fertilizer use by community leaders, and so on).

Audience analysis carried out with techniques such as KAP surveys and
focus group discussions. The latter are discussions with groups that represent
a typical target audience, for example rural women in the child bearing age,
or rural health workers, or male subsistence farmers in a certain area where
the farming conditions are similar. The discussions, involving a minimum of
6 and a maximum of 12 people at a time are "focused" on a certain topic by
the researchers through a well-prepared guide but are then allowed to run as
freely and as widely as possible. The intention is that members of the group
spark ideas off each other while the researchers take a back seat and note the
main points of view and opinions that emerge. Subsequent analysis of these
will lead to a quite distinct picture of how a particular audience views a
given issue.

A communication plan for each target audience is made, identifying the

channels to be used, the materials to be produced, by whom, and when.

Message design i.e. deciding, on the basis of the audience research, how a
message should be presented to that audience, taking into account the
particular concerns and perceptions of that audience. For example, if it has
emerged in a particular area that women agricultural producers are mainly
concerned about having a sufficient supply of food for their families from
one harvest to the next, any message on a farming theme, such as for
example the planting out of rice in rows rather than broadcasting the seed,

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should stress the fact that extra food will result. In another context, a main
concern might be extra cash income, and the message would centre on that
aspect, and so forth.

The production of materials and their pre-testing. Materials should

always be produced in a "draft: form and tested with small groups of people
who are representative of the target audience for which the material is being
produced. This pre-testing, and modification of the materials if necessary, is
often neglected, in part because it is assumed that it will take a long time--
which is not necessarily the case-and in part because producers sometimes
lack the humility to subject their work to possible criticism from their
audience, and the flexibility to modify it or re-do it if the audience does not
understand or appreciate it.

Training of field agents to use the materials and to back them up properly
with good interpersonal communication.

Implementation of the communication plan through production and use of

the materials.

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation in conjunction with the

implementation. Even when pre-testing has been routinely carried out,
continuous monitoring and evaluation may reveal that the communication
activities are not having the desired effect, and that misunderstandings exist.

The information resulting from the monitoring is used as a feed back for
implementation. In other words, message design and materials are revised,
repeatedly if necessary, to reflect the needs being revealed by the ongoing
monitoring and evaluation and until such time as the communication work is
being generally appreciated and understood. (The communicators' jargon for
this process is "formative evaluation").

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A final, or "summative", evaluation of the impact achieved, problems
encountered, etc. is carried out at the end of each communication activity so
that the lessons learned can be incorporated into the next activity.
Diagrammatically, phases of communication planning are depicted as
follows;

The various media in rural development

No single medium is better than any other. Circumstances and the

requirements of the development project dictate which should be used.
Audience research concerning what media the people have access to and
which enjoy credibility, and what is actually available or could be
realistically established, greatly influence the choice. However, it should be
remembered that a message arriving in a slightly different form and through
different channels has the most impact in helping people towards behavioral
change. Hence, multi-media approaches are usually the most effective. It
should be stressed, however, that behavioral change is seldom the result of
exposure to media alone; most people require face-to-face discussion with
someone more knowledgeable or experienced than themselves before they
can make their own judgment and try an innovation. In effect, any

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 information received has to be absorbed and evaluated for its usefulness and
appropriateness in the recipients' circumstances before they will act on it.
Discussion is an essential element in this process. The various media that can
be used for development intervention are: television, radio, video, slide sets/
film strips, audio cassettes, flip charts, printed materials, folk media (theatre,
puppetry, storytelling, etc)

4.6. Implementation of communication plan

The communication plan encompasses the activities necessary to implement
the work plan (for example, design of communication materials, training of
relevant staff, and so forth) and to produce and distribute media and
information products. The plan should indicate all required resource- both
human and nonhuman. Usually this is done through an action plan, which
can be considered a map indicating what needs to be done, by whom, when,
and at what cost. The activities presented in following table provide a model
of reference to define a basic sequence of special value for instructional
purposes. The actions, however, can vary greatly and depend mostly on the
strategy design.
Activities Explanation Example

Vaccinate 70% of the

Objective(s) Review and confirm children
objectives
(SMART) under five in area X
(possibly SMART)

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Audiences/ Who are the audiences of Primary; mothers
stakeholders groups Secondary ;
sons/daughters (students)
being addressed (primary, and
secondary, etc/ fathers

Information Campaigns
Activities (andWhat are the activities(audiovisual and printed
approaches) needed (media production,materials)
message design, etc)?

Experts in audiovisual design Design information

and campaigns
production (experts in (audiovisual and printed
Resources needed training, materials) filed visit,
(human and related materials, etc) meetings
material)

Party responsible Field officers of the ministry

(action The source/initiator of
promoter) responsible Environment
for the action

Time frame The sequence and time 6 months to design the

needed campaign,
for each activity 2 months for training, 6
months
to implement, 8 months for
field
visits and meetings

Expected outputs 70% of children under five

(outcome What is expected by the being vaccinated
indicators) communication initiative?

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Starting from the set objectives, typically an action plan details intended

audiences, selected activities, inputs needed, expected outputs, and the time

frame for each activity. The communication objectives (possibly expressed

in SMART form) constitute the “North Star” of the strategy when drafting

the action plan, thus shaping the activities to be implemented. The action

plan should state clearly who is responsible for each activity and what the

expected outcome is once the activities are implemented. In other words, the

action plan is a way to organize and enhance the management and

implementation of decisions taken in the design of the strategy.

Table above provides a simple and linear presentation of an action plan, but

complex projects and programs would need more articulated and

multifaceted action plans. One should not assume that for each objective

there is a single corresponding action: for a specific objective, there might be

five activities, two expected results, and a great and diversified number of

resources needed.

This network of activities should be implemented under the direct

supervision of a communication specialist (for example, video producer,

campaign expert, or trainer) who verifies that the communication outputs are

directly and effectively linked with the objectives.

Before the implementation of the planned activities can begin, there are
usually a number of preparatory actions to be carried out. These can be
divided broadly into two types: production of materials and training of
relevant personnel. According to the needs identified in the research and

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defined in the strategy, it might be necessary to produce posters, brochures,
radio programs, and other kinds of audiovisuals.
What is important is that each medium has certain characteristics that should
be considered when project leaders decide what, how, and when to use it,
and they should make sure they hire specialists with the proper production
competencies. Good communication plan involves pre-testing
communication materials and putting the pieces together. Most important,
communication specialists should always pretest the materials being
produced, no matter how well done they are and how carefully they are
revised by other experts. Pretesting should be conducted with pilot groups
and representatives of the intended populations before reaching the stage of
mass production.
Many messages may fail to reach the intended audiences simply because no

pretesting was done, and the assumptions of experts were proved inadequate

by real experience. For example, villagers may fail to respond in the

expected way to the dangers of malaria presented to them in a film on the

subject. For dramatization purposes in the film, mosquitoes were depicted as

much larger than they are in reality. As a result, the villagers did not

recognize them as a threat, and they assumed that there was nothing to worry

about since there were no such big insects in their area!

While planning communication experts should put all of pieces of

communication phases together (communication-based assessment;
communication strategy design; implementation; and monitoring and
evaluation) as each specific step relates and interacts with other steps. This is

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very helpful to become successful in development communication and can
be used as a road map for the overall process of the communication strategy,
its inputs, activities, and expected outcomes.

4.7. Communication for monitoring and

evaluation

Dear Student, what are the benefits of undertaking monitoring and

evaluation?
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Monitoring and evaluation are crucial for the success of any project. This

phase will help to know the impact of the communication intervention.

However, measuring and evaluating the impact of social interventions is

never simple and, in the case of development communication, becomes more

difficult and complex, mostly because of the broader functions of

communication. The reasons for conducting evaluations are numerous: to

monitor the process and take corrective actions where possible; to learn from

past mistakes and make future interventions more effective; to ensure the

accountability of the resources dedicated to the initiative; and, most

importantly, to be able to assess, demonstrate, and quantify the effectiveness

of the intervention. More specifically the reasons for evaluating the impact of

communication include:

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 Assessing the role of a particular project or process in contributing to

a development project

• Gaining advocacy with decision makers

• Refining and fine-tuning the process of implementation
• Learning from past mistakes, what has worked and not worked
• Ensuring a positive process for the community and the stakeholders
• Ensuring good management and accountability to donors and decision
makers
• Making continued funding possible
• Improving research and evaluation methods and approaches
Monitoring the process of the intervention is known as “formative

evaluation” while evaluation of the final impact of the intervention is

referred to as “summative evaluation.” The first is necessary to ensure that

the communication activities are being carried out as planned and are

achieving the intended results effectively. By monitoring the intervention

closely, staff can perform any adjustment as needed to support the overall

success of the initiative. Summative evaluation, on the other hand, is

necessary for considering the impact of the intervention and assessing if and

how its objectives were achieved. To be most effective, development

communication specialists should be involved at the onset of a development

initiative, when they can identify and define indicators for monitoring and

evaluation, among other things. Indicators serve for measurements at the end

of the intervention, but they should always be established at the beginning.

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This crucial aspect is neglected in many instances, making it impossible to

assess the communication impact. Another problem related to this is that

since managers and other decision makers often do not see the need for

communication at the initial stage, there are no specific budget lines

dedicated to communication, and, more specifically, dedicated to

communication-based research needed to identify indicators. Hence, the

systematic incorporation and effective application of CBA as a critical tool

in the initial as well as in the implementing phases of projects and programs

greatly depend on the establishment of a dedicated budget line.

The following pyramid illustrates the four phases of development

communication. The figure not only represents their sequence but also their

relevance in achieving the expected results. The physical area in the pyramid

also represents the importance, workload, and time needed for each phase

within the overall methodological process. The foundation of the pyramid, or

the research phase, constitutes the broadest and most important part of the

whole; it is from this base that the strategy is rooted and, subsequently, all

activities are implemented and evaluated. The amount of work and resources

invested in the research phase is a significant factor in the achievement of the

communication objectives at the top of the pyramid.

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Although the monitoring and evaluation process is almost at the top of the
pyramid, the term “monitoring and evaluation” in brackets also appears at
the base to emphasize that monitoring and evaluation indicators should be
identified and defined from the beginning of the intervention, even though
the specific measurements are usually carried out at the end.
Monitoring is an important mechanism that should be incorporated
throughout the development process to guarantee the proper implementation
of activities. Its incorporation creates a real-time alert system, which allows
prompt intervention and relative corrections whenever something goes
wrong.

4.8. Elements of the monitoring process

Dear student, list and elucidate the elements of the monitoring process

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a. Establishing Standards
These arise out of the planning exercise which sets goals, objectives, targets,
time-frames etc. These need to be set in advance and broken down into
physical and/or monetary terms. They must be specified in a meaningful way
and clearly understood and accepted by everyone involved with the
implementation of the project. Also such targets as are set should be realistic,
attainable and adequately motivating.

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b. Setting up an Effective Feedback Mechanism
The effectiveness of the monitoring system is greatly influenced by the
accuracy and reliability of the information flow. Therefore, a robust
mechanism must be put in place to ensure the free flow of data, statistics,
reports, returns etc. that will provide the basis for the regular availability of
useful information on which action can be taken. The feedback may be so
organized as to be both oral and written. For oral feedback, regular field
visits must be organized. For written feedback, suitable forms and formats
may be designed. These should be short, simple and easy to fill as well as
read.
c. Measuring and Appraising Performance
Once standards have been defined and established, the next element in the

monitoring process is that of measuring and determining the quality of actual

performance. Such measurement must be made in the units or terms into

which the targets were broken down at the planning stage. Again,

measurement of actual performance does not mean merely knowing what has

happened. On the contrary, measurement should also include predicting what

is likely to happen. This means that deviations, shortfalls, overruns, etc. are

forecast well in advance, so that corrective actions are initiated to forestall

adverse circumstances. In other words, measurement of performance as an

element of the monitoring process should follow a forward-looking

approach.

d. Taking Corrective Action

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When significant deviations are noticed from the set quality standards, time

schedules, physical targets or cost estimates, corrective actions need to be

initiated. These may involve, pulling up implementing personnel, tightening

supervision, more frequent field visits, streamlining cash flow, motivating

participants and target groups, undertaking more imaginative community

participation exercises, improving the quality of trainings, retraining

volunteers and field staff etc. However, hiking budgets, employing more

personnel and increasing the time span may be resorted to only in very

exceptional circumstances.

Key evaluation issues

Whatever the purpose, an evaluation should produce reliable data that can
stand both internal and external scrutiny. Evaluation findings should guide
program managers and decision-makers to make decisions to improve
ongoing/future interventions. A fundamental principle, when considering
undertaking an evaluation, is to aim for quality in the design of the study so
that the findings can stand the test of time. Also, evaluation must be credible,
impartial and cost effective.
Credibility
It is advised that the process for data collection be transparent. As indicated
before, key stakeholders must be consulted and their views must be taken
into account when determining the questions to focus on. Most importantly,
the core competencies or the skills set of the evaluators must be sound.
Impartiality and Independence
Evaluators should remain impartial throughout the evaluation process.
Above all, findings and conclusions should be free of personal biases.

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Judgments must be based on proven and reliable data that can withstand
scrutiny.
Cost-Effectiveness
The benefits of evaluation should outweigh the costs. The evaluation should

be well tailored and focused to minimize costs. Under most circumstances,

the total cost of an evaluation should not exceed 10% of the annual

expenditure on the program being assessed.

4.9. Community participation in development

initiative

Dear student, how do you conceptualize the term community and

community participation?
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Community sociologically, defined as a group of people living in the same

defined area sharing the same basic values or basic interest and who have a

sense of identity or a feeling of belonging. It is also defined as spatial or

territorial unit of social mobilization in which people have a sense of identity

and a feeling of belonging. The word participation in development has

various interpretations and there could various definitions of participation.

For example, participation in rural development means, involvement of all

rural people in the process of rural transformation and development. It

involves people‘s involvement in decision-making process in implementing

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and sharing the benefits of rural development programs. Participation in

politics and economic terms can be seen as a process of empowerment of the

deprived and the excluded. In this sense participation necessitates the

creation of organizations of the poor, which are democratic, independent and

self-reliant. From rural development perspective, community participation

could be defined as a dynamic process where by a group of rural people

living in the same defined area sharing the same basic value or interests and

the active involvement of these people in the process of rural transformation

and development. Community participation could be broadly defined as

dynamic social process where by a group of people living in the same

defined area sharing the same basic value and interests and the active

involvement of these people in all matters that affect their livelihood.

Active community participation is key to building an empowered

community. Not only is participation a requirement for empowerment

programs, but it is also critical to community success. A major obstacle to

effective performance of development activities in most developing countries

is the excessive centralization of decision making within central decision-

making body. Central decision-making bodies commonly perceived to be

geographically and socially remote from the people and often take decisions

without full knowledge or concern about actual problems and preferences at

the grass root level. Community participation a term conceptualized today as

the rock up on which development activities either founded or find

fundamental support is the popular remedy for such problem.

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A community is characterized by:

(1) Membership-a sense is identify and belonging,

(2) Common symbol systems- Similar language, rituals and ceremonies,
(3) shared values and norms,
(4) Mutual influence- community members have influence and are
influenced by each other,
(5) Shared needs and commitment to meeting them; and
(6) Shared emotional connection- members share common history,
experiences, and mutual support.

Many reasons why community participation is deemed desirable in

development activities in way or another: fall either in economic,

administrative or political objectives.

To mention some of the reasons:

 Community participation is important for effective and appropriate

development planning and increased monitoring support by beneficiaries in
planning and decision making (Administrative aspect)
 Community participation is more conducive to both the formulation and
the implementation of development plans (economic aspect)
 Community contribution (financial, labor, material etc) in support of
development activities will be high when development activities are
identified and implemented at the grass root level.
 Community participation enhances effective mobilization of resources and
ensures efficient delivery of services.

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 Community participation enables timely reaction to unanticipated problems
 Community participation increases citizen‘s sense of belonging to state.
This is because; in politics it is believed that, people have that a right to
participate in decision- making which directly affects their living conditions.
 Community participation enables to overcome alienation and lack of a
sense of ownership from the part of community due to centralization of
decision-making authority.
 Community participation enhances the speed of change in transforming
negative cultural and social Values, attitudes and practice in the society. In
other words community participation enhances the speed of social-
development.
 Community participation also helps to reduce workload.

4.10. Value addition of development

communication in programs and projects
Dear Student, what are the use of development communication in programs
and projects?
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The history of development has included failures and disappointments, many

of which have been ascribed to two major intertwined factors: lack of

participation and failure to use effective communication. It is noted that the

success or failure of any development project is often determined

communication and people‘s involvement. It is always valuable, and often

essential, to establish dialogue among relevant stakeholders. Dialogue is the

necessary ingredient in building trust, sharing knowledge and ensuring

mutual understanding even for a project that apparently enjoys a wide

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consensus. This is because a top-down management approach to

development is less effective than a participatory one. Development

communication supports the shift toward a more participatory approach, and

its inclusion in development work often results in the reduction of political

risks, the improvement of project design and performance, increased

transparency of activities, and the enhancement of people‘s voices and

participation.

Adopting two-way communication from day one is essential. When not

involved from the beginning, stakeholders tend to be more suspicious of
project activities and less prone to support them. Conversely, when
communication is used to involve them in the definition of an initiative, their
motivation and commitment grow stronger. The involvement of stakeholders
in defining development priorities has advantages other than just gaining
their support. It gives outside experts and managers valuable insights into
local reality and knowledge that ultimately lead to more relevant, effective,
and sustainable project design.

4.11. Chapter summary

The methodology of development communication programs can be divided

into four stages, or phases: Communication-Based Assessment (CBA);

communication strategy design; implementation; and monitoring and

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evaluation. CBA is the first phase and concerned with the preliminary

assessment of the overall situation and helps to build trust and minimizing

sociopolitical risks. Communication strategy design builds on the result of

CBA and defines the types of changes needed and articulate appropriate

strategies/ strategy to ensure socio-economic and political transformation

(achieve intended objectives).

A communication strategy can be defined as a well-planned series of actions

aimed at achieving specific objectives through the use of communication

methods, techniques, and approaches. In order to design an effective

communication strategy, it is not enough to have a general idea about the

solution. The key question to be addressed is not ‘what’ is happening, but

‘why’ it is happening. Communication-based assessment provides the basis

for an effective strategy since its outputs (that is, definitions of the

objectives) become the inputs needed to design the strategy leading to

change. The starting point in designing communication strategy is always the

problem or the desired change to be achieved with all its implications and

related background information.

The core elements of communication strategy are level of desired change,

audiences and stakeholders groups, message design, selection of

communication channels, resources and timescales, and evaluation and

amendment for improvement. The communication plan encompasses the

activities necessary to implement the work plan and to produce and distribute

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media and information products. The plan should indicate all required both

human and nonhuman resources. The communication plan indicates among

others what needs to be done, by whom, when, and at what cost.

The implementing stage is the action phase of the communication program.

At this stage the actor mobilizes resource and put an effort to realize defined
objectives using selected strategies/ strategy. Monitoring and evaluation
phase will help to know the impact of the communication intervention.
However, monitoring and evaluating the impact of social interventions is
never simple and, in the case of development communication, becomes more
difficult and complex, mostly because of the broader functions of
communication. Monitoring also known as “formative evaluation helps to
take timely corrective action,” while evaluation also called as “summative
evaluation” helps to identify the impact of the intervention and assessing if
and how the objectives were achieved.
Lack or inadequate community participation in development programs is the
major challenge in developing countries. Excessive centralization of decision
making within central decision-making body is a common practice in most
developing countries. Despite this fact many authors and practitioners argue
that community participation is deemed desirable in development activities.
Community participation as a means will enable to achieve economic,
administrative and political objectives.
The main elements of communication planning are: Situation analysis and
communication research; the institutional framework; an inventory of
communication resources; the physical and technical environment; and the
type of communication required.

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Chapter Reflections

1. What are the elements of monitoring process? How do you relate the
monitoring elements with practical situations?
2. Discuss the reasons for evaluating the impact of communication in your
organization
3. What is evaluation? How do you relate with communication strategy?
4. Critically evaluate the content and practice of communication policy of
your organization
5. Critically evaluate communication plan of any NGO in your surroundings.

Use at least two gathering tools and support evaluation with arguments

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CHAPTER 5: COMMUNICATION FOR POVERTY REDUCTION
AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
Introduction

Chapter five of the course material discusses the importance of

communication in poverty reduction strategies, components of a strong
stakeholder management system (stakeholders’ identification, analysis,
stakeholders’ engagement and stakeholders’ communication).
Learning objectives:
 To be able to grasp the importance of communication in poverty
reduction strategies
 To be able to identify how NGOs can manage stakeholders engagement
and the rational of stakeholders engagement

5.1. Poverty Reduction Strategy

Dear student, what was the main reason for developing poverty reduction
strategy?
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In the late 1990s, the major global development actors led by the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) developed a new approach
to fight global poverty and to build a new kind of relationship with low-
income countries. In December 1999, the Board of the World Bank and IMF

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formally introduced this approach, centered on the development and
implementation of poverty reduction strategies or PRSs, which “was in many
ways novel.” These strategies were to be “country-driven,” prepared by the
countries themselves, with strong focus on inclusion, predicated on broad-
based participatory process of formulation, implementation, and outcome-
based progress monitoring.”The development and implementation of the
PRS document, popularly known as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper or
PRSP, is also to be “partnership oriented,” taking into account the
participation and engagement of all key stakeholders governmental and
nongovernmental development partners, both local and international,
ensuring “effective ownership, participation, and accountability.” In the
couple of years following the introduction of the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Papers, country experience showed a strong need for a strategic and
comprehensive communication intervention to ensure the effective
participation of various stakeholders through genuine inclusion. Participation
in the formulation of PRSPs “tended to be ‘broad’ rather than ‘deep’ with a
wide range of stakeholders engaged, but only to a limited extent.” The
communication intervention was needed not only to ensure a two-way flow
of information among the stakeholders and to provide the PRSP organizers
with tools to communicate with, listen to, and engage all stakeholders, but
more important, to create a public space for an informed and inclusive
national dialogue to face the challenges of fighting poverty. As the need for
systematic communication interventions grew stronger, any countries started
applying these methods and tools in the Poverty Reduction Strategy

5.2. Communication in the Formulation of Poverty Reduction

Strategies
Dear student, what are the main objectives of including communication
programs in the poverty reduction strategy process?

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Workshops and seminars on a country’s major development issues and
activities on building awareness about the PRS process as part of the
“consultations” for a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper became popular in a
number of countries. They were regarded as communication interventions to
promote and ensure the participatory character of the process. As time went
by and more PRSPs were formulated, there was an increased awareness that
it was essential to move beyond the consultation-centered communication
approach. The first major review of poverty reduction strategies in 2002
clearly states, “The challenge for most countries is to move away from ad
hoc consultations to more institutionalized forms of dialogue.” The review
also indicates concern on “whether governments are limiting participation to
information sharing and consultation, and whether civil society can extend
its role in the decision-making process beyond targeted poverty reduction
programs to the macroeconomic policy and the structural reform agenda,
especially trade liberalization and privatization.” The demand for a strategic
application of communication methods and tools aimed to create an
environment where informed dialogue and debate would result in better
policy making for poverty reduction. In addition, these two-way
communication approaches would establish ownership of the process,
promote accountability in governance, build momentum, and manage
expectations. The following are some of the major topics that many countries
regarded as key objectives for communication programs in the poverty
reduction strategy process:

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 Establish a two-way communication process to share knowledge and
information about poverty and development issues through open and
inclusive dialogue
 Design and implement a systematic communication program with
specific time-lines, responsibilities, and resources to build ownership, create
momentum, and manage expectations
 Strengthen internal communication with various stakeholder groups,
such as parliamentarians, government apparatus, civil society, trade unions,
academicians and researchers, community organizations, development
partners, and so forth
 Institutionalize and build capacity in the country to develop, implement,
and manage PRSP communication activities
 Create a knowledge base on PRSP-related information and experiences
on national, regional, and international levels
Since it involves a wide range of issues related to culture, language,
behavior, socioeconomic and political dynamics, psychological patterns,
existing communication channels, and networks in the given country, the
design of a communication strategy for Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
varies from country to country. In 2002 the World Bank’s PRSP Sourcebook
included a chapter on “Strategic Communication in PRSP,” which offered
practical guidance on developing and implementing communication
programs in the context of poverty reduction strategies. It includes case
examples where communication interventions were used for information
sharing and dissemination in formulation of PRSPs.
Steps in Developing a Communication Plan for PRSPs

Objective Set Objectives for Short, Medium, and Long

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 Term
Data collection
Research

Define activities for information sharing and

Activities dissemination
Set goals for each activity
Define timing, budget, and responsibility

Audience Select audience groups; understand their

interests, advantages, and disadvantages
Analyze audience status, education, and position

Messages Develop group-specific messages

Networks Identify existing networks

Understand dynamics of the networks

Assess the existing channels at national,

Channels regional, and local levels
Identify the accessibility

Feedback Incorporate feedback to the PRSP

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 Establish existing and required capacity for
Costing human and financial
Resources

5.3. Contribution of Communication to Fight Poverty through

PRSPs
Dear student, do you identify some benefits of communication for fighting
poverty?
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The role of communication in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers does not
only promote the system and culture of information sharing within
government machinery and between government and nongovernment entities
(CSOs, media, network, associations, and so forth). Ensuring information
flows is also critical for successful implementation of PRSPs or similar
development plans to fight poverty and for achievement of economic growth
and development. The systemic and transparent planning of policies and
strategies such as PRSPs is one part of this effort. The processes of resource
allocation through various approaches to budgeting and through the systems
monitoring the implementation of such policies and strategies are also
critical parts of ensuring the successful implementation of poverty and
growth strategies. In fact, a well-designed poverty reduction strategy
monitoring system can be a key factor in ensuring a realistic and transparent
policy-making process. A PRS monitoring system involves a wide range of
activities, including information sharing and feedback to the policy process.
It also entails a set of government and nongovernment actors to undertake
those activities and requires institutional arrangements to ensure better

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monitoring vis-à-vis country policy planning. This whole process demands
multidimensional information and communication flows. “Unless the
interface is established, a vicious circle spins, wherein adequate information
is not available for decision making, and decision-making processes do not
demand adequate information.”
The PRS monitoring system, seemingly focused on technicalities of
traditional notions of monitoring and evaluation systems is really looking at
some much deeper challenges of fighting poverty. It focuses on a set of goals
that go beyond the quantitative dimension of information exchange and relies
on human interactions. Such interactions are clearly more complex and
difficult to evaluate than information, but they are necessary to address
transparency and public accountability successfully.

5.4. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Communication and

Beyond
Dear student, what are the roles of communication beyond serving for
poverty reduction strategy?
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In its early stages, the major reasons for using communication tools and
techniques in PRSPs focused on attaining the core PRSP principles,
including the challenge of promoting country ownership, results orientation,
or partnership through engaging various stakeholders at different levels. As
the PRSPs grow older, the issues of information and communication go
deeper into the overall approach to government policy planning, resource
allocation, and monitoring of the implementation of national development
plans and strategies. These have different labels but are generally focused on

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fighting poverty and achieving economic growth and development in a
number of countries across the globe.
From a communication point of view, the process of integrating
communication in PRSPs actually demands the free flow of information
among stakeholders to establish accountability and transparency in policy
planning, resource allocation, and other sectors that run a government
system. The experience recognizes the role of communication and shows the
value of slow but eventual integration of human cultural and social factors
into information processes that plan and implement national development
policies and strategies such as the poverty reduction strategies.

5.5. Components of a strong stakeholder management system

Dear student, what are the components of stakeholder management?

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Stakeholders are persons or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by

a project/ an organization, as well as those who may have interests in a
project and/or the ability to influence its outcome, either positively or
negatively. Stakeholders may include locally affected communities or
individuals and their formal and informal representatives, national or local
government authorities, politicians, religious leaders, civil society
organizations and groups with special interests, the academic community, or
other businesses. The stake and involvement of different actors could vary.

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For example, there may be people directly affected by the potential

environmental or social impacts of a project. Others may be resident in

another country altogether, but wish to communicate their concerns or

suggestions to the project company. Then there are those who might have

great influence over the project, such as government regulators, political or

religious leaders, and others active in the local community. There are also

stakeholders who, because of their knowledge or stature, can contribute

positively to the project, for example, by acting as an honest broker in

mediating relationships.

Stakeholder management is an umbrella term encompassing a range of

activities and interactions over the life of a project. These can be divided into

different components. Among others it includes stakeholder identification,

stakeholder analysis, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder

communication. Each will be discussed in a separate section below.

5.5.1. Stakeholder identification

The first step in the process of stakeholder engagement and is concerned
with stakeholder identification–determining project stakeholders, and their
key groupings and sub-groupings. The identification process should indicate
those who are directly or indirectly affected by the organization or a project.
Here, the NGO should think not only about the primary project site(s), but
also all related facilities, including associated facilities, transport routes,
areas potentially affected by cumulative impacts, or unplanned but
predictable developments. Using this analysis enable to establish and

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articulate project‘s area of influence and determine who might be affected
and in what way.
This process will begin to reveal those most directly affected by the project
by any project activity (positive and negative). A quick and practical
technique for undertaking this type of stakeholder mapping exercise is
―impact zoning‖. By mapping the sphere of influence of different types of
impacts (socio-economic, environmental etc), the NGO can begin to identify
distinct groups by impact area, and from this prioritize stakeholders for
consultation. For larger-scale projects, with different phases to their
development, mapping out both the near term and future facilities may assist
the NGO to identify potential ―cumulative impacts‖ on stakeholder groups
that might not have been evident by just looking at the immediate project.
While priority should be given to individuals and groups in the project area

who are directly and adversely affected, drawing the line between who is

affected and who is not can be challenging. Even with the best of efforts,

problems can arise. Communities lying just outside of the designated project

impact area can ―perceive‖ impacts or feel they have been arbitrarily

excluded from project benefits. For these reasons, defining stakeholders too

narrowly should also be avoided.

5.5.2. Stakeholder analysis

Not all stakeholders in a particular group or subgroup will necessarily share
the same unified opinions or priorities. Stakeholder analysis refers to a more
in-depth look at stakeholder group interests, how they will be affected and to
what degree, and what influence they could have on the project.
For some projects, the most vocal opposition may come from stakeholders
outside the affected area – in other parts of the country, from other countries

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altogether, or even from overseas. Underestimating their potential influence
on project outcomes may pose risks. It is therefore important to also include
in stakeholder analysis those groups or organizations that are not adversely
affected, but whose interests determine them as stakeholders. ―Interest-
based‖ analysis and mapping can help to clarify the motivations of different
actors and the ways in which they might be able to influence the project.
To this end, NGOs can cost-effective solutions (newsletters, websites, and
targeted public meetings) to establish and maintain open channels of
communication with the wider stakeholders. Choosing not to engage with
wider stakeholders creates the risk that their issues may get discussed
through other outlets such as the media or political process. While this may
happen anyway, it is usually better to be proactive in trying to manage such
risks by offering opportunities for constructive dialogue.
The following guidelines may help in stakeholder analysis

1. Be strategic and prioritize: It is not practical, and usually not necessary,

to engage with all stakeholder groups with the same level of intensity all of
the time. Being strategic and clear as to whom the NGO is engaging with and
why, before jumping in, can help to save both time and money. This requires
prioritizing your stakeholders and, depending on who they are and what
interests they might have, figuring out the most appropriate ways to engage.
Stakeholder analysis should assist in this prioritization by assessing the
significance of the project to each stakeholder group from their perspective,
and vice versa. It is important to keep in mind that the situation is dynamic
and that both stakeholders and their interests might change over time, in
terms of level of relevance to the project and the need to actively engage at

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various stages. For example, some stakeholders will be more affected by a
particular phase of a project, such as construction activities.

When prioritizing, it might be helpful to consider the following:

What type of stakeholder engagement is mandated by law or other
requirements?

Who will be adversely affected by potential environmental and social
impacts in the project‘s area of influence?

Who are the most vulnerable among the potentially impacted, and are
special engagement efforts necessary?

At which stage of project development will stakeholders be most affected
(e.g. procurement, construction, operations, decommissioning)?

What are the various interests of project stakeholders and what influence
might this have on the project?

Which stakeholders might help to enhance the project design or reduce
project costs?

Which stakeholders can best assist with the early scoping of issues and
impacts?

Who strongly supports or opposes the changes that the project will bring
and why?

Whose opposition could be detrimental to the success of the project?

Who is it critical to engage with first, and why?

What is the optimal sequence of engagement?

2. Refer to past stakeholder information and consultation: Referring to

historical stakeholder information related to project or locality can save time

and flag up risks, liabilities, or unresolved issues that can then be prioritized

and managed in relation to the different strategic alternatives being

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considered. If the project is an expansion of a prior investment or operation,

possible sources of prior information include existing stakeholder databases;

consultation and grievance logs; environmental and socio- economic impact

assessment studies and consultation processes completed for an earlier phase

of the project; annual monitoring reports; and community investment plans

of the company, local government, or other businesses in the same locality.

3. Develop socio-economic fact sheets with a focus on vulnerable groups:

For complex projects likely to impact upon people and the environment over

a large geographic area, or affect vulnerable groups, it may be useful to

compile socio-economic information for distribution to project staff and

external consultants working in the proposed project area. Collecting this

type of data in advance can help ensure that any future stakeholder

engagement activities are culturally appropriate from the outset, and that the

groups most vulnerable or potentially disadvantaged by the proposed project

are identified early on. An experienced expert familiar with the local area

would be needed to develop such fact sheets, which could then be used and

expanded throughout subsequent phases of the project.

4. Verify stakeholder representatives: Identifying stakeholder

representatives and consulting with and through them can be an efficient way
to disseminate information to large numbers of stakeholders and receive
information from them. When working to determine representatives,
however, there are a number of factors worth considering.

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First, try to ensure that these individuals are indeed true advocates of the

views of their constituents, and can be relied upon to faithfully communicate

the results of engagement with the project company back to their

constituents. One way to do this is to seek verification that the right

representatives have been engaged, by talking directly to a sample of project-

affected people.

Including the views of the designated representatives in this way can help

highlight any inconsistencies in how stakeholder views are being

represented. Legitimate stakeholder representatives could be, but are not

limited to:

elected representatives of regional, local, and village councils

traditional representatives, such as village headmen or tribal leaders

leaders (chairmen, directors) of local cooperatives, other community-
based organizations, local NGOs, and local women‘s groups

politicians and local government officials, school teachers, religious
leaders

In addition, one has to be aware that the very act of establishing certain
people as the ‘liaison’ between the local population and the project confers
upon them a certain degree of power and influence. In certain situations, this
can be perceived as empowering one group (or set of individuals) relative to
another, which can lead to tensions or conflict. In other cases, it can expose
these individuals to new pressures from their peers and other community
members. The process can also be subject to manipulation by those seeking
to capture benefits or influence outcomes to serve their own interests. Again,

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broadening channels of communication, using direct verification from time
to time, and not being overly reliant on a single source for intermediation can
help to ensure transparency and accountability.

5.5.3. Stakeholder engagement

Today, the term “stakeholder engagement” is emerging as a means of

describing a broader, more inclusive, and continuous interaction and process

between an organization and those potentially impacted. The engagement

encompasses a range of activities and approaches though out the entire life

spans of the project. And it is found that good stakeholder relations are a

prerequisite for good risk management. To be successful different practices

in stakeholder engagement need to be employed and integrated into

management systems at each stage. Furthermore, organizations should

design their engagement strategies in line with the needs of their respective

projects.

The following guidelines are helpful for successful stakeholders’

engagement.
1.Get in early: Relationship-building takes time. Many of the hallmarks of
good relationships – trust, mutual respect, and understanding – are
intangibles that develop and evolve over time, based on individual and
collective experiences and interactions. Therefore, organizations should get
into stakeholders engagement in the early stage of their development. Early
engagement provides a valuable opportunity to influence public perception
and set a positive tone with stakeholders at early stage.
2. Start before the problem happens: Organization should not wait until
there is a problem to engage. Engaging with stakeholders from the start – as

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part of core strategy – enables a proactive cultivation of relationships that
can serve as capital‖ during challenging times.
3. Take a long-term view: Establishing and maintaining good relationships
requires a long time-horizon.
4. Tailor the process to fit the project: Organizations should scale their
stakeholder engagement strategies relative to the risks and impacts their
project is likely to create. There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it
comes to engagement. The type of relationship the NGO should try to
develop with its stakeholders, and the resources and level of effort that it
should invest, will differ according to the nature, location, and scale of the
project; the phase of its development; and the interests of the stakeholders
themselves.
Small projects with minimal impacts on the surrounding population may

only need to focus on the information disclosure and communication side of

the engagement spectrum, whereas larger projects with greater degrees of

complexity and wide-ranging impacts on multiple stakeholder groups will

need to adopt a more strategic and sophisticated approach in order to

effectively manage the process. Organizations need to be prepared for the

fact that they are entering into a pre-existing yet dynamic context, with

established histories and cultures, and often complex political, social, and

economic relations between groups that can be thrown into flux by the

advent of a project and the development process that accompanies it. In other

words, stakeholder relations can become politicized and complicated, and

can lead to or exacerbate conflicts and other unanticipated outcomes.

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5. Manage engagement as any function: Like any other function,

stakeholder engagement needs to be managed. It should be driven by a well-

defined strategy and have a clear set of objectives, timetable, budget, and

allocation of responsibilities. All staff should be made aware of the program,

and understand why it‘s being undertaken and what implications it might

have for project outcomes. Organizations that take a systematic (rather than

ad-hoc) approach that is grounded in organizational operations, are likely to

get better results in terms of the time and resources they invest, and are able

to track and manage stakeholder issues and risks more effectively. Allocating

responsibilities for stakeholder engagement to business units and

mainstreaming it into project operations increases the chances that it will

serve the purposes of the project, rather than becoming a costly peripheral

exercise that is out of touch with operational realities and raises expectations

that cannot be met. As with other key functions, direct reporting lines and the

engagement of senior management is critical.

In general, NGOs or others that choose a venue where stakeholders feel more
comfortable - most likely at a location within the community- tend to have
more productive engagement processes. This is so for the following reasons:
• It lends transparency to the process. Community members can witness the
process and stay informed about what is being discussed on their behalf, and
what has been agreed at the close of consultation or negotiations
• It increases accountability of local leaders. Community members will
know what they are entitled to demand, and they will be able to monitor its
delivery and avoid corruption.

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• It sends the message that companies value the input of communities
enough to travel there and spend time there.
• It contributes to community members’ feeling of ownership over the
engagement process. Community members say that the opportunity to have
input into public meetings gives them a sense of having a role in the outcome
of decisions
• Finally, it allows community members to identify their own
representatives, preventing illegitimate representatives from claiming that
they speak for communities.

Government, other NGOs and community based organizations, and

employees worth attention among other in stakeholder engagement. There

are many important reasons to establish and maintain good working

relationships with governmental authorities at different levels, and to keep

them informed of the project‘s activities and anticipated impacts.

Government support can be critical to the success of a project, and routine

engagement with various regulatory and public service authorities is often

required. On a practical level, local government authorities may have long-

established relationships with project-affected communities and other local

and national stakeholder groups, and as such can play a role in convening

and facilitating discussions between the project and stakeholder

representatives. Local government can also partner with private companies in

many respects, for example, in providing services, communicating

information to the local population, or integrating local development plans

with the operational needs of the project.

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Keeping track of government-led consultation with stakeholders on issues

related to the project is highly recommended. Such consultation may be

required as part of regional economic planning, environmental permitting or

exploration licensing, compensation for land and assets, or the design and

management of infrastructure. It is important for the NGO to be aware of

these consultations as they might have implications for future stakeholder

relations. More seriously, if consultations are a legal obligation of

government prior to the granting of licenses or concessions, for example,

failure to meet such obligations may jeopardize NGO‘s operating license.

Therefore, where there are questions around the government‘s consultation

process or unresolved stakeholder issues, it is in the NGO‘s interest to try to

find out the nature of such concerns and, to the extent feasible, take actions

to address the situation. Other NGOs and community-Based Organizations

(CBOs), particularly those who represent communities directly affected by a

project, can be important stakeholders for NGOs to identify and engage on a

proactive basis.

NGOs may have expertise valuable to effective stakeholder engagement. For

example, they can be sources of local knowledge, sounding boards for
project design and mitigation, conduits for consulting with sensitive groups,
and partners in planning, implementing and monitoring various project-
related programs.
However, it is important to carry out initial survey regarding the local power
dynamics and existence of special interest groups to ensure that any
intermediary organizations, such as NGOs, are truly representative of and

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accountable to the community interests they claim to support and represent.
If there is other NGO opposition to the project, engaging early to try and
understand the concerns or critiques being raised can offer an opportunity to
manage these issues before they escalate or find another outlet for
expression.
Whether implicitly or explicitly, employees communicate messages about

the company and the project to the outside world and help to create

perceptions as well as pass along information. This provides a great

opportunity for NGOs to leverage this built-in channel of communications as

a means of outreach and dissemination to the local population. Feedback

from the local workforce can also be a way to identify emerging issues and

concerns of local communities.

NGOs who do this well make an effort to keep their employees well-
informed, involve them in the NGO‘s stakeholder engagement strategy, and
recruit their help as front-line ambassadors in relationship-building with the
local population.

5.5.4. Stakeholder Communication

Information and communication with stakeholders can assist in development

of good relationship with stakeholders. To do so, the most important element

in stakeholder communications is identifying the target audience. To be

successful one has to be deliberate and seek out input from all known groups

to find the unknown groups as the target audience determine to method/

techniques to be used for communication. Communication expert should

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understand communication methods and their respective advantages and

disadvantages.

Stakeholder communication concerned with formally making information

accessible to interested and affected parties. The information should be
communicated in a manner that is understandable to stakeholders. This is an
important first (and ongoing) step in the process of stakeholder engagement.
All other activities, from consultation and informed participation to
negotiation and resolution of grievances, will be more constructive if
stakeholders, including affected communities, have accurate and timely
information about the project, its impacts, and any other aspects that may
have an effect on them.
The following guidelines are helpful in stakeholder communication
A. Be transparent. Good practice involves taking steps to increase
transparency and accountability as a means of promoting understanding
about the project and engendering public trust. One should know that a lack
of information can lead to the spread of misinformation about a project that
can be both damaging to a company‘s reputation, and undermine efforts to
engage in an informed dialogue with stakeholders.
B. Apply good practice principles. These include:

 Disclose early: The aim is to provide relevant information to targeted

stakeholders in advance of decision-making. At a minimum, explain next
steps and be clear about which project elements are fixed and which can be
changed or improved upon, based on consultation and participatory inputs.
 Disclose objective information: To the extent possible, the NGO should
be open about the project. In short, it should ―tell it like it is.‖ It should
Refrain from exaggerating the good news, such as employment

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opportunities, or playing down the bad, such as anticipated noise levels and
traffic disturbances during the construction period
 Design disclosure to support consultation: Where appropriate, NGOs
should treat the disclosure of project and environmental and social
information as an integral part of stakeholder consultation. The NGOs
should provide necessary information to the people so that they can
participate in an informed manner. Crucially, sufficient time should given
between the provision of information about the benefits and disadvantages of
the project (or changes to project operations and their implications) and the
start of consultations. People need time to think about the issues and weigh
the trade-offs.

 Provide meaningful information: Provide understandable and tailored

information to the target stakeholder group. The aim should be for the

information provided to enable people and organizations to make informed

judgments about changes that will affect their lives. This may mean that

information will be required in different formats in order to meet the needs

of various audiences. Points to consider in determining what forms this

information should take and how it gets presented include: level of technical

detail, local language and dialects, cultural sensitivity, roles of women and

men, ethnic composition of communities, literacy levels, community

leadership structures, and local methods of disseminating information within

stakeholder groups.

 Ensure the accessibility of information. Here the NGO should think

how the intended recipient will most readily receive and comprehend the

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information. For example, the regulatory requirement of disclosing
information in locations opens to the general public offices of government
environmental regulators, local planning authorities, etc…) is a necessary,
but not fully sufficient, means to disseminate information of importance to
stakeholders. Especially with affected communities, it may be more
constructive to disclose information via public meetings, smaller gatherings
of specific stakeholder sub-groups, through the use of individual conduits
and intermediaries (such as the head of a local village council, or church or
traditional leaders), or through the dissemination of a summary of the key
information in the local language, for example via the newsprint and
broadcast media, road side displays, or direct mail. In general, it is a good
idea to ask for stakeholder input into the consultation process- stakeholders
can often readily tell what type of information they want and need, in what
type of format, and how and when they would like to be engaged.

C. Weigh the risks and benefits: There will be situations in which

disclosing certain types of information at sensitive stages in the project cycle

might entail risks. The reasons for non-disclosure might include: commercial

confidentialities and proprietary information, information of a personal

privacy, safety, or individual security nature; or situations where releasing

information very early in the development of a project might unnecessarily

raise public expectations, cause speculative behavior, or create unnecessary

fears. However, considerations for non-disclosure need to be weighed

against the need for stakeholder groups to be informed in order to protect

their interests.

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D. Manage information on sensitive and controversial issues: There are
certain stakeholder issues, such as land acquisition and resettlement for
example, that may be particularly sensitive and thus carry risks to the
company if information about them is not communicated and managed
effectively. In these cases it may be better to release information about the
issue at the same time as conducting face-to-face consultations. In this way,
any misinformation and immediate reactions of the affected parties can be
addressed right away with the facts. In preparing information to support
stakeholder consultation on controversial issues, it may be helpful to employ
the following measures:

• Tailor the information to the different affected stakeholders.

• Present the ―facts‖ and be as transparent as possible.
• Explain the uncertainties, and the limits of these uncertainties (i.e. the
‘worst’, ‘best, and ‘most likely’ scenarios).
• Explain what input is needed from stakeholders and how it will be
used in the decision-making process.
• Explain what stakeholders can do and whom they can contact to get
more information.

5.6. Chapter summary

Stakeholders are persons or groups who are directly or indirectly affected by

a project/ an organization, as well as those who may have interests in a

project and/or the ability to influence its outcome, either positively or

negatively. Communication with stakeholders enables NGOs to have good

relationship with stakeholders and create better working environment.

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NGOs use a broad range of ICT to manage information, conduct operations,

deliver services and communicate with stakeholders. The choice of ICT

depends on different factors and effective utilizations of available ICT is also

conditioned by many factors (eg. power supply, connectivity etc.)

Stakeholder engagement is emerging as a means of describing a broader,

more inclusive, and continuous interaction and process between an
organization and those potentially impacted. To properly manage
stakeholders‘ engagement NGOs should start engagement activities at early
stage of the project/ program, start engagement before the problem happens,
take long term perspective, tailor the process of engagement to fit the project
activities and manage the engagement as any function.
A strong stakeholder management system encompasses among others
stakeholder identification, stakeholder analysis, stakeholder engagement and
stakeholder communication. Stakeholder identification is the first step in the
process of stakeholder engagement and is concerned with determining
project stakeholders, and their key groupings and sub-groupings. The
identification process should indicate those who are directly or indirectly
affected by the organization or a project.
Stakeholders analysis helps to identify and understand the interest of each
stakeholders, how they will be affected and to what degree, and what
influence they could have on the project. In conducting stakeholders analysis
the analyst among others should be strategic and prioritize, refer to past
stakeholder information and consultation, develop socio-economic fact
sheets with a focus on vulnerable groups, verify stakeholder representatives
using appropriate communication approaches.

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Good stakeholders engagement practice enable NGOs to ensure

transparency, and accountability in their activities , get support from

stakeholders, develop stakeholders sense of belongingness to the program/

project and allows community members to identify their legitimate

representatives. Good stakeholders’ engagement enables NGOs to establish

and maintain conducive working relationships with different stakeholders

(internal and external) at all levels.

Proper stakeholders’ engagement is facilitated by good stakeholders’

communication. Stakeholder communication concerned with formally
making information accessible to interested and affected parties in a manner
that is understandable to them. This is an important first (and ongoing) step
in the process of stakeholder engagement. In stakeholder communication
NGOs should be transparent; apply good practice principles such as
disclosing early, disclosing objective information, designing disclosure to
support consultation, ensuring the accessibility of information; weigh the
risks and benefits of communication; and properly manage information on
sensitive and controversial issues.

Chapter Reflections

1. Critically assess the stakeholders’ engagement practices of any NGO

in your locality and describe the forms of ICT they are using
if any.
2. Critically evaluate stakeholders’ management system of any
NGO in

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 your surroundings give recommendation if you come across
any ga

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PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT ETHICS

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CHAPTER SIX: OVERVIEW OF THE CONCEPT OF
DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
Introduction
Dear learner, this chapter provides you with an overview to the concept of
development ethics. Specifically, the chapter deals with definition and
origin of the concept of development ethics, the rationale for studying
development ethics, ethical perspectives of development, and forms and
model of development ethics.

Chapter learning objectives

 Define the term ‘development ethics’

 Explain the origin of the concept of development ethics as an
intellectual field of study
 Identify and explain perspectives to development

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 Identify and explain the various forms of development ethics,
 Describe and explain the three-models of development ethics

6.1. Definition and Origins of Development Ethics

Dear learner, in this first section of the module, we briefly define the term
‘Ethics’ and present you the various definitions of development ethics and
its origin as an intellectual field of study.

Ethics is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending

and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct, often addressing
disputes of moral diversity. The general meaning of ethics is rational,
optimal (regarded as the best solution of the given options) and
appropriate decision brought on the basis of common sense, which does
not exclude the possibility of destruction if it is necessary and if it does not
take place as the result of intentional malice. If, for example, there is the
threat of physical conflict and one has no other solution, it is acceptable to
cause the necessary extent of injury, out of self-defence. Thus, ethics does
not provide rules like morals but it can be used as a means to determine
moral values (attitudes or behaviours giving priority to social values, e.g.
ethics or morals).
Ethics comprises three major areas of study such as (i) meta-ethics - a
branch of analytic philosophy that explores the status, foundations, and
scope of moral values, properties, and words; (ii) normative ethics -
investigates the set of questions that arise when considering how one
ought to act, morally speaking; and (iii) applied ethics - the philosophical
examination, from a moral standpoint, of particular issues in private and
public life that are matters of moral judgment. It is thus the attempts to use
philosophical methods to identify the morally correct course of action in
various fields of human life. Whereas the fields of applied ethics and

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normative theory focus on what is moral, meta-ethics focuses on what
morality itself is.

Dear learner, from the definition of the term ‘ethics, what do you think the
concept ‘development ethics’ refers to?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------
Development ethics is an area of applied ethics that attempts to explore the
moral issues involved in global economic, social, and environmental
transformation. It is understood as the ethical reflection on the ends and
means of local, national and international development activities (Goulet,
1975; Gasper, 2006; Crocker, 2008). It typically takes a normative stance
asking and answering questions about the nature of ethically desirable
development, what ethics means for achieving development, and discusses
various ethical dilemmas that the practice of development has led to. In
short its aim is to ensure that value issues are an important part of the
discourse of development.
Development ethics can be considered, in one sense, as a field of attention,
an agenda of questions about major value choices involved in processes of
social and economic development. It is comparable then to some practical
ethics, for instance, business ethics- which examines ethical principles and
moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment; medical
ethics- which deals with a system of moral principles that apply values and
judgments to the practice of medicine; environmental ethics- which
studies the moral relationship of human beings to, and also the value and
moral status of, the environment and its non-human contents; among many
others. Each area of practice generates ethical questions about priorities

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and procedures, rights and responsibilities. Accordingly, ethical question
of development ethics include: What is good or ‘real’ development? What
is the good life which development policy should seek to facilitate, what
really are benefits? How are those benefits and corresponding costs to be
shared, within the present generation and between generations? Who
decides and how? What rights of individuals should be respected and
guaranteed? When— in for example the garment trade, the sex trade, the
‘heart trade‘ in care services, and the trade in human organs—should
‘free choice‘ in the market be seen instead as the desperation behaviour of
people who have too little real choice? Besides such issues of policy-level,
ethics includes the innumerable ethical issues, stresses and choices in the
daily work and interactions of development professionals.
Development ethics can be considered also as the diverse body of work
that has tried to address the questions mentioned above, and the various
sets of answers that are offered. This includes work from long before the
label development ethics existed; for example, great 19th century writers
like Saint-Simon, John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx stated positions on some
of the questions mentioned above. It also includes current work that may
not use the name development ethics but addresses several of its questions,
for example the work of Amartya Sen or Joseph Stiglitz.
Development ethics accepts the principles of the interdisciplinary and
bridges the social sciences, philosophy, and humanities, taking under
consideration the economic, political, cultural, institutional, ideological,
spiritual and ethical aspects of individuals and society. It has important
implications for the methods of analysis and how one views the relation
between analytical views of the economy and the real world.
In sum, it seems to be clear that there is no single agreed definition of
development ethics. The type of definition which selects and honours one

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 particular type of ethical theory, for example human rights or the
capability approach, is too narrow. These types of theorizing are
important, but do not provide everything that is needed; and the same
applies to any other single ethical tradition. It is based on these
considerations that the following definitions of development ethics are
provided.
Regarding its origins, development ethics can be characterized as a
relatively new field of study. Even though the ethical question of what is a
good life? and the term ‘eudemonia‘–a synonymous of happiness-trace
back to ancient Greek philosophers and particularly to Aristotle‘s
‘Nicomachean Ethics‟, the cultivation of moral and ethical issues
regarding development studies came to the front with the rise of an
economic and humanistic movement in 1940s. This humanistic approach
of the economy and society is theoretically represented by the prominent
development ethicists such as French economist Louis Joseph Lebret and
his student American Denis Goulet, who perceived development “as the
basic question of values and the creation of a new civilization”. They are
the ones who provided a more comprehensive answer to the question of
―what is the subject matter of development ethics? And ―how is
development ethics formulated until now?
Dear learners, in the subsequent sections, we concisely discuss the rise of
development ethics as an intellectual field of study in its more
contemporary mode, through the work of Louis Joseph Lebret and Denis
Goulet.

I. Lebret and Economy and Humanism movement

Dear learner, the direct precursor of development ethics in its

contemporary outline found in the life tribute of Louis-Joseph Lebret

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[1897-1966] and the philosophic and economic centre of the Economy and
Humanism, that Lebret was one of the main founders. Lebret was a social
scientist and philosopher. He was a marine officer and since 1923 a
Dominican priest. In 1941, Lebret established in Marseille an
interdisciplinary research centre known as Economy and Humanism.
Essentially, Economy and Humanism constituted a philosophical
movement.
Some of the Economy and Humanism aims was to elaborate issues
affecting human development such as ―institutions and systems, the
myriad form of social change, ideologies, competing pedagogies,
economic sector, the dynamism whereby a populace may play a role in
decisions affecting its own conditions (Goulet, 2006: 51). Economy and
Humanism main challenge was to critically investigate the development
problem in its multiple dimensions. In precise, its goal was to examine
critically the theoretical and political bases of competing economic
systems, to create instruments for linking the analysis of small units with
an understanding of national of words units, to discover how social change
could be planned in cooperation with a populace and in harmony with its
values and objectives, and to discover guidelines for intelligent action at
all levels (Goulet, 2006: 52). In 1942, a Manifesto was published by
Economy and Humanism. In the clime of the pre cold war era the
Manifesto claims both against to neo-liberalism and neo-socialism.
―Authority and a distributive economy do not necessarily mean static
economy at national level. Nor do market and free economy necessarily
mean an omnipresent market and the tyranny of price‖ (Goulet, 2006: 52-
53). The proposals of the Manifesto were to the direction of an economy
based on the need and service of a human rather a profit economy.
However, Lebret never doubted that an economic structure based of

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market and profit was incapable of attaching human needs. This
contradiction is explained by his position against competitive capitalism
and centralized socialism. For the capitalism, Lebret argued that the
market system leads to the hyper consumption for a segment of the
society, and gives the ability of producers to manipulate the desires of
possible consumers. There is not any critical mechanism in the base of real
human needs for all individuals and societies. Centralized socialistic
systems on the others, in their effort of competing capitalism, demotes
“the importance of noneconomic values which do not collectivize
existence, to the detriment of spiritual, artistic, and personal growth”
(Goulet, 2006: 58).
Lebret‘s whole idea of ethical development was influenced by Christian
humanism. To understand that, Lebret‘s views of achieving ethical
development are quoted as they have been codified by Goulet (2006: 56):
 Development is, above all, a task of forging new values and new
civilizations in settings where most existing institutions contradict human
aspirations.
 The only valid path is to seek optimum growth in terms of a
population‘s values and in terms of resource limitations.
 Planning is futile unless it is a permanent association between decision
makers at the summit and communities at the grassroots.
 Equity in the distribution of wealth and the achievement of dignity for
all are priority targets of development efforts.
 Conflicts of interest can be solved only by eliminating privilege and
launching a general pedagogy of austerity.
Dear learner, based on the aforementioned principles, the main
contribution of Lebret‘s ethical study of development is concentrated to
the problem of the unequal distributions of goods within societies. Lebret

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systematically investigates the human and societal needs and the role of
development if accessing theses needs in order to addressing the problem
of the inequality and to what it incurs to the social and human
development. As Goulet (2006) underlines, [Lebret] argued that satisfying
an abundance of false needs at the expense of keeping multitudes in
misery can never be authentic development. He further argued that
underdevelopment is a by-product of the distorted achievements of those
societies which incorrectly label themselves developed. For Lebret,
authentic development ought to correspond to the spiritual and cultural
origins of the society. Needs should assists societal solidarity, resource
sustainability, and the integral human necessity of all individuals and
societies to a decent existence. Lebret codified three categories of needs
(Goulet, 2006):
 Essential subsistence needs (food, clothing, housing, health care, and
the like).
 Needs related to comfort and the facilities which render life easier
(transportation, leisure, labor saving-devices, pleasant surroundings, and
so on).
 Needs related to human fulfillment or transcendence, whose satisfaction
confers heightened value on human lives (cultural improvement, deeper
spiritual life, enriching friendships, loving relationships, rewarding social
intercourse, and so on). These may also be called ‘enhancement goods‘;
they enhance human societies qualitatively and find their expression in
cultural or spiritual achievement.
In brief, for Lebret ethical development should subordinate the attainment
of the aforesaid needs to all and for all, individuals and societies. The
policy implications that one finds in the Lebret applied ethical and
development suggestions are harmonized to his presumptions of accepting

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 these needs. For Lebret, development‘s ultimate goal can only be achieved
when ―all human beings in every society are entitled to enjoy the
structural and institutional conditions which foster universal human ascent
(Goulet, 2006). The meaning of his conceptual involvement to the ethical
development can be summarized to the distinct that individuals and
societies should not only be reduced to their economic dimension.
Development refers to the whole person and every person, and that
development does not result from an accumulation of projects, but from
how these projects incorporates with a local, regional and global image of
a human development.

II. Denis Goulet

Dear learner, Lebret‘s concepts and policies in the development are

accurately met almost to all development ethics thinkers but this one who
is directly influenced by Lebret is his student Denis Goulet [1931-2006],
who was a social scientist and activist. Goulet made well-known Lebret‘s
ethical concepts in development but the most important is that he extended
Lebret notions to a more distinctive field, that of development ethics.
Consequently, Denis Goulet could be considered the father of
development ethics as a self-conscious area of study.
Goulet has placed an open frame and begins a discussion on how
development ethics can be formulated. Goulet (1975) in his most
influential work, The Cruel Choice: A new Concept in the Theory of
Development, poses the bedrocks of the development ethics. The meaning

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of his work can be summarized to the effort of trusting debates over
economic and social development into the arena of ethical values.
The central ethical questions that Goulet‘s development ethics investigate
are: 1) “What is the good life?” concerning the discussion around the
relation of having goods and being good; 2) “What are the foundations of
justice in society?”; 3) “What stance should human groups adopt towards
nature?”. In response to these questions, his ethical analysis sets
development on two basic concepts that of ―existence rationality and that
of ―vulnerability. Both concepts overlap his study on development ethics.
It can be perceived as a theoretical ethical umbrella that involves his
development ethics conceptual navigation.
In his own words, existence rationality is defined as ―the process by
which a society devises a conscious strategy for obtaining its goals, given
its ability to process information and the constraints weighing upon it
(Goulet, 1975: 188). Interpreting Goulet‘s words, based on a political
economy view, existence rationality is considered to be the system of
meanings such as customs, norms, beliefs, social attributes etc. within the
economic, social and political structure that exists in any society and
determines the course of action undertaken to serve societal aims. More
specifically, the system of meanings refers to how societies evaluate,
employ and apply particular strategies in order to assist the three universal
goals of development (set by Goulet, 1975); life sustenance, esteem and
freedom. In general, Goulet accepts the taxonomy of the societies to
traditional, transitional and modern. Each of them has built an alternative
system of meanings under a historical and social process. Development
should not be perceives as an alien body to the existed system of meaning
of any societal type. If development is to be addressed, three conditions
ought to be followed:

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 (i) New capacities for handling information must be generated; \
(ii) Vital recourses hitherto not available must become exploitable; and
(iii) The alien rationality implicit in modernization must be re-
interpreted in terms of traditional existence rationalities. Goulet calls this
progress as ―expanded existence (Goulet, 1975). The core value of
existence rationality is to be concerned of the provision of those
ingredients that ensure what any society defines as the good life. Thus, any
change should be integrated in the principle of ―existence rationality or
differently the system of meanings determined by each society.
The second key attention to Goulet‘s study of an ethical founded
development is that of vulnerability. It is mainly analysed within a debate
between developed and developing in terms of growth and
industrialization nations. Goulet defined vulnerability as “exposure to
forces one cannot control” for that, it constitutes a near to existence
rationality concept. For Goulet, vulnerability refers directly to
underdeveloped and indirectly to advanced developed conditions. It is
better explainable if we can perceive it as an initial state. In developing
societies vulnerability implies to the situation of the barriers to meet their
development goals. The dualism of the global economic system explains
to a large extent the vulnerability of developing nations. Or as economic
history has shown that ―the Industrial Revolution of Western capitalist
economies not only accentuated the spread and aggravated the lag, but
actually propelled industrial economies, on the one hand, and nod-
industrialized economies on the into diverse paths [Freyssinet cited in
Goulet (1975: 39)]. More precisely, industrialization in developed world
has in many cases been associated with exploitation of resources,
economic involvement and political patron to non-industrialized nations.
Intervention from advanced to developing nations at the economic, social

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and political environment makes developing countries vulnerable to
discover and meet their development goals. Further, vulnerability is a
matter of power as well an ethical matter. It is a matter of power for the
reason that less vulnerable societies has a better advantage of asserting
their own development aims while ethical because less vulnerable
societies can better affect the meaning of the good life based on their
historical and societal needs.

6.2. Why Development Ethics?

Dear learner, can you try to explain the rationale for studying development
ethics based on the definition and its origin that you have learnt so far?
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There are several reasons for studying development ethics. The main
rationale for attention to development ethics is that the processes of social,
political, economic and environmental development bring both enormous
opportunities and enormous threats for humankind, individually and
collectively, and that the associated benefits and costs are highly
unequally and unfairly distributed. Ten to fifteen million people a year, for
example, are displaced from their place of residence in order to make way
for development projects, with often little or no compensation and with
severe harm to their well -being. Some drugs for debilitating and often
killer diseases are controlled by business corporations that try to sell them
at prices dozens of times their cost of production, beyond the reach of the
majority of sufferers.
Development–whether understood as fundamental transformations;
planned intervention; improvement in human welfare; or as expansion of

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valued attainable opportunities–is correspondingly a strongly ethically-
laden field. Some key themes in development ethics have been that:
First, the gains of some groups have been directly conditional on planned
suffering for others. Peter Berger labelled this theme as: “pyramids of
sacrifice”; as for example in the suffering of slaves in the processes of
generation of agricultural and mining wealth from the Americas, or of
rural labourers displaced to become urban proletarians in the
industrialization of Western Europe and Russia. More generally, long-term
societal development involves enormous investments by preceding
generations that are often to the benefit overwhelmingly of later
generations, not of themselves. This investment has been induced in
diverse ways besides voluntary contract: through forced labour, physical
displacement leading into capitalist wage-labour, or labour perceived in
terms of loyalty, duty, honour, solidarity or self-fulfilment. The creation of
national parks, for example, has typically been comprehensively at the
expense of the previous residents. Even where compensation exercises are
present, overwhelming evidence documents pervasive and
multidimensional distortions of compensation in practice. In sum, this
means that some get the gains; while others get the pains in such kinds of
forced displacement of low-income populations.
Secondly, good fortune can generate unplanned suffering for others, as
when booming incomes in some sections of society or some parts of the
world pull food resources out of poorer areas and out of the affordable
reach of the poorest people, leading even to famine and death. Amartya
Sen (1981) elaborated how famines are not necessarily caused by lack of
food but by poor people‘s lack of market power to command food, which
can occur partly as a side-effect of richer people‘s greater power to
command resources. According to Amartya, Millions died, not outside the

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modern world system, but in the very process of being forcibly
incorporated into its economic and political structures. They died in the
golden age of Liberal Capitalism; indeed, many were murdered by the
theological application of sacred principles of Smith, Bentham, and Mill.
Davis (2001) recounts how the impacts of climatic shocks caused by
currents in the Pacific Ocean were mediated by new systems of global
trade connections and economic ideology. Comparable shocks in the 18th
century in China and India had been managed with far less loss of life, by
governments that did not believe that starvation reflected immutable
economic and Malthusian law and that retained capacity to act on that
belief. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with markets left free to
determine allocation, some groups in drought - hit areas ended with no
enforceable claims over food. Food flowed instead between regions and
social groups purely in response to demand from those with money,
locally and internationally, without any compensating public action and
resulting in the malnutrition and premature death of millions. Such types
of ‘side –effect’ and ‘collateral damage’ are widespread in an
interconnected world; they are marginal only in terms of the attention
often given to them, not marginal in their occurrence and human
significance.
Third, besides this “calculus of pain‟ (Peter Berger‘s term), including
between people and across generations, there is what Berger called a
“calculus of meaning”: how far does the acquisition of and preoccupation
with material comforts and conveniences bring or jeopardize a fulfilling
and meaningful life? Material means, important as they are for a life of
dignity, are insufficient for a truly human life; further, the meanings and
use of material things depend on people‘s own values.

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In addressing the calculi of pain and meaning, the choices we face are not
only between a first option called “without development‟ and a second
option called “development‟, but between many different versions and
styles of “development‟, with reference both to end-destinations and the
character of the paths towards them. Much of the suffering along past and
contemporary paths of development is avoidable. Societal and globally we
have real choices. In Latin America, for example, Costa Rica has long
illustrated one distinctive and in many ways admirable path. This
highlights that attention to ethics is important not only in choosing
directions but also in understanding options, because people use and are
moved by ethical ideas.
Fourth, ‘Calculus of pain’ & “calculus of meaning” for segment of human
society deserving special attention. Given the growth of human powers to
do well and to do harm, are the issues of pain and meaning concerning
unborn generations and the already born children who are not yet able to
participate in societal decision making. Taking their interests fairly into
account and respecting environmental fragility and constraints can be
called the calculus of sustainability. Areas of critical uncertainties for
sustainability include: environmental risks, economic instabilities, and
socio-political combustibility (Raskin et al. 2002). The three are heavily
interconnected, which brings the danger of chain-reaction crises—
triggered by climate change, pandemics, financial collapse, mega-
terrorism, or key resource shortages—that contemporary institutions will
be unable to manage.
Dear learner, in addressing the above-discussed key issues, ethically
informed analysis and action are indispensable in development activities.
For example, economists work on issues marked by major uncertainty and
it is fair to hold them responsible, like members of other professions, to

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make clear the degrees of uncertainty in their understanding, and to take
into account the vulnerability of poor people to unwanted effects resulting
from their advice and decisions. Denis Goulet argued that to make a real
difference ethical thinking must become “the means of the means: a moral
beacon illuminating the value questions buried inside instrumental means
appealed to by decision-makers and problem-solvers of all kinds”. Since
the fate of general intentions depends upon the character of the concrete
means which are available and assigned to fulfil them —the institutions,
rules, persons and procedures—so ethical ideals must be well embodied in
those concrete means, and must pervade and guide their detailed
operation. The agenda for development ethics includes not just ethical
theorising but close attention to its linkages to attitudes, public action and
policy making, to the work of national and global institutions and civil
society, and to practice- related ethical thinking in these settings.
It has also been argued that much ‘development’ activity has become a
sort of business: a specialized arena dominated by professional
development experts and by ‘agencies’ dealing with ‘recipients’ (McNeill
and St. Clair, 2009). These experts have shared an arcane language in
which fundamental ethical issues and reflection on the costs and risks of
their planning were absent or, when present, stripped of any direct and
painful human content. The role of economic experts in defining and
framing development issues is particularly important, for they hold central
roles within development bureaucracies, present their frameworks as
value-free, and often reject ethical thinking as being outside the scope of
their science and planning. In particular, market prices have been widely
accorded a status as like meteorological data that must simply be observed
and respected. Hence, there are various rationales and objectives for
offering considerations to the ethical issues in development. The ethical

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consideration to development can further be debated on the perspectives
and processes of social, political, economic and environmental
development; opportunities and threats for humankind, individually and
collectively; and associated benefits and costs that are explained in the
subsequent paragraphs.

6.3. The Perspectives of Development Ethics

Dear learners, before starting to read this section, write down one
paragraph concerning the ethical perspectives and criteria of development
ethics. Then read this section and compare it with your paragraph.
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From a great range of ethical perspectives and criteria that are used and
debated by ethicists, three perspectives namely needs, capabilities, and
human rights, and the issue of their mutual relations received specific
elaboration in development ethics, development practice and policy
analyses.
The Needs perspective: the distinction between needs and their satisfiers
is central to the need perspective of development ethics. Some types of
needs theory prominent in development economics have treated the
satisfiers as the needs; for example, a house of at least a certain size and
quality. The emphasis then became on needs as a set of things, rather than
on needing as a relationship between priority values and specific personal
and local situations, within which diverse potential satisfiers exist.
 Essential subsistence needs (food, clothing, housing, health care, and
the like)

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 Needs related to comfort and the facilities which render life easier
(transportation, leisure, labour saving-devices, pleasant surroundings)
 Needs related to human fulfilment or transcendence, whose satisfaction
confers heightened value on human lives (cultural improvement, deeper
spiritual life, enriching friendships, loving relationships, rewarding social
intercourse, and so on)
This need perspective emphasizes that development should be based on
the actual needs of the subject (man) in harmony with the object
(humanity). According to this perspective, development’s ultimate goal
can only be achieved when “all human beings in every society are entitled
to enjoy the structural and institutional conditions which foster universal
human ascent” (Goulet, 2006: 58). In particular, this perspective
accentuates the attainment of the aforesaid three categories of needs to all
and for all, individuals and societies
The Capabilities Perspective: Proponents of this perspective argue for a
set of fundamental capabilities, as requirements for a human life with
dignity that provide the grounding for basic rights claims. The core focus
of the capability perspective is on what individuals are able to do (i.e.,
capable of). It has been argued that a diverse set of actors and social
groups with unequal power interact with each other and with nature;
consequently, decision making is often dominated by those who hold
symbolic power. In addition, deeply held beliefs and practices reinforce
existing inequalities in voice between local and international elites,
technical specialists, and ordinary people.
 Five components in assessing capability (Sen, 1985)
 The importance of real freedoms in the assessment of a person's
advantage

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 Individual differences in the ability to transform resources into
valuable activities
 The multivariate nature of activities giving rise to happiness
 A balance of materialistic and non-materialistic factors in evaluating
human welfare
 Concern for the distribution of opportunities within society
According to this approach, development should be understood not as
economic growth, but as the expansion of people’s “valuable capabilities
and functioning”
The Human rights perspective: This perspective brings human rights into
development discourse. The human rights perspective accentuate that
development activities should aim to respect, protect and fulfil the human
rights codified in the international human rights legal framework. This
perspective is distinguished from a needs-based or charity approach by its
emphasis on discrimination, exclusion and the intersectionality of
disadvantage as the underpinning causes of poverty.
The idea of ‘rights’ has been championed in many different ways
throughout history. Human rights can be defined in the terms of moral
principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour,
and are protected as legal rights in national and international law. They are
commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person
is ‘inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being’, and
which are ‘inherent in all human beings’ regardless of their nation,
location, language, religion, class, caste, gender, sexual identity or any
other status. They are universally applicable and are egalitarian (same for
everyone) in nature. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and
indivisible.

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Human rights are the fundamental inherent rights of all human beings to
which people are entitled simply by virtue of being born into the human
family. While, on the one hand, they limit the power of the State to
arbitrarily interfere with people’s free exercise of their rights, on the other
they require the State to take positive measures to create an enabling
environment in which people may enjoy these rights. Governments and
other duty bearers are under an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil
human rights, and are responsible for ensuring legal entitlements and
remedies in case of non-fulfilment.
The foundation of a human rights-based approach is the centrality of the
relationship between rights-holders and duty-bearers to the development
process. This relationship requires participation from rights-holders in the
decision-making processes of the duty bearer, and that duty-bearers are
accountable to rights-holders for human rights obligations under
international law and codified in national legislation. Human rights-based
approaches can be distinguished from other traditional approaches to
delivering aid and development (such as a needs-based or charity
approach) by their emphasis on discrimination, deprivation, exclusion and
marginalization as the underpinning causes of poverty, hunger and
malnutrition, thereby threatening the right to food and increasing the
vulnerability of food insecure population.

6.4. The Forms of Development Ethics

Dear learner, before starting to read this section, writes down one
paragraph concerning in what forms the concept of development ethics
appears in the current academic debate
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Dear learner, in the subsequent paragraphs, we will try to discuss various
possible outcomes for the character of development ethics, as a field in
teaching, research, writing and public utterance. For the purpose of this
course, five forms of development ethics are identified considering its
foundational roles. Yet, the categories are not hard-edged but the contrasts
that they provide can be useful.
(i) Development Ethics as an abstracted high-mindedness; a play
religion: In this form, development ethics figures as a high-minded, high-
toned form of utterance, invoked in certain times and places within the
worlds of public policy and national and international organizations. For
example, Sen‘s “Development as Freedom” (1999) was a beloved
perspective in aid agencies because it permits uplifting talk but no specific
operational commitments. This is, sometime, considered unfair by some
ethicists based on arguments that a high-minded discourse lacks the
legitimacy of seeking indirect and long-run paths of influence. Besides,
this form of high-minded discourse may also combines with a narrow
operational focus on a conservative social agenda. Here the high-minded
discourse is not a cover for inaction but, critics allege, proposed as
backing for a conservative action agenda. Hence, this may leads to the
second type of role, which forms a different account of development
ethics.
(ii) Development Ethics as defining and propagating specific ways of
life: - In this form, the role of development ethics is as a set of serious
secular religions; such as, for example, Gandhianism in the public arena.
Some other commentators fear that the higher-minded that a generalized
discourse is the worse often is the associated behavior, for powerful

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agencies come to feel themselves vindicated in pursuing their great ends
by whatever means they consider necessary. We see this in the histories of
various political movements and supposedly other-worldly religions. The
quasi-religious discourse can become deadly “play”; its specific
injunctions may not be followed but they set the stage for legitimizing
rather different actions, through the depiction of its leaders as righteous
and well-intentioned.
(iii) Development Ethics as an academic sub-discipline: - development
ethics as an academic sub-discipline was mainly forged by Denis Goulet;
as he regularly used the term “discipline” in his writings and eloquently
argued that development ethics could aspire to be an academic discipline
or sub-discipline. This had been part of the attempts to build a sub-
discipline in academic philosophy, within ethics and political philosophy;
and indeed, it was a concern reflecting the greater scale of professional
philosophy. As a discipline development ethics meant the reservation of
an intellectual space, in the form of specific courses, journals, conferences
and so on, within which development ethics issues receive concentrated
and rigorous attention. However, there were difficulties to draw clear
boundaries for development ethics with medical or business ethics, and
this had contributed amongst several other factors to the non-emergence of
a distinctive field. Nevertheless, it is very recent that development ethics
has noted as trans-disciplinary, particularly there has been acceleration
within the past five to ten years. At the same time, various of the issues of
development ethics have received increased attention in many more
established and organized fields: in development management, human
rights, international relations, international law, public health, and even in
parts of welfare economics, public administration, public policy and
business management.

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(iv) Development Ethics as a field of professional ethics: -
Development ethics as a field of formal professional ethics is comparable
with political ethics, military ethics, business ethics, medical ethics, etc.
This asks: What should those working in development theory, planning
and practice – “development ethicists” – do with and to clients/advisees,
students, research subjects...? What should development ethicists work on,
whom should they work for, and what criteria should they use in assessing
and evaluating situations and policies...? Etc...
(v) Development ethics as an ethicized professional ethics: - it is a
forum for serious ‘look-see-ing’ and ‘if-then-ing’ on a broader scale than
it is often implied in the formal professional ethics yet with a specific
audience such as development studies academics and students,
development planners, practitioners and activists, and their major clients.
Generally, it can be argued that neither in formal nor ethicized
professional ethics need one be as worried as in scholastic development
ethics (an academic sub-discipline) about defining boundaries or
distinctiveness. Instead both formal and ethicized professional ethics
imply areas of activity that draw eclectically on many disciplines.
However, there is a role for various roles that can be argued further to
enhance its applicability.

6.5. The Models of Development Ethics

Dear learner, this subsection presents the three-mode models of
development ethics. Development ethicists identified the following three
models in the field of development ethics after methodically analysing
substantive ethics. Each of the models listed below has a permanent role
and uses multiple different appealing principles in defining development
ethics and its applications.

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(i) The sensitization model: - It is the first model of development
ethics and it reacts to and reflects on problems and horrors of development
and of non-development, past and present, capitalist or socialist, and puts
forward views of human interests, rights, duties, and dilemmas. This
model tries to reconsider the meanings of “development” and advocate or
examine concepts like equity, empowerment, participation, autonomy,
basic needs, and dignity. Ad hoc reference to multiple different appealing
principles is however not enough. It is argued that this model is where
ethics is a matter of appeal to potent, supposedly clear and consistent,
humanist-populist intuitions that appear to him self-evident.
(ii) The systematization model: - This is the second model of
development ethics. This model tries to theorize, refine and relate different
principles and build systems of interconnected ideas. It essays justification
of first-stage positions, by probing foundational issues of value and the
methodology of ethical theorizing and practice. This too is not enough, as
life‘s richness outstrips any single system. Theory building is slow,
abstracted, and leaves things out; and becomes in danger of losing touch
with the variety and intensity of experience and concerns from the first
mode.
(iii) The adaptation model: - It is the third model and it takes
abstracted theoretical systems back to the real worlds of practice and
compromise. It attends to how to achieve more influence in the world
without omitting important things: the world of power, ideology and
conflict. This includes attention to possible alliances between different
ethical views, such as rights and needs, religious and nonreligious, or
modernist, pre- and post-modernist. And it considers practical tools, policy
proposals, and decision procedures.

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Generally, the three-models of development ethics can be summarized as
follow: Each model has a permanent role: first-mode reaction to new
issues and experience; second-model systematization and deepening of
those responses; and third-model application and adaptation of the systems
when facing real choices. They all represent more an intellectual than a
historical sequence, since each will always be necessary. There is some
chronological association, as the proportion of second and then of third
models grows over time. But in addition there are feed-backs as well as
feed-forwards; for example, ‘third model‘ application-cum-adaptation of
selected, systematized and revised ethical intuitions may in turn lead to
new ‘first model;‘ experiences, reactions and insights.
Essentially, it is important to note that much of the perspectives in the first
model are mainly drawn on the Denis Goulet‘s work “The Cruel Choice‟,
which remains perhaps unsurpassed as a sensitizing introduction to
general issues and relevant cases. Goulet had intensive involvement in the
other models too, especially the third model in his work on methods of
participation and action research, and on incentives and indicators. He
espoused a process-oriented, practice-centred, locality-specific approach
although they were not an elaborate generalized theoretical model. As
chronological generation, Raff Carmen (1994, 1996) takes over the three
models with a presumption of intellectual maturation over time; and he
enriched the Denis Goulet‘s works. Accordingly, he considered that the
second model is a stage of mistaken movement into formalism and
detachment; suggest in contrast that a model of more rigorous clarification
is often essential. For Carmen, the third model also contains current
reaffirmation of humanistic development yet a post-modernistic rejection
of universalistic philosophizing. He suggested that it is more a stage of

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practice, guided by theories but recognizing and adapting to limits and
fundamental conflicts.
Furthermore, it is also worth to suggest that each of the models of
development ethics is likely to be ineffective if any of them lacks
intelligent connection to other models. This implies that the first model
alone leaves us with concerns that can be vague, inconsistent, impractical,
and uninformed by systematized past reflections. The second model alone
also leaves us with theories that can be implicitly based on narrow
experience and particular (generally Eurocentric) backgrounds and
presumptions. Similarly, third model alone could leave us with a street-
wise practice prone to all the above weaknesses and to cynicism. Hence,
works in any models must be intelligently connected to works in the other
models to guarantee its likely effectiveness.

6.6. Chapter Summary

Dear learner, you recall that the term ‘ethics‘, which is also known as
moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing,
defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct, often
addressing disputes of moral diversity. Ethics comprises three major areas
of study, such as, Meta-ethics, Normative ethics, and Applied ethics.
Development ethics is a form of applied ethics, which considers the ethical
and value questions posed by development theory, planning and practice.
As an emerging discipline in the broader field of development studies, its
mission is to diagnose value conflicts, to assess policies (actual and
possible), and to validate or refute valuations placed on development
performance. It appeared in response to the ethical questions and concerns
in organizations, program and policies of economic development, social
development, development sociology, development anthropology, politics

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 of development and overall development studies. The concept of
development ethics has risen as an intellectual field of study in its more
contemporary mode, through the work of Louis Joseph Lebret and Denis
Goulet.

Three complementary perspectives that have received specific elaboration

in development ethics, development practice, and policy analyses include;
needs, capabilities, and human rights, and the issue of their mutual
relations. Currently, development ethics appears in academic debate in
various forms: as an abstracted high-mindedness, defining and
propagating specific ways of life, an academic sub-discipline, a field of
professional ethics, ethicized professional ethics. Furthermore,
development ethicists identified three models in the field of development
ethics such as the sensitization model, the systematization model, the
adaptation model

Checklists:

Dear learner, below are important points that you are expected to know
concerning this chapter. Please note that if your response for the
statements is ‘Yes‘, it means you understand the concept so that you can
proceed to the next chapter. But if your response is ‘No‘, we advise you
restudy your note before proceed to the next chapter.

Descriptions/Items Yes No
I can define the term ‘development ethics’
I am able explain the origin of the concept of development ethics as

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an intellectual field of study in its more contemporary mode
I am able to define and explain needs, capabilities, rights-approach to
development
I can identify and explain the various forms of development ethics,
I am able to describe and explain the three-models of development
ethics

Review Questions

1. Development ethics as practice-oriented thought has arisen at an

intersection of theorising about norms and values with various streams of
experience. Discus
2. Explain the subject matter of development ethics?
3. Are there ethical concerns on the development process in Ethiopia? If
yes, who do you think should address those concerns? What methods
should be used in addressing the concerns?

CHAPTER SEVEN: ETHICAL GOALS AND STRATEGIES

FOR AUTHENTIC DEVELOPMENT
Introduction
Dear learner, as you have already learned in the previous chapter, there
exist a shift from old fashion ideas of equating economic growth with
development; whereby ethics has become a centerpiece of the theory and

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practice of development. For development ethicists, development is
perceived as a relative good which is subordinated to the meaning of life.
Each society gives answers to the fundamental inquiries of ‘what is good
life‘ and ‘what is good society‘ in a distinct and unique way which is
chiefly determined by the value system wherein any society has adopted.
Goulet (1995, p. 27) writes, “the discipline of development ethics is the
conceptual cement that binds together multiple diagnoses of problem with
their policy implications through an explicit phenomenological study of
values which lays bare the value costs of alternative courses of action”.
What goals ought to be posed and which strategies can be applied in order
for these goals to be achieved, depends on the value system of each
society.
Goulet (1971) stresses the importance of the dynamic of value change in
determining what is to be defined as the ‘good life’ and the ‘good society’.
In his words, “‘development’ is above all a question of values” (p. 205).
Innovation and novel behaviour patterns that development brings up
usually embarrass the value system of a society. A convectional approach
to development -in terms of social scientists’ study and practices-
confronts values either as aids or as obstacles to attaining its goals. In
other words, development goals are predetermined and values are used
under a functional way by subordinating them. On the contrary,
development ethics looks into dynamics of value change in each society
and builds its paradigm on this idea. For development ethicists, innovation
and novel behaviour patterns can be good only if they can be adjusted with
the value change and the meaning of the “good life” that every society
espouses (Goulet, 1971).
Built on this reality, the current chapter presents ethical goals and
strategies for authentic development, discusses the concept of authentic

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development, and finally explains the intersection between the theory and
practice of development ethics.
Chapter learning objectives

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

 Describe and explain goals ought to be posed for authentic development,

 Describe and explain strategies that can be applied in order to achieve ethical
goals for authentic development
 Discuss the concept of authentic development and distinguishes it from the
conventional notion of development or otherwise to the way that for many years
the developed nations deal with the problem of underdevelopment

7.1. Ethical Goals of development

Dear student, what could be the ethical goals of development activities for
you? Please, put your idea in your own words.
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Dear learner, as presented above, development is a relative good in terms
of value issues. Notwithstanding this, however, Goulet (1975, 1995)
argues that there are three common acceptable universal values, namely, i)
life-sustenance, ii) esteem, and iii) freedom that societies and individuals
ought to investigate within a value based context of the ‘good life’.
According to him, these universal accepted values compose the ethical
goals of development.
(i) Life-sustenance refers to the nurture of life. Goulet (1975, 88) points
out that “one of development‘s most important goals is to prolong men‘s
lives and render those men less ‘stunted’ by disease, extreme exposure to

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nature‘s elements, and defencelessness against enemies”. The importance
of life sustaining goods (e.g. food, shelter, healing or medicine) is
generally acknowledged by all societies (Goulet, 1975, 1995). Because of
life-sustenance as a value of universal significance, life-sustaining indices
are also used as a measurement of development.
(ii) Esteem: All human beings in all societies feel the necessity for
respect, dignity, honor and recognition. The discussion involves esteem
values and material prosperity, and, particularly, how esteem contends
with “development” (in a sense of high rate of well-being, economic and
technological advance). The more the material prosperity becomes the
centre task of the development of a society the greater is the subordination
of esteem to material affluence. The reaction of a society to the
aforementioned material approach to development and its need for esteem
can lead these societies to opposite directions, either towards
“development” or towards resistance of it. In the first case, society tries to
gain esteem via “development”, while at the latter it try to protect its
profound esteem from inward “development”. Both acts seek to gain
esteem. Therefore, esteem is a universal goal whether “development” is
accepted or not.
(iii) Freedom: is valued both from developed and non-developed
societies as one of the components of the “good life”. Development ought
to free humans from all servitudes. Even though there is a vast
philosophical discussion on the term and the claim that freedom is
enhanced by development is not self-evident, freedom is widely accepted
as something beneficial and desirable. The debate lies again between
freedom and material well-being. In a consumer society it can be accepted
that the degree of freedom rises by material expansion, and thus
constitutes an increase of well-being. On the other hand, in traditional

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societies, the value system may adopt a completely different confrontation
over needs and wants. In any case, the point is that the matter of opinion is
freedom (Goulet, 1995). Furthermore, in the discussion over freedom, a
significant distinction should be made between freedom from wants and
freedom for wants. The former refers to the situation where human needs
are adequately met, while the latter to the case where the gestations of new
wants are controlled and individuals possess multiplied wants (Goulet,
1995).

7.2. Ethical Strategies of Development

Dear student, having the universal goals of development in mind, what
strategic principles would you think help to achieve them? Explain in your
words.
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In development ethics, strategic principles are normative judgments which
provide both the notional and practical framework under within which
development goals should be discussed and policy recommendations over
those goals ought to be formulated. Accordingly, three ethical strategic are
targeted (Goulet, 1975, 1995):
(i) The abundance of goods in a sense that people need to have
‘enough’ in order to be more. In order to understand the notion of this
principle, it becomes necessary to take into account the ontological nature
of human beings. In an ontological sense, almost all organisms must go
outside of them in order to be perfect. Only fully perfect beings would
have no needs at all. Totally imperfect beings on the other hand would be
incapable of needing certain goods. Humans are perfect (or imperfect) to

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such a degree that “men have needs because their existence is rich enough
to be capable of development, but poor to realize all potentialities at one
time or with their resources…At any given time man is less than he can
become and what he can become depends largely on what he can have”
(Goulet, 1975, pp. 129-30). Hence, men need ‘to have enough’ goods in
order to be human. This must be investigated under the notion of a
humanistic approach on how much is ‘enough’ for people in order to have
a ‘good life‘.
There is not an absolute answer to the above issue. The response to the
aforementioned inquiry is found in the historical relation among men and
societies. Nevertheless, it is widely accepted that underdevelopment
(poverty, misery, diseases, mass famine etc.) diminishes humanity.
Thereby, ‘enough’ should be, at the minimum, all these goods that lead to
cover biological needs, and additionally to free part of human energy in
order for it to be allocated to a wider range of life aspects beyond covering
first order needs. Altogether with the concept of ‘enough’ goods there is
that of ‘superfluous’ wealth. At the same time, whereas underdevelopment
hits two thirds of the globe, rich classes and nations consume with a
superfluous way by exploiting nature recourses. This can be characterized
inhuman in twofold: First, the maintenance of superfluous wealth along
with underdevelopment conditions is inhuman both for those who have it
and those who not have it. Second, the hyper-consumption manner of life
in “developed” nations has distorted the way that the “good life” is
perceived: “having more” (material goods, wealth) leads to the notion of
“being more” (successful, attractive, valuable) (Fromm 1999; 2005).
Therefore, with regard to the strategic principle of the abundance of
goods, three distinctive points are noteworthy. First, all individuals need to
have ‘enough’ goods in order to realize themselves as human beings.

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Second, enough is not an absolutely relative measure but it can be defined
in an objective basis. Third, both underdevelopment situations and
superfluous wealth lead to dehumanization of life.
(ii) Universal solidarity. It concerns an ontological and philosophical
issue. It can be distinctive in three points. First, all people be in agreement
that beyond differences (in nationality, race, culture, status etc.) a common
‘human-ness’ is present. Second, the earth as a cosmic body is governed
by identical laws (physical roles) and all men dwell on this planet.
Humans share a common occupation of the planet. In spite of differences
in geography or climate, all humans are linked directly or indirectly with
other people due to the fact of cohabitation into this cosmic body. The
third component of the universal solidarity is derived by the all humans’
unity to destiny. In contrast, the existing state of affairs over the notion of
universalism is in the opposite direction. People have not yet realized the
need of solidarity. Controversial perspectives of development focus on
narrow mercantile, strategic and ideological interests. Under the present
worldwide conditions, solidarity can be achieved only through conflict
against present rules and redefinition of the relations of power. Conflict is
a prerequisite for solidarity. Here it is appropriate to state the importance
of classes‘ struggle and the institutional building role to the problem of
development. Development ethicists assert that no universal solidarity
exists to consolidate unfair social relations. The rebuilding of social
relations and institutions in a basis of equality is more than necessary.
(iii) Participation. Theories of participation possess an important issue in
the study of development. In general, the elite theory (e.g. Burnham 1960;
Putnam 1977; Bottomore 1993) claims that decision making into a society
concerns a ‘job‘ for specialists in each particular field of life. Elite theory
is made in a basis of “competence” that leads to an alleged efficiency

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within a society. For development ethics, participation is a matter for
discussion. In Goulet (1995, p. 97) words, “participation is best
conceptualized as a kind of moral incentive enabling hitherto excluded
non-elites to negotiate new packages of material incentives benefiting
them”. Even though development ethicists espouse that different kinds of
development require different forms of participation, they argue that non-
elite participation in decision-making enables people to mobilize and gives
them control over their social destiny (Goulet, 1989).

7.3. The Concept of the Authentic Development

Dear student, before reading this section, please try to explain the concept
of authentic development and distinguish it from the conventional notion
of development or otherwise to the way that for many years the developed
nations deal with the problem of underdevelopment.
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Dear students, authentic development, namely sustainability and human

development are at the centre of discussion for the last decades. The
adjective ‘authentic’ is used by Goulet (1996) to give the term
‘development’ with all those traits that development should entail in order
to be sustainable and human. Authentic development refers to the means
and ends of human action, or in other words, to the vision of a better life
and the way that this life can be accessed. As it is previously mentioned,
development ought to respond to long-standing philosophical inquiries
concerning the meaning of the good life, the foundation of justice in
society and within societies, and the stance of human individual and

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societies towards nature. What constitutes authentic development,
according to Goulet (1996) is providing satisfactory conceptual and
institutional answers to these three questions.
For all people and any society in the world, authentic development ought
to cover at least three objective aims that correspond to the
aforementioned goals of development: a) to pursue more and better life-
sustaining goods for all human beings, b) to create and improve the
conditions that nurture the sense of esteem of individuals and societies,
and c) to release humans from all forms of servitude (to nature, to others
people, to institutions, to beliefs) (Goulet, 1995).
Any concept of human fulfillment is highly relative and as Goulet (1975)
points out, development can be examined as a dialectical process.
Development goals are usually interactive and no range exists among life
protection, esteem and freedom. The essential point is that authentic
development should not judge the abovementioned goals (as is
conventionally the case) but these goals must become the criteria which
authentic development itself must be judged (Goulet 1995).
In this mode, grading a nation high economic growth does not mean that it
has followed an authentic development pattern. No authentic development
can be achieved if massive consumption leads societies to an entirely
material way of living emphasizing the notion of ‘have’ instead of ‘be’; if
structural relations between nations and within them (among classes and
individuals) are competitive and there is not equal distribution of
development proceeds; if the exploitation of material resources leads to
the destruction of ecological balance, if technological advantages are used
to abolish freedom.
In an effort to define authentic development, during the progress of a
seminar entitled “Ethical Issues in Development” that took place at the

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city of Colombo in Sri Lanca in 1986 (cited in Goulet, 1996), it is agreed
that any definition of development should take into account at least the
following six conceptual propositions:
1. Economic component, related with wealth, material life conditions
(amenities), and their equal distribution of them.
2. Social ingredient, connected with social goods as health, housing,
education, employment etc.
3. Political dimension, in a sense of the protection of human rights and
political freedom.
4. Cultural elements, with accord to the idea that cultures cultivate
people’s identity and self-esteem.
5. Ecological soundness, to promote a type of development that respects
natural resources and forces for the restoration of the environment.
6. System of meaning, which refers to the way that a society perceives
beliefs, symbols and values concerning the historical process and the
meaning of life.

The aforementioned conceptual elements might reflect a consensus on

what Goulet calls authentic development. Important element not fully
described within the above analysis relate to issues of ethical value
relativity and popular participation where overlap the notion of
development.
With respect to the first issue, societal value systems are threatened by
changes and social change is one of the main components of development.
If we accept that development affects values of society and vice versa, the
concept of ‘existence rationality’ should be investigated. However, what
does this strange phrase mean? According to Goulet (1975, p. 188),
“existence rationality defined as the process by which a society devices a

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conscious strategy for obtaining its goals, given its ability to process
information and the constrains weighting upon it”. In other words,
existence rationality is considered to be the value system that exists in any
society and determines the course of action undertaken to serve societal
aims. The core value of existence rationality is to be concerned of the
provision of those ingredients that ensure what any society defines as the
good life. Thus, any change should be integrated in the principle of
existence rationality determined by each society (Goulet, 1995).
Inasmuch as participation is one of the strategic principles of development
as it is asserted in a former section, it is an essential constituent of
authentic development. Elite problem-solvers (political elite, government
officials, policy makers, specialists, executives of intergovernmental
organization and so on) usually view development as a matter for
competence. In contradiction to the conventional approach to issues of
decision-making, authentic development offers a pluralistic alternative to
it. The philosopher Ivan Illich underlines “Participation is de-
professionalization in all domains of life…so as to make ordinary people
responsible for their own well-being” [cited in (Goulet, 1995, p. 91)]. For
ethicists, participation is perceived in the sense that common people are
involved not only as receivers of the privileges of development but also as
agents of their destiny, building their model of development. To what
extent populace participation should takes place is a matter for discussion,
what is certain is that via participation at least three vital actions are
performed: participation (i) offers to non-elites the ability to state goals
independently of their social position, (ii) abolishes political patron, in a
sense that ordinary people themselves become problem-solvers in their
social environment, and (iii) launches individual and social formations to

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escape of the rationale of ‘do-it-yourself’ problems of micro level gaining
access the macro arena of decision-making (Goulet, 1995).

7.4. Development Ethics and Gender Justice

The development ethics values framework owes a considerable debt to
struggles against the gender injustices of development. Ester Boserup in
the 1970s showed that the modernization of agriculture could make the
lives of women worse off in numerous ways. In effect, Boserup’s research
planted a flag, marking gender inequity as a feature of mal-development,
while at the same time beginning a new paradigm for understanding the
gendered dimensions of development (Boserup 1970). Before that time, it
had been held quite commonly that development consists simply in
modernization, or economic growth, and equity had nothing to do with it.
As awareness of the gender inequity of economic development became
stronger, the view that equity is irrelevant became ever more untenable.
Feminist critique of development strategies and practices has supported
other values in the framework, too. Ecofeminism has supported the value
of sustainability by linking gender inequity with environmental abuse and
degradation. More recently, the importance of empowerment in
development was underlined by researchers and advocates stressing the
value of empowerment for women. In these various ways, and more, the
framework of values for development ethics has been shaped by struggles
against gender injustice in development.
Worthwhile development must enhance human well-being, but we should
not assume that the risks to well-being are the same for men and women,
any more than we would assume that risks to their health are the same.
The same holds true for equity and empowerment as well as human rights.
The international community has for several decades affirmed that risks to

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women’s human rights are distinctive, which is recognized in the
Convention to Eliminate All Discrimination against Women.
One might wonder whether this is true of every value in the development
ethics framework. What about integrity against corruption? Does
corruption pose differential risks for men and women? Unfortunately this
question has not received much attention in recent research, which is more
interested in the question of whether women are less corruptible than men.
Despite these uncertainties, it seems clear that development ethics has a
great deal to learn from feminist cautioning that the values of worthwhile
development cannot be achieved by policies that are oblivious to gender.
One size simply does not fit all.

7.5. Chapter summary

Dear learner, this chapter has discussed many concepts related to
Development Ethics, with special emphasize to the goals and strategies of
authentic development accompanied by discussion on the concept of
authentic development itself. Here is the short summary of the chapter.
As mentioned previously, development ethics are related to an ethical
reflection on the ends and means of any developmental endeavor. Ethics
incorporates with the value dynamisms of the instruments utilized by
development agents; thus becoming a means of the means. Any
instrumental action (an economic policy for instance) should be tested
under an ethical deliberation taking into account the universally accepted
ethical goals of life-sustenance, esteem and freedom. Development ethics
renders to people and societies the way to be critically aware of the moral
content of their choices. By the formulation of particular ethical strategies,
such as abundance of goods, universal solidarity and participation,
development ethicists show a way to find a road based on the principles of
an authentic (human and sustainable) development. Through this process,

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development ethics offers the ideal of hope; preserving hope as the
possibility of creating new possibilities. Development ethics’ essential
task is ‘human ascent’ to all relevant aspects of life and authentic
development should be perceived as the means and the end in this course
of action.

Checklists:

Dear learner, below are important points that you are expected to know
concerning chapter two. Please note that if your response for the
statements is ‘Yes‘, it means you understand the concept so that you can
proceed to the next chapter. But if your response is ‘No‘, we advise you
re-study your note before proceed to the next chapter.
Yes No
I am able to describe and explain the universally accepted ethical goals
of development
I am able to describe and explain the strategies that should be adopted
in order to achieve authentic development
I am able to define and explain the concept of authentic development

Review Questions

1. Authentic development is much more than economic progress. Discuss

2. The development ethics paradigm consists on targeting the ethical

goals of development and the ethical strategies of attaining these goals.
Discuss

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3. Identify and discuss key ethical considerations in planning for
development

CHAPTER EIGHT: NGOs AND THE CONCEPT OF

DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
Introduction
Dear learner, this chapter tries to link the concept of development ethics to
the context of NGO. Nzimakwe (2008) contends that NGOs are
institutions that advance development - consist of a variety of functional,
geographic, membership and organizational groupings which make it

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complex to develop a standardized definition. The umbrella term “NGOs”
encompasses a broad, kaleidoscopic grouping of not-for-profit
organizations, which espouse a variety of agendas, causes, and ideologies,
and differ in size, resources, and organizational level. For the purposes of
this course, NGO is considered in its broadest context as an organization
that is neither a part of a government nor a conventional for-profit
business. The term non-profit is used in the sense of “not-profit-
distributing” in that any profits are invested back into the public mission
of the organization, and are not distributed for the benefit of the board,
staff or shareholders - thus distinguishing the NGO sector from the
business sector. The term non-governmental is used in the sense that the
organization is independent of government - it is not controlled by a
governmental entity nor is it established by an intergovernmental
agreement. Usually set up by ordinary citizens, NGOs may be funded by
governments, foundations, businesses, or private persons. Included in the
definition are large, international organizations and small, one-person
operations, those that are secular as well as those that are faith-based, and
both membership and non-membership groups.
As key players of development activities, NGOs provide potent forces for
social, political, and economic development. Specifically, NGOs promote
humanitarian issues, development aid, sustainable development, and the
interests of the poor, human rights and environmental protection and help
to relieve suffering and provide social services. NGOs have proven to be
excellent, alongside governments and corporate social initiatives, in
promoting individual and societal well-being through service delivery,
fund raising, relief work and advocacy roles. As a powerful “third sector”
existing between the realms of government and business, NGOs are
bringing an unprecedented vitality and ability to bear on critical issues

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related to service and world peace. In many cases, they are more effective
in meeting social objectives due to their flexibility and connections to
grassroots communities which aid them in mobilizing resources quickly to
affected areas. Moreover, NGOs now impact policies and advance
initiatives that once were nearly exclusively the domain of governments
and for-profit corporations, and their humanitarian service has become
vital to the well-being of individuals and societies throughout the globe.
Their often single-minded commitment and strong motivation affords
them a civic power that other institutions may lack.
Dear learner, the 1990s witnessed a dramatic upsurge in number, influence
and diversity of NGOs. As the influence of NGOs continues to grow, they
are also attracting greater public scrutiny, prompting calls for greater
accountability and responsibilities. The sense that NGOs do have
increasing presence and influence at the international level is leading some
to question their legitimacy for such a role, and it is in this context that
ethical questions relating to developmental activities of NGO arise. It is,
however, worth mentioning that the ethical issues associated with NGOs
have not yet attracted nearly as much concentrated attention as the ethical
issues in many other sectors. This chapter gives more attention to ethical
issues facing NGOs, the relevance of the concept of development ethics
fort for NGOs practices, code of ethics and conducts for NGOs, ethical
consideration in planning the provision of social services to the
community, and questions associated with NGOs’ accountability.
Chapter learning objectives
Dear learner, after completing this chapter you are expected to:
 Define NGOs and explain their role in the development activities
 Discuss about the range of ethical questions facing NGOs

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 Explain how the understanding of development ethics help NGOs
practice
 Discuss the ethical issues and codes of ethics in the NGOs
 Discuss ethical consideration in planning the provision of social
services to the community
 Discuss the various mechanisms to ensure NGOs accountability

8.1. Ethical Issues Facing NGOs

Dear learner, in this subsection, the range of ethical questions that need to
receive adequate attentions in the NGOs context are thoroughly reviewed
both from internal and external factors that have effects in management of
the sector. Before reading this section, please try to list down the likely
ethical questions you think that NGOs face

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We present ethical questions associated with NGOs in six broad

categories, a number of subcategories in each of those categories, and
examples of questions in each of those subcategories. The categories in
question are not mutually exclusive; indeed, there is a great deal of
crossover between different categories. Nor, of course, are they
exhaustive; further categories could be added, as well as more
subcategories.

A) Ethical Questions Raised by Specific Kinds of Activity NGOs

Undertake

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Emergency Relief: Should the right to emergency assistance be treated as
absolute? What if the price of providing such assistance is silence
concerning human rights abuses, for example, or there is a high risk that
doing so will help to fuel further conflict? When might protection be more
important than the delivery of humanitarian assistance and what roles can
NGOs be expected to play in this?
Service Delivery: Given the risks of such activities (fostering dependency,
undermining local solutions, letting governments off the hook, etc.),
should they be replaced entirely with activities aimed at lasting solutions?
What if the risks in question seem fairly small, lasting solutions are hard to
find, and people would suffer greatly without immediate help? Does a
rights-based approach assist in addressing these questions? If so, how
exactly?
Development: Is there reliable data showing that (certain kinds of)
development activities or processes are more successful than others? If so,
should NGOs be more prepared to stop activities or processes that are
relatively less successful, or for which evidence is harder to come by? If
not, what justifies NGOs in continuing with such activities or processes,
given that they may not just be less successful but have serious negative
effects? What, in any case, gives NGOs the right even to aim at significant
changes—social, cultural, and political—in the societies they work in?
Does the claim that they are promoting human rights supply an adequate
answer to this question?
Advocacy: Should more (or fewer) resources be devoted to lobbying,
advocacy, and campaigning? Do NGOs have a greater moral responsibility
to change the policies of their home governments than those of others?
What gives NGOs the right to engage in such work? What conditions must
they meet before they can be said to speak on behalf of the poor? Given

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the difficulties associated with attributing policy or practice change to
specific NGO actions—let alone the methodological challenges of
assessing the diverse impact of policy and practice changes on the lives of
people living in poverty—what conditions have to be met for NGOs to be
justified in diverting resources from more direct relief or development
activities to advocacy activities? When is it morally unacceptable not to
speak out?
B) Ethical Questions Concerning the Selection of Activities and Areas
of Work
Strategic Choice: How should NGOs make such strategic choices
concerning what general kinds of activity (relief, service delivery, this or
that kind of development, advocacy) to engage in, and where? By a
calculation of what is likely to have the best consequences overall? If so,
how should they make such calculations? On the basis of need, human
rights, comparative advantage or cost effectiveness? Or by some other
criteria? If so, what criteria? Is avoiding harm ethically more important
than failing to help?
Specific Choices: Whichever general kinds of activity an NGO chooses to
employ, how should they decide which particular instances of that kind to
select? Again, by a calculation of what is likely to have the best
consequences overall? Or by other criteria? Should they focus their efforts
on those who are worst off, for example, even if it is easier and cheaper
(and hence more efficient) to bring about improvements in the conditions
of those who are not so badly off? How much influence, if any, should
contributors to such agencies or other stakeholders have on these
decisions? How much influence, if any, should those they aim to help
have? What should NGOs do if the views of different stakeholders clash?

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The Risk of Negative Effect: Experience shows that even promising
activities can have negative effects. How should INGOs respond to such
risks? If the risk is high enough, should they hold back? Or should they go
ahead if the positive effects are expected to outweigh the negative by a
sufficient amount? If so, how much might a ‘sufficient’ amount be, and
how might it be calculated? Does it make a difference whether those
negative effects come about as a direct result of the activity of the NGO,
for example, or indirectly? Does it make a difference whether those who
will suffer if those negative effects come about make an informed decision
to consent to the activity in question? Does it make a difference if those
negatively affected are from less poor communities?
C) Ethical Questions Concerning the Relationship Between NGOs,
Their ‘Partners’ and Those They Aim to Benefit
Participation: Must NGOs always ensure that their partners and those they
seek to benefit participate in any decisions that concern them? If so, what
exactly does this requirement come to in practice and how would one
assess whether it has been met? Whether or not any such participation is
necessary, is it also sufficient for an activity to be legitimate, or morally
acceptable? Or is a more thoroughgoing handing-over of power essential
so that the men and women they seek to benefit do not merely participate
in decision-making, but lead the process?
Autonomy: More broadly, is respecting the autonomy of partners and
those they seek to benefit—roughly speaking, their right to determine for
themselves how to operate and indeed live—an important value in
development (and relief) work? If so, what constraints might respect this
value place on NGOs? Does it mean, for example, that NGOs should only
seek to support initiatives that people living in poverty have started by
themselves?

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Cultural Differences: What should NGOs do when local norms or cultural
practices clash with their values? Should NGOs always respect such
norms and practices and if so what might such respect come to in practice?
Does the notion of human rights offer any help in answering these
questions? Does the fact the culture is dynamic and often locally contested
make a difference?
Accountability: Should NGOs be more accountable to their partners and
those they aim to benefit than they currently are? If so, in what ways
precisely? Might sanctions be appropriate if things go wrong, for
example? How are these accountabilities to be balanced with other
accountabilities NGOs have?
Systems and Procedures: What adjustments in the systems and procedures
of INGOs might be necessary if they were to truly seek more effective and
equal relationships with their ‘partners’ and those they seek to benefit?
D) Ethical Questions Concerning the Relationship Between NGOs and
Their Contributors and the Wider Public
Accountability: In what ways should NGOs be accountable to their
contributors and supporters? Should they always make evaluations of their
activities available, for example, or at least summaries of those
evaluations? If not, how can private contributors and potential contributors
have confidence that the work NGOs are doing is achieving good results?
What other accountability measures might be considered necessary?
Openness: More generally, how open and honest should NGOs be about
their activities? Should they be required to publish their accounts in such a
way that really makes clear how much of their income they spend on
different activities, for example? Is it justifiable to present their activities
in a way that will appeal to contributors, even if such a presentation is not
strictly accurate? Might it be permissible to exaggerate the risk of a

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potential emergency in order to raise extra funds, for example? Is it
reasonable to expect NGOs to be completely open and honest about the
problems and complexities of aid? What if more openness and honesty
would lead to fewer donations—would this be a sufficient reason to
maintain the status quo?
Fundraising: Which methods of fundraising are morally acceptable? Is
child-sponsorship acceptable, for example? If not, why not? What about
pictures of starving children? Relatedly, is it morally acceptable for NGOs
to ensure they have a presence in places where the media will be present,
in order to maintain their profile, even if they could be doing better
elsewhere?
Active Engagement: Should NGOs seek to engage supporters in ways that
allow them to become active citizens in a process of social change rather
than passive donors to a distant agency? If so, how might they best do so?
Institutional Imperatives: More broadly, how should NGOs manage the
balance between what are sometimes called ‘institutional imperatives’,
such as keeping the funds flowing in and surviving as an institution, on the
one hand, and ‘developmental imperatives’, as specified in their mission
statements, on the other? How far do institutional imperatives contribute
to, or constrain, NGOs’ abilities to be true to the answers to the questions
associated with accountability, openness, and fundraising.

E) NGOs and Politics

Being political: Should NGOs adopt specific political stances or
orientations? If so, how open should they be about doing so? Should they
state their political orientation in the same kind of way that political

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parties do, for example? What implications might this have for their
sources and types of funding?
Legitimacy: Do NGOs have the right to intervene in political processes at
home or abroad? If so, what gives them that right? Conforming to certain
rules, regulations or standards? Representing a certain constituency? Their
experience on the ground? Their successful performance? Or something
else? If so, what exactly?
Internal politics: Should NGOs be (more) democratic? Is there something
wrong if their internal processes don’t reflect what they are fighting for in
their work (for example, by being hierarchical or authoritarian or non-
democratic)? If so, what kind of fault would they be displaying?
Hypocrisy? A lack of integrity? Or might there be legitimate reasons for
such apparent inconsistencies? If so, what are those reasons?
Funding from Governments: Should NGOs take money from
governments? If so, how should they handle the familiar risks of doing so
—becoming more reluctant to criticize government policy, adopting
government agendas and practices, and so on? Alternatively, should they
refuse all government funding in order to remain independent, and
therefore able to act freely? Might this be one area where a division of
labor between NGOs would be helpful—some accepting government
money and others not?
Relations with Governments: How should NGOs deal with governments
and other authorities that are not sympathetic to their aims? Does it make a
difference if the government in question is democratically elected? Again,
is there one best policy that all NGOs should follow in this area, or would
it make more sense for different NGOs to follow different policies?
Acting illegally: Are there circumstances where breaking the law would be
the right thing for NGOs to do? If so, what are these circumstances? What

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might be the limits to this? Would one stop at civil disobedience, for
example, or are there circumstances where supporting violence might be
acceptable?
F) Ethical Questions Related to Broader Questions of Individual
and Collective Governance, Structure and Accountability
Governance: What new forms of governance, structure and accountability
might be appropriate for NGOs, given the ethical issues raised above? Are
improvements in the internal governance and accountability structures of
such organizations likely to prove sufficient to respond to these problems?
Or will more energetic self-regulation, codes of conduct, external
governance, or external regulation of such organizations be necessary? If
so, what form should such regulations or governance takes?
Corporatization: Is the increasing growth and ‘corporatization’ of NGOs
changing their values, and diminishing their ability to act flexibly, be
responsive and adapt quickly? Is the associated concern with branding and
profile leading to a greater focus on institutional rather than humanitarian
or developmental imperatives? Is the adoption of largely corporate
management models by NGOs antithetical to their mission?
Collective Action Problems: Some of the problems raised above have
certain features of collective action problems—e.g. avoiding ‘pornography
of poverty’ fundraising. The obvious way to tackle such problems is by
binding agreements not to engage in practices that are harmful at the
collective level. What such agreements currently exist? How effective are
they? What other such agreements might be feasible? Again, what kinds of
collective governance structures would be needed to make them work? In
particular, what kind of collective agreements might be needed when the
actions of individual NGOs might be positive but the combined actions of
many NGOs negative? Alternatively, what kind of moral division of labor

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between NGOs might be appropriate (for example between advocacy or
Human Rights NGOs and humanitarian relief agencies)?
Institutionalizing Changes: More briefly and generally, what governance
arrangements in individual agencies might make it most likely that the
answers to questions related governance, corporatization, and collective
action problems will be addressed, and what collective action is required
for individual agencies to be able (or willing) to do this?

8.2. The Relevance of the Concept of Development Ethics for

NGOs Practices
Dear learner, as you may recall from the preceding chapters, development
ethics is a multidisciplinary field – now well established and already
influential – in which theorists and practitioners carry out ethical reflection
on the ends and means of local, national and global development. From
the arguments of chapter 1 and chapter 2, it is possible to contend that a
structured approach to values and normative concerns benefits NGOs in
two ways:

i) Development ethics as a guide to develop ethical leadership and

strategies of promoting ethical behavior in NGOs
Decisions taken within an organization may be made by individuals or
groups, but whoever makes them will be influenced by the culture of the
institution. The decision to behave ethically is a moral one; employees
must decide what they think is the right course of action. Unethical
behavior or a lack of effective social responsibility, by comparison, may
damage an organization's reputation and make it less appealing to
stakeholders. Contrary, ethical behavior and existence of effective social

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responsibility can bring significant benefits to institutions undertaking
development activities such as NGOs sectors. For example, they may:
 Attract public to the rage of organization‘s social services, thereby
boosting sense of ownership and widespread the fruits of development
activities to all segments of a society,
 Make employees want to stay with the organization, reduce labor
turnover and therefore increase social accountability of the institutions,
 Attract more employees wanting to work for the sectors, reduce
recruitment costs and enable the organizations to get the most talented
employees,
 Attract donors and make NGOs accountable to the general public,
donors, governments and other stakeholders for their activities, thereby
protecting the sectors from takeover.
Dear learner, the concern about ethics in NGOs, in this regard, is closely
related to developing organizational ethics, which refers to the way how
an organization should respond to external and internal environments or
stimulus. Organizational ethics comprises the set of standards or values
that specify the exact ethical behaviors expected in relationships. It
expresses the values of an organization to its employees and/or other
entities irrespective of governmental and/or regulatory laws.
Organizational ethics is interdependent with the organizational culture, but
it is neither organizational behavior (OB), nor is it solely business ethics
(which includes corporate governance and corporate ethics).
Organizational ethics are the standards that address human behavior,
promoted and adhered to by an organization and its activities. The
standards attempt to quantify and regulate human relationships in an effort
to avoid harmful behavior or damage to the organization. Thus, the

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concept of development ethics helps NGOs in defining and managing the
values of a collective group of people within an organization.

(ii) Development ethics offer analytical frameworks and mode of

thinking that might guide NGOs endeavours
Dear learner, in the preceding chapters, we contended that development
ethics is a way of thinking about development, and ultimately a way of
living. Although specific analytical frameworks in the field of
development ethics, which could be applied directly to NGOs’ needs, are
currently absent, the general practice of normative ethical analysis applies
a variety of approaches (sometimes complimentary, sometimes not) to
evaluate development goals, strategies, and tactics. These normative
resources range from (i) general, systemic and process-oriented
assessments to (ii) highly detailed assessments based on one or more
specific moral theory (e.g. utilitarianism, Kantianism, the capability
approach, virtue ethics, human rights, moral theory, feminist ethics, and so
on). An example of the former is the four-level evaluative process crafted
by Goulet (1995):
 Determination of the most general and fundamental ends of
development: this level challenges the analyst to ascertain when and
whether real progress is being made, and how one should assess the
quality, effectiveness and ethical appropriateness of development
strategies, policies, or interventions.
 Establishment of criteria for specifying when these ends have
been achieved or already exist: This call for establishing the criteria and
indicators for specifying basic development goals depends upon a process
of discernment and ethical reflection, which in turn based upon the
application of norms and moral values. This further suggests the

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importance of seeking a cross-cultural consensus in which a society’s own
freedom to make development choices is one among a plurality of
fundamental norms and in which these norms are of sufficient generality
so as not only to permit but also to require sensitivity to societal
differences.
 Formulation of strategies (adoption of the most efficient and
morally permissible package of means to achieve important ends): this
level pertains to the formulation of strategies or sets of means designed to
achieve development ends. Strategies are the means by which to achieve
and sustain development goals. This means-ends thinking is closely
related to the theory-practice relationship, since not only does
development ethics formulate and defend certain ethical principles and
goals for development but it also can be viewed as an essential strategy for
achieving – in morally permissible ways–what one takes to be the
desirable objectives of development.
 Consideration of individual means: this is the most concrete level
of moral analysis within development ethics, because this level calls for
consideration and choice of individual means (within sets of means). This
disaggregation may be problematic in the context of development, where
most means are closely interrelated and interdependent. Nevertheless,
there is certainly scope for targeted ethical reflection on specific critical
“means,” such as specific programs or tactics to achieve or protect decent
standards of employment, equitable access to development resources, local
empowerment for decision-making, conflict management and prevention,
the stabilization of fragile states, and so forth (Sen 1999).
Sen (1999) also moved the analysis of development into the moral sphere
when he argued that economic growth is not the fundamental “end” of
development but is at best (and not always) a good “means”. Sen argues

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that development should be conceived and evaluated as a process of
expanding the real or substantive freedoms that people have reason to
enjoy. Since its inception in 1990, the United Nations Development
Programs (UNDP), also frames this view of development in relation to the
goal of increasing freedoms, of which it lists seven: (i) freedom from
discrimination, (ii) freedom from want, (iii) freedom to develop and
realize one‘s human potential, (iv) freedom from fear, (v) freedom from
injustice, (vi) freedom of thought and speech and participation, and (vii)
freedom for decent work. NGOs can use these indicators to carry out a
normative analysis of their endeavors.
In general terms, it is possible to argue that the analytical frameworks and
mode of thinking of development ethics assist NGOs in their struggle to
ensure “transformational” development. As defined by USAID,
“‘transformational’ development is development that not only raises living
standards and reduces poverty, but also transforms countries through far-
reaching, fundamental changes in institutional capacity, human capacity,
and economic structure” (USAID 2005). At the center of this concept is an
awareness that the transformation of any society to a more developed level
depends on the quality of that society’s leadership – the political will to
pursue what is called “good governance.” Furthermore, evaluation of the
political will of any society‘s leadership to pursue an agenda of ‘good
governance’ is an exercise in ethical thinking as well as one informed by
sobering empirical evidence. For example, the amount of money stolen by
unscrupulous and corrupt African leaders (public and private sector) and
now held in foreign bank accounts is equivalent to more than half of
Africa‘s external debt. Yet, an overemphasis on corruption may detract
attention from its deep causes, such as wide spread poverty and a culture

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of impunity, and it is likely solutions, a deeper and more inclusive
democracy.
Is it possible for a country’s citizens being supported by and their NGO
partners to hold leaders accountable? When viewed through the lens of the
UNDP’s human rights-based development approach, for example, the
morally and legally legitimized human rights claims associated with
development, with the seven essential freedoms mentioned above, are
considered morally obligatory and not simply as optionally or
instrumentally good. Leaders and citizens have a moral duty to attend to
these obligations and to demonstrate consistent progress towards their
satisfaction. These claims ought to be fulfilled; they call forth moral
motivation and demand action – action for which political leadership
ought to be accountable. From the perspective of human rights-based
moral theory, it would be morally wrong – and inconsistent with one’s
commitment to respect human dignity – not to do what is morally
obligatory. It would be reasonable, therefore, to establish a metric under
which the commitments and performance of political leadership fulfill
these obligations. In turn, this measure of good governance should be
applied to citizens and their enterprises. Rather than uncritically assuming
that leaders (and their “agents”) are only motivated by a self-interest that
must be curbed, NGOs and its national partners should nurture and support
commitments to public service, honesty and openness.

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8.3. Code of Ethics and Conduct for NGOs
Every actor operates on the basis of fundamental principles, whether
plainly stated or implicitly understood. Further, an examination of
organizations that are held in universal esteem reveals a great
commonality in these principles. In other words, to a great extent, good
NGOs from throughout the world tend to share the same fundamental
assumptions or beliefs that make their successful operation possible.

8.3.1. WANGO’s Code of ethics and conduct

World association of non-governmental organizations (WANGO) is an
international organization uniting NGOs worldwide in the cause of
advancing peace and global well-being. WANGO helps to provide the
mechanism and support needed for NGOs to connect, partner, share,
inspire, and multiply their contribution to solve humanity‘s basic problem.
Initiated in 2000 by a handful of international NGOs and prominent
visionaries, WANGO has quickly become one of the premier international
bodies for non-governmental organizations that are committed to the
ideals of universal peace, justice and wellbeing for all humanity. WANGO
provides a means for NGOs to become more effective in completing their
vital tasks. Into this endeavour, WANGO formulated code of ethics and
code of conduct that is designed to be broadly applicable to the worldwide
NGO community. The Code is applicable for organizations focused on
international agendas as well as those seeking to improve local community
affairs. The Code‘s standards are applicable regardless of an NGO‘s focus,
whether it is humanitarian relief, advocacy, conflict prevention, research,
education, human rights monitoring, health care, or environmental action.
The following is an articulation of the more important of these shared
fundamental guiding principles.

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 Responsibility, Service, and Public Mindedness: It has been
argued that sustainable progress, peace, and justice require that all
organizations contribute to the common good. In view of this, an NGO
should integrate self-development and service to others, balancing
individual and public concerns, focusing on higher, broader, and more
public levels of service. Responsibly maintaining itself, an NGO should
conduct its activities for the sake of others, whether for the public at large
or a particular segment of the public. To this effect, public money must
not be misused for selfish purposes and all public assets are to be treated
with utmost seriousness, as a public trust. It is important for an NGO to
recognize that its conduct and activities impact on the public’s perception
of NGOs and that it shares responsibility for the public’s trust of NGOs.
Lastly, an NGO should exhibit a responsible and caring attitude toward the
environment in all of its activities.

 Cooperation beyond Boundaries: Significant progress toward world

peace and global well-being can be fostered through inter-religious,
intercultural, and interracial work, and across artificial barriers of politics
and ethnicity that tend to separate people and their institutions. NGOs
should maintain ethical, cooperative relationships with other NGOs, and
should partner where possible and appropriate for the sake of the greater
public good. This principle stresses that NGOs should be willing to work
beyond borders of politics, religion, culture, race and ethnicity, within the
limits of the organizing documents and with organizations and individuals
that share common values and objectives.

 Human Rights and Dignity: As the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights states, all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and
rights, are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act towards

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one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Accordingly, NGOs should be
cognizant of this basic principles and act accordingly - should recognize
that all people are born free and equal in dignity and should not violate
person‘s fundamental human right; be sensitive to the moral values,
cultures, traditions, etc. of community; and respect the integrity of families
and support family-based life.

 Religious Freedom: Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that

everyone has the right of freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this
right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either
alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his
religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. And this
calls for NGOs to respect religious freedom.

 Transparency and Accountability: NGOs should strive for openness

and honesty internally and toward donors and members of the public. This
requires that an NGO should be transparent in all of its dealings with the
government, the public, donors, partners, beneficiaries, and other
interested parties, except for personnel matters and proprietary
information. Its basic financial information, governance structure,
activities, and listing of officers and partnerships shall be open and
accessible to public scrutiny and the NGO is to make effort to inform the
public about its work and the origin and use of its resources. More
importantly, an NGO should be accountable for its actions and decisions,
not only to its funding agencies and the government, but also to the people
it serves, its staff and members, partner organizations, and the public at
large.

 Truthfulness and Legality: An NGO should be honest and truthful in

its dealings with its donors, project beneficiaries, staff, membership,

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partner organizations, government, and the public in general, and should
respect the laws of any jurisdiction in which it is active. It should give out
accurate information, whether regarding itself and its projects, or
regarding any individual, organization, project, or legislation it opposes or
is discussing. It should not engage in any activities that are unlawful under
the laws of the nation in which it is organized or works, and must be
strongly opposed to, and not be a willing partner to, corruption, bribery,
and other financial improprieties or illegalities. An NGO should have a
policy for staff and volunteers to confidentially bring evidence to the
governing body of misconduct of anyone associated with the organization.
It should also take prompt corrective action whenever wrongdoing is
discovered among its staff, governing body, volunteers, contractors, and
partners. It is also important for an NGO to meet all of the legal
obligations in the countries in which it is organized or works. Such
obligations may include laws of incorporation, fundraising legislation,
equal employment opportunity principles, health and safety standards,
privacy rules, trademark and copyright legislation, and so forth.

8.3.2. Ethiopian Code of Conduct for NGOs

The Code of Conduct for NGOs in Ethiopia was developed in 1998 after
an extensive discussions and consultations between NGOs, government,
donors, and other interested parties, and finally endorsed by almost all
NGOs that are operational in the country. It is a Code is designed, as
stated in the Preamble, to enable NGOs to cooperate with government, but
from a position of autonomy. "Code of Conduct" is defined in the
document as "a set of norms, principles and values to standardize the
conduct, action and behaviour of NGOs" and recognizes an NGO as a
voluntary, not-for-profit, non-self-serving, non-governmental, non-
partisan and independent organization or association involved in the

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promotion of social justice and development. NGOs may thus be national
or international; secular or "faith-based"; and of membership and non-
membership categories.

The objectives as enshrined in the Code include:

 To ensure transparency and accountability in the operation of NGOs by

voluntary self-regulation;
 To improve the quality of services provided by NGOs by helping
NGOs to adopt high standards of conduct and to devise efficient decision-
making processes;
 To improve communication between the NGO community and the
various stakeholders.
 To improve the performance of the NGO community by encouraging
the exchange of experiences among its members and learning from proven
best practices. The Standard of Conduct shall refer to the way in which
signatories behave and work.

The Ethiopian code of conduct has two parts- Standards of Conduct and
Code Observance. The Standards of Conduct are the norms that NGOs
should observe. These include various codes under the sub-headings of
people centered; fairness and equity; moral and ethical integrity;
transparency and accountability; good governance; independence;
communication and collaboration; gender equity; environmental
consciousness; sustainability and impact of programmes.
The second part entitled, "Code Observance," deals with the mechanisms
and procedures for enforcement of the code or ensuring compliance. Two
organs, the General Assembly and the Code Observance Committee, were
established for ensuring observance of the Code of Conduct for NGOs in

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Ethiopia. The former is the supreme body while the latter is composed of
elected members from the General Assembly and representative members
of Civil Society. The Code Observance Committee is responsible for
receiving and entertaining any complaints and/or suggestions concerning
the observance of the Code by the signatories.

Dear learner, to recap the discussion, NGOs should have certain value,
ethical and social principles that define their mission and activities. In
most codes, be it country-level or international, the principles which serve
as an ethical guide for the organizations contain three blocks;
 Principles relating to individuals- (recognition of) human
dignity, defense of the individual (which it is assumed are synonymous
with human rights), and solidarity,
 Principles relating to society are trust (NGOs must generate trust),
openness (they must have a positive influence on the social environment
and be receptive to society‘s demands), and cooperation (with other
agents).
 The internal principles, aimed at the organization itself, are: legality,
transparency management, effectiveness and efficiency professionalism,
continuous improvement, participation, and decentralization and
demarcation of decision making.

8.4. NGOs Accountability

Dear learner, an age old trend of blind public trust on any institution is
diminishing in recent era. The rise of question of accountability is not in
doubt. In part, it is natural extension of the shifting role between the state
and the private sector (of which NGOs are a part). As governments shrink
and responsibility from delivering public goods and services is shouldered

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by NGOs, the issue of responsibility to the public naturally stems from the
roles NGOs have undertaken on behalf of, or instead of, the state.
Accountability has emerged as one of the key approach in the search of
the new mode of democratic governance beyond the nation state.

8.4.1. What is Accountability?

Various scholars and practitioners of development defined accountability
in various ways. For instance, Edwards and Hulme (1996b, p. 967) define
accountability as “the means by which individuals and organizations
report to a recognized authority (or authorities) and are held responsible
for their actions” Fox and Brown (1998, p. 12), describe accountability as
“the process of holding actors responsible for actions”. Cornwall, et al.
(2000, p. 3) broaden this perspective by suggesting that accountability is
both about being “held responsible” by others and about “taking
responsibility” for oneself. These definitions suggest that accountability
has both an external dimension in terms of “an obligation to meet
prescribed standards of behaviour” and an internal one motivated by “felt
responsibility” as expressed through individual action and organizational
mission.
Naidoo (2003) noted that NGO accountability relates to how those most
affected by an organization can influence strategy and are engaged in
defining how results and impacts are measured and communicated. Slim
(2002) on the other hand points out that a working definition of NGO
accountability has to involve the three aspects of reporting, involving and
responding. In this way he defines NGO accountability as “the process by
which an NGO holds itself openly responsible for what it believes, what it
does and what it does not do in a way which shows it involving all
concerned parties and actively responding to what it learns‟. In to this
strand of thought Kaldor (2004) identifies two dimensions of

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accountability among civil society organizations: internal accountability
(also known as functional or procedural accountability in the literature)
and, strategic or political accountability. Strategic accountability focuses
on measuring the longer term impact of an organization‘s work upon the
larger environment and its accountability towards beneficiaries or clients,
those whom the organization was set up to serve.
Lloyd (2005) identifies the two accountability approaches; traditional
approaches and the stakeholder approach. Under the traditional approach,
accountability arises where the principle delegates authority to an agent to
act in their interests and ensures accountability via economic and legal
incentives and sanctions. He points out that NGO accountability is better
understood using a stakeholder approach wherein the right to
accountability belongs to anyone affected by the organization‘s policies.
This type of approach lends itself to mutual accountability and fits better
with the ‘partnership’ approach put forward by many NGOs. This is a far
more inclusive and open concept with transformative power, rather than
merely being a disciplinary mechanism. All stakeholders should be
involved at every stage of the decision making process.
Lloyd pointed out four core dimensions of accountability and links among
these – for instance advancing horizontal accountability strengthens other
dimensions of accountability:

 Upward accountability to donors, governments and foundations

 Downward Accountability to beneficiaries or clients
 Inwardly accountability to staff for complying with organizational
mission and values
 Horizontal accountability to peers in the sector to uphold standards and
reputation of the sector.

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8.4.2. Mechanisms for Accountability
Dear learner, Naidoo (2003) highlighted that there is no universal
approach or magic bullet in developing a set of mechanisms to guarantee
the highest standards of accountability (Naidoo, 2003). As discussed
above the mechanisms for accountability have traditionally been weighted
towards certain dimensions of Lloyd‘s four-fold definition of
accountability, most notably upward accountability. The most
comprehensive and robust overview of the NGO practice of accountability
is provided by Ebrahim (2003). He reviews five broad mechanisms:
disclosure statements and reports, performance assessments and
evaluations, participation, self-regulation, and social audits, each of which
is viewed as either a ‘tool’ or ‘processes or both. He analysed each
according to three dimensions of accountability: upward-downward,
internal-external, and functional-strategic. He argues that practices to date
have prioritized ‘upward‘ and ‘external‘ accountability to donors while
‘downward‘ and ‘internal‘ mechanisms remain comparatively
underdeveloped. He also argues that NGOs and funders have mainly
focused on short term ‘functional‘ accountability responses at the expense
of the longer term ‘strategic‘ processes necessary for lasting social and
political change. This section discusses the most pervasive mechanisms of
accountability for NGOs, which is highlighted by Ebrahim. The
mechanisms include:

 Disclosure statements and reports: While performance assessment and

programme evaluations advance various dimensions of accountability, the
log frame format and reporting on same can distort accountability
practices more towards accounting exercises. Ebrahim also argues that for
a sector that views itself as largely mission driven, there is an urgent need
for the international development community to take performance

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assessment seriously in order to justify activities with substantiated
evidence rather than by anecdote or rhetoric. Funders and regulators also
bear responsibility in this regard. Agreater emphasis by donors on building
up the internal capacity of NGOs to develop their own long-term
assessment tools, rather than on receiving regular reports of a pre-
specified nature, might go a long way toward internalizing performance
assessment in NGOs. Thus, Ebrahim (2003) notes that external
evaluations, including those funded by official donors, can improve NGO
accountability not merely by assessing performance but by building NGO
capacity to conduct self-evaluations, and by encouraging the analysis of
failure as a means of learning.

 Participation: Participation has been used as a mechanism for fostering

accountability. Participation takes place at different levels. Quite often, it
has taken the form of consultation with clients and other stakeholders.
Naidoo (2003) notes that national NGO networks in various countries
have gone through participatory processes to articulate the standards
expected of NGOs, ranging from transparent governance structures to
hiring practices and communications policies. NGOs can implement this
process-based approach to accountability to several degrees, from the
dissemination of information, public involvement in projects, beneficiaries
being given bargaining or veto power, all the way to beneficiaries carrying
out their own projects and activities (Ebrahim 2003: 818).

 Self-Regulation and Codes of Behaviour: Self-regulation refers to

efforts by NGOs to develop standards or codes of behavior and
performance. Such an approach provides an opportunity for self-definition
by national NGO networks as well as a public presentation of their
collective mission, principles, values and methods. This approach allows

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the international development community in a country to tackle its sector
wide problems. It provides a level of visibility that enhances the reputation
of the sector. Lloyd notes (2005) that in order for self-regulatory systems
to ensure downward accountability, NGOs need to ensure that the type of
accountability around which norms and standards are developed is not
solely focused on activities such as improving reporting requirements and
compliance with laws and regulation. It also needs to encompass
beneficiary accountability.
Furthermore, there are varieties of other measures of accountability in
practice. Notional references to the need for stakeholder accountability are
not sufficient for increased downward accountability to be realized. In
addition, structures should be developed to support enforcement, and
beneficiaries should be made aware that a code of conducts existence and
of their right to hold NGOs to account on such codes. Some codes include
some compliance assessment or certification components. Accreditation
and certification are terms used to describe processes by which an
independent third party verifies compliance against an established set of
norms. Standards are often developed through participatory process in
which many stakeholders are consulted. At the same time certification
programmes should ensure that appropriate technical assistance and
educational materials are put in place to help organizations meet any
standards they are asked to meet. Certification raises the rigor with which
a self-regulatory standard is applied. It involves an independent external
review of organizations’ compliance with a given standard. Linked to this,
donors and home governments recognize the recommendations of not for
profit organizations in decisions to convey benefits, for instance, in the
case of Australia Aid, the Philippine Council on NGO Certification and
the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy. While membership of such

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mechanisms can be voluntary in nature, there can be penalties for
remaining outside such schemes. For instance, where these function as a
prerequisite for being eligible for certain tax deductions. In Australia, only
signatories to the Australian Council for International Development‘s
Code of Conduct can apply for Australian Government Aid Programme
Funds. An independent committee manages the code and the standards it
sets out. In Ethiopia, signatory NGOs are expected to comply with the
Ethiopian code of conduct for NGO and the compliance is managed by
independent committee called Code Observance Committee. However, the
code is seen as statement of principles, not a document of legal
requirements. For example if an NGO doesn‘t follow the code it will be
enforced through persuasion and education rather than through penal
consequences.
 Social Auditing: Social auditing refers to a process through which an
organization assesses reports and improves upon its social performance
and ethical behavior, especially through stakeholder dialogue. This
approach has particular relevance and resonance as many international
NGOs have been urging social and environmental audits on commercial
corporations. Ebrahim (2003) notes that this process integrates various
elements of different accountability mechanisms such as disclosure
statements, evaluations, participation and standards of behavior. By fully
taking account of the views of various stakeholders, planning and learning
is strengthened, and an organization‘s reputation can be enhanced if such
audits are externally verified. He also notes that social auditing is the most
expensive mechanism in terms of use offinancial and human resources,
but such an approach can be developed over time as NGOs build on their
existing capacities. Ebrahim cautions that social audits can improve
upward and downward accountability, only if users systematically seek to

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incorporate stakeholders into dialogue, indicator development, and
performance assessment. It can increase organizational transparency if the
information that is collected and analysed – including evidence of failure –
is disclosed to stakeholders among the public. As a mechanism for internal
accountability, social auditing offers a coherent framework for integrating
organizational values and goals with governance and strategic planning
where its users are committed to acting on findings (Ebrahim 2003). Other
ways raising accountability are organizational self-assessments focused on
internal self-reflection and learning. For example, Action Aid‘s
Accountability Learning and Planning System (ALPS) is a way of shifting
the balance to prioritize the perspectives of the poor within all levels of its
operations, with the principal goal of increasing downward accountability.
Action Aid‘s decentralization of its operations and moving its
headquarters to South Africa is one manifestation of this approach in
operation. At the same time, over the past 15-20 years, most international
NGOs have adopted strategic planning frameworks to set specific
objectives across their whole organization and to account for them
corporately. Many international NGO networks have also explored and
agreed on quality programme standards, for instance Oxfam International,
World Vision and Caritas Internationalis (Slim 2002).

8.5. Ethical Consideration in Planning the Provision of Social

Services
NGOs’ managers, board members and employees are responsible for
creating and participating in the development of their organization‘s
strategic direction and implementing the change associated with the
objectives of delivering social services to the community. As we discussed
earlier in the chapter, doing so requires taking into consideration ethical
judgment in order to function efficiently and effectively, and to maintain

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public confidence in their activities. While there are few ethical absolutes,
the key ethical considerations in planning the provision of social services
to the community include stakeholder participation, organizational values,
individual values, and managing change.
(i) Stakeholder participation: when undertaking the process of strategy
development for the provision of goods and services to the community,
NGOs are often required to focus on determining the most effective way
of developing the plan. It is well documented that any significant change
in strategy has a corresponding change in the structure of the organization
in order to effective and deliver upon that strategy. As such, an NGO
should be comfortable that the selected strategy is the right one for the
organization at that particular point in time. But how does it know if it has
developed the right strategy? Indeed, there is no one right strategy for any
organization at any particular point in time. However, an organization can
enhance its chances of getting the ‘appropriate strategy’ by involving
stakeholders. Stakeholder involvement challenges its existing paradigms,
allows differing perspectives and enhances support. All of these help
improve the chance that the organization‘s strategy is developed with the
information necessary to make decisions, which latter help to improve the
efficiency of the project (Siddiqur 2008). Stakeholder participation is the
first acid test (a conclusive test of the success or value of something).
Furthermore, the principal objective and the ultimate goal of the
participating stakeholders is the "empowerment" of the poor. The concept
of empowerment has been at the centre of the re-conceptualization of
development (paradigm shift) and the formulation of strategies to ensure
poverty alleviation and sustainable development. It has become a central
concept concerned with changing the pattern of controlling resources and
political power, as well as the attainment of self-reliant development and

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determination of own destinies by disadvantaged groups. Participating the
community is, therefore, stated as a desired process by which the poor are
to take direct control over the circumstances of their own lives, so that
they are in a position to become their own development agents in the
future. This has been best explained by Chambers (1993:11) as
“empowerment means that people are enabled to take more control over
their lives, and secure a better livelihood with ownership and control of
productive assets as one key element”. Through empowerment,
stakeholders, such as individuals, communities and nations could obtain
collective responsibility for their own future and become managers of their
own development.
(ii) Organizational values: one of the key advantages most NGOs have
over their business corporate counterparts is their development of a set of
organizational values. Organizational values are those key statements that
help guide the way an organization pursues its objectives and delivers
upon its mission. An NGO determines organizational values as a part of its
strategy development session, and subject its strategy to those values. If
there are any issues or concerns regarding how its strategy fits within
those values then it needs to reassess its strategy. Organizational values
are the second acid test.
(iii) Individual values: staffs working in the NGOs starting from low
level employees to senior managers or board members are needed to carry
a set of personal values. In order to be able to say that employees support
the strategic direction of the organization it is important that they can also
say that the strategy is consistent with their personal values. Individual
values are the third acid test.
(iv) Managing Change: as mentioned earlier, any significant change in
strategy has a corresponding change in organizational structure. Managing

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this change can be done in many ways. Ensuring that the change is
managed in a way that is consistent with the organization‘s values and
personal values is important. Additional questions that should be asked
include: Who will actually gain from this change? Who won‘t gain from
this change? Is the change worth the risk? How will we work with those
affected by the change in order to assist them in making the transition?
How will we work with those that can‘t make the transition?

8.6. Chapter Summary

In recent decades, there has been a great expansion in the number, size and
influence of NGOs involved in the development activities. Their increased
presence and influence internationally changes have attracted increased
public scrutiny, prompting calls for greater accountability and
responsibilities. Such scrutiny, together with increasing reflection by
NGOs themselves and their staff on their own practice, has helped to
highlight a number of pressing ethical questions such organizations face.
NGOs are expected to be more ethical than ever in their service provision.
NGOs/CSOs have the responsibility to be transparent, honest,
accountable, and ethical, to give out accurate service, and to not
manipulate situations for the personal benefit of their boards and staff.
Ethical concerns should be at the centre of service provision by NGOs; in
the sense that NGOs should go beyond the boundaries of race, religion,
ethnicity, culture and politics. They have the obligation to respect each
person‘s fundamental human rights and dignity. NGOs are to have a
system of proper governance. They must be careful to treat all public
monies with utmost seriousness as a public trust and not to misuse public
money for selfish purpose. NGOs have an obligation to not align
themselves with, or stand in opposition to, any particular government for
purely selfish or short-sighted means, nor to become controlled by a

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governmental body. As social and political actor, NGOs must also adhere
to the rules of ethics and honesty and show commitment to protecting the
environment. While demanding transparency and disclosure from
companies, they must follow the same principle. They must cultivate their
image and reputation, because it affects their legitimacy and, therefore,
their survival, individually and as a sector.

Checklists:

Dear learner, below are important points that you are expected to know
concerning chapter three. Please note that if your response for the
statements is ‘Yes‘, it means you understand the concept so that you can
proceed to the next chapter. But if your response is ‘No‘, we advise you
re-study your note before proceed to the next chapter.

Descriptions/Items Yes No
 I can define the term NGOs and explain their
developmental roles
 I am able to discuss about the range of ethical
questions facing NGOs
 I can explain how the understanding of development
ethics help NGOs’ practice
 I can identify and discuss the codes of ethics and
conducts for NGOs
 I am able describe and discuss ethical consideration
in planning the provision of social services to the
community

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 I can discuss the various mechanisms to ensure
NGOs accountability

Review Questions

1. Identify and discuss key ethical consideration when planning for

provision of social services
2. Discuss ethical concerns surrounding the practice of NGOs in
Ethiopian context. How do you think the concept of development ethics
help address those concerns?
Case analysis

Take a local or an international NGO that is found near your area.

1. Identify the beneficiaries of that NGO and critically analyze the

types of roles being exercised by that particular NGO.
2. Discuss the performance report of the organization (a summary of
overall activities done by the organization along with data on performance
by year). E.g. the organization has helped X amount of HIV careers from
the year 19XX to 20XX. It has provided X amount of medicines…etc)
3. How does the organization keep its accountability to various
stakeholders such as government, community, donors…etc. (discuss the
mechanisms that the organization employed to keep each of its stakeholder
informed about the works of the organization).
4. What ethical problems do that particular organization encountered
with (both from internal-such as an organization itself, employees etc. and
external- challenges from the beneficiaries)? Report, if any.

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CHAPTER NINE: GLOBALIZATION AND
DEVELOPMENT ETHICS
Introduction
Dear learner, as you noted from the discussions made in the previous
chapters, development ethics today is slowly evolving into a wider field of
knowledge studied in universities and research centres and reflection on
the ethical aspects of development is slowly making a breakthrough
amongst practitioners, donors, multilateral development agencies and
International Financial Institutions (IFIs).
Development ethics faces the new and pressing task of understanding and
ethically evaluating “globalization” and proposing ethically appropriate
institutional responses to this complex and contested phenomenon. The
debate about globalization since the late 1990s reminds one of earlier
controversies about development. Like the term “development” in the
1960s through the mid-1990s, “globalization” has become a cliché and
buzzword that the mainstream celebrates and dissenters condemn.
Moreover, like “development” earlier, “globalization” challenges ethicists
to move beyond simplistic views—such as “globalization is (exceedingly)
good” or “globalization is (terribly) bad”—and to analyze leading
interpretations of the nature, causes, consequences, and value of
globalization. Development ethicists, committed to understanding and
reducing human deprivation, will be especially concerned to assess (and
defend norms for assessing) the changing global order as well as local,
national, and regional development. How should we understand
globalization and evaluate its impact on individual and communal
wellbeing? Which types of globalization are most threatening to ethically-
based development at all levels? Which kinds are most promising?

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Dear learner, this chapter draws on the conception of the nature and
practice of development ethics and argues that such an ethics is one
resource that can and should be applied to the ethical evaluation of
globalization. Accordingly, the chapter makes a case that globalization is
an important worldwide change that development ethicists and others
should ethically assess as well as understand with respect to its causes and
consequences.

Chapter Learning Objectives

Dear learner, after completing this chapter you are expected to:
 Define and discuss different interpretations and theories of globalization
 Describe and explain the links between globalization, poverty and
inequality
 Discuss the importance and approaches to moral assessment of
globalization
 Identify and discuss approaches to respond to the normative challenges
presented by globalization and make it more humane, ethically defensible,
and democratic.

9.1. Defining globalization

Dear student, before starting to read this section, write down one
paragraph stating what you think the word “globalization” means. Then
read this section and compare it with your paragraph.
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Held et al (1999) define globalization as “the widening, deepening and
speeding up of worldwide interconnectedness in all aspects of
contemporary social life, from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to
the spiritual”. More rigorously, the same authors characterize globalization
as “a process (or set of processes), which embodies a transformation in the
spatial organization of social relations and transactions – assessed in terms
of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact – generation of
transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity,
interaction, and the exercise of power”.
Globalization implies the opening of local and nationalistic perspectives to
a broader outlook of an interconnected and interdependent world with free
transfer of capital, goods, and services across national frontiers. However,
it does not include unhindered movement of labor and, as suggested by
some economists, may hurt smaller or fragile economies if applied
indiscriminately. Generally speaking, globalization process has effects on
the environment, culture, political systems, economic development and
prosperity, and human physical well-being in societies around the world.
The interpretations and theories of globalization differ with respect to (i)
the nature, number, variety, and relation of processes or flows, for
example, tokens (money, for instance, remittances from Ethiopians
working in the Arab countries to their kin), physical artifacts (goods),
people (immigrants, tourists), symbols, and information; (ii) causation:
mono-causal/reductive (economic or technological) approaches versus
multi-causal/non-reductive approaches; (iii) character: inevitability versus
contingency and open-endedness; (iv) consequences, for example, the
impact on state sovereignty and the division of countries into North or
South; and (v) desirability (and criteria for assessment). This generally
shows absence of one generally accepted theory of globalization. For the

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purposes of this course, however, we discuss three general interpretation
of globalization such as (i) hyper-globalism, (ii) skepticism/anti-
globalism, and (iii) transformationalism.
(i) Hyper-globalism: Friedman (2005) and Bhagwati (2004) conceive
globalization as a qualitatively unique global age of economic (capitalist)
integration characterized by open trade, global financial flows,
“outsourcing” of work to producers in other countries, and multinational
corporations. Driven by capitalism, communications, and transportation
technology, integration into one world market is increasingly eroding state
power and legitimacy. The hierarchical North/South dichotomy is being
rapidly—and fortunately—replaced by a “flat” global entrepreneurial
order structured by a “level playing field” and new global “rules of the
game,” such as those of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although
hyperglobalism concedes that there are short-term losers as well as
winners, it insists that the rising global tide will eventually lift all national
and individual boats—except for those who perversely resist the all-but-
inevitable progress.
Proponents of this view, like Friedman (2005) wisely understood that
there’s no way to stop the globalization wave. A country cannot switch off
these forces except at great cost to its own economic well-being. Over the
last century, those countries that tried to preserve their systems, jobs,
culture or traditions by keeping the rest of the world out all stagnated,
while those that opened themselves up to the world prospered. Likewise,
Bhagwati’s (2004) assertion suggests that economic globalization is an
unambiguously good thing, with a few downsides that thought and effort
can mitigate. In particular, Bhagwati accentuated that globalization does
not need to be given a ‘human face’; it already has one, thus, the world,
particularly its poorest regions, needs more globalization, not less.

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According to this view, a nation’s government should focus its attention
and resources on rapidly (and often painfully) removing tariffs, quotas,
and other devices, especially agricultural subsidies, that block access to
the globalizing world. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example,
succinctly expresses the hyperglobalist faith when saying “we have an
enormous job to do to convince the sincere and well-motivated opponents
of the WTO agenda that the WTO can be, indeed is, a friend of
development, and that far from impoverishing the world’s poorer
countries, trade liberalization is the only sure route to the kind of
economic growth needed to bring their prosperity closer to that of the
major developed economies”.
(ii) Skepticism: this view rejects hyperglobalism’s view that global
economic integration is (or should be) taking place and that states are (or
should be) getting weaker. Skeptics like Krasner (1999), Hirst and
Thompson (1996), and Huntington (1996) argue that regional trading
blocks are (or should be) getting stronger, resurgent fundamentalisms
either insulate themselves from or clash with alien cultures, including
those shaped by North American consumerism, and national governments
are (or should be) getting stronger. In a more explicitly normative
approach Daly (2001) goes beyond empirical skepticism to anti-globalism.
He concedes that globalizing trends, which hyperglobalists celebrate, exist
but argues that states should be “brought back in,” should resist economic
openness, and should emphasize national and local wellbeing. Skeptics
and anti-globalists argue that economic integration, cross-boundary
financial investment, the digital revolution, and multinational power have
increased inequality between and within countries and have mired poor
countries in even greater poverty and autocracy. It has been argued that by
focusing on international integration, governments in poor nations will

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divert human resources, administrative capabilities, and political capital
away from more urgent development priorities such as education, public
health, industrial capacity, and social cohesions. This emphasis also
undermines nascent democratic institutions by removing the choice of
development strategy from public debate.
Marxist skeptics contend that the hyperglobalist thesis is a myth that rich
and developed countries perpetrate to maintain and deepen their global
dominance over poor countries. Accordingly, countries—especially poor
and transitional ones—must resist the Sirens of economic and cultural
openness; instead, they should aim for national or regional sufficiency and
develop themselves by their own lights. Authoritarian skeptics endorse
efforts—such as those of Fidel Castro in Cuba or Hugo Chavez in
Venezuela—to centralize power, pull out of free-trade pacts, reduce the
presence or power of multinationals, bring top-down improvement in
living standards, and weaken civil society. Liberal skeptics emphasize that
national sovereignty, with its demanding duties of justice, cannot and
should not be replaced by global economic or political institutions that
either lack legitimacy or threaten global tyranny. Democratic skeptics
promote national and local control, target health and education, and
promote public deliberation about development ends and means. In sum,
the variants of skepticism conceive of globalization as something inimical
to genuine development.
(iii) Transformationalism: this view conceives globalization as a
historically unprecedented and powerful set of processes (with multiple
causes) that is making the world more interconnected and organizationally
multileveled. Advocates of this view, for example, Held and colleagues
argue that it is too simple to say that states are either being eroded or
reinforced; it is more accurate to conclude that states are (and should be)

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reconstituting themselves in a world order increasingly populated by
global and regional economic, political (regulatory), and cultural
institutions, and by social movements.
Transformationalists insist that globalization is not one thing—and
certainly not merely economic—but many processes with diverse
consequences. The new economic (trade, finance, transnational
corporations), political, cultural, criminal, legal, and technological global
processes proceed on multiple, sometimes inter-linked, and often uneven
tracks. Rather than being inexorable and unidirectional, globalization is
more or less contingent, open, and multidirectional. Rather than uniformly
integrating communities, globalization results in new global and regional
exclusions as well as novel inclusions, new winners and new losers. The
nation state is (and should be) increasingly reconstituted in relation to
regional, hemispheric, and global institutions; the old North/South
dichotomy is being replaced by a trichotomy of
elite/contented/marginalized that cuts across the old North/South polarity
(and justifies development ethics confronting poverty wherever it exists).
In line with this, Held and colleagues state that North and South are
increasingly becoming meaningless categories: under conditions of
globalization distributional patterns of power and wealth no longer accord
with a simple core and periphery division of the world, as in the early
twentieth century, but reflect a new geography of power and privilege
which transcends political borders and regions, reconfiguring established
international and transnational hierarchies of social power and wealth.
Dear learner, just as development ethicists have stressed that national and
local development — while complex and multi-causal—is a pattern of
institutionalized human activity that can and should be a matter of
voluntary, humanizing, and democratic collective choice, so

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transformationalists emphasize that globalization can and should be
civilized and democratized. Transformationalists are both less enthusiastic
than hyperglobalists and less pessimistic than skeptics.
Transformationalists insist that a globalizing world shows neither the
uniform and unalloyed good that hyperglobalists celebrate nor the
pervasive and unmitigated bad that skeptics worry about. Instead,
globalization at times impedes, and at times enables, good human and
communal development.

9.2. Globalization, Poverty, and Inequality

Dear learner, do you think that globalization contributes to the global
poverty and inequality? If yes, how?
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________

Regardless of how globalization—its character, causes, and consequences

—is understood, development ethics should evaluate it ethically.
Throughout its history, development ethics has emphasized ethical
assessment of the goals, institutions, and strategies of national and sub-
national development and constructively proposed better alternatives. In a
globalizing world, development ethics takes on the additional task of
offering an ethical appraisal of the global order and suggesting more just
ways of managing new and evolving global interconnectedness.
There are empirical, conceptual, and normative aspects of inquiry, but,
unfortunately, this diversity is often ignored. Globalization’s multiple,
often uneven, and frequently changing influences on individuals and
communities require empirical investigation, while deciding which

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consequences are ethically significant and which are the best future
options requires the application of ethical criteria and judgments about
global as well as national justice.
Even empirical investigation on the effects of globalization, however, is
not disconnected from conceptual and even normative considerations.
Consider, for example, the oft-repeated anti-globalist claim that the effect
of globalization is that “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting
poorer.” Heated debate exists about the truth of this claim and related
contentions that global inequality is increasing or decreasing. Ravallion
(2004) argues that on the one side, the website of a prominent
nongovernmental organization (NGO) in the anti-globalization movement,
the International Forum on Globalization, confidently claims
‘globalization policies have increased inequality between and within
nations. On the other hand, those more favorable to globalization like the
Economist magazine states with equal confidence that ‘globalization raises
incomes, and the poor participate fully.
In fact, conception about the impact of globalization on poverty and
inequality are based on different data. The first conception takes time
frames that range from a year to a millennium. Of especial relevance to the
globalization debate is what has occurred on the world scene from 1980 to
2000 or the present, but longer or shorter time frames may change one’s
judgment with respect to increasing or decreasing inequality. The second
conception is in relation to usage of different data. This conception takes
national data, Gross National Product (GNP), Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) or Gross National Income (GNI) and simply divides it by the
country‘s inhabitants. Frequently, in an effort to account for price
differences and differences in purchasing power across countries,
international financial organizations use “purchasing power parity”, which

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refers to a rate of exchange that accounts for price differences across
countries, allowing international comparisons of real output and incomes.
Instead of employing national accounts data, whether or not adjusted to
purchasing power parity, researchers increasingly employ household
surveys to identify individual or family actual expenditures or disposable
income.
In view of the persisting conceptual and normative differences with
respect to the controversy about the impact of globalization on poverty
and inequality, development ethicists believe that the best ―space for
understanding and measuring both poverty and inequality is not income
but agency, functioning and capability for functioning. Global inequality
and poverty may be falling with respect to one metric, such as income ($1
or $2 per person per day), and rising with respect to some other, such
health, education, and agency or power. In some cases, of course, the
different metrics may be moving in the same direction. UNDP, for
example, reports that the space between countries is marked by deep and,
in some cases, widening inequalities in income and life chances. Even if
two metrics are going in the same direction, however, the gap with respect
to one may be proportionately greater than that with respect to another.
The worldwide inequality would be significantly lower if measured in
terms of health or educational status than in terms of income and might
reflect more accurately the actual welfare (happiness) enjoyed by different
individuals in different settings.
Even if we stick with the conventional metric of income, estimates of
poverty differ with respect to geographical focus, and those of inequality
differ according to the specific concept of inequality employed. Milanovic
(2005) distinguishes three concepts of inequality: concept-1, concept-2,
and concept-3.

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In concept 1 inequality: the focus is on countries, and each country’s
poverty is represented by the income of that country’s median person. This
concept assumes, obviously contrary to fact, that everyone in the country
receives the median income and that single figure represents the country
as a whole. One advantage of this concept of inequality is that it
emphasizes the point that the country in which one is born or lives makes
a huge difference in one’s opportunities. Another advantage is that
concept 1 inequality favors smaller states in the sense that a small country,
or its inhabitants, may receive greater international attention than would
an area of the same size or number of inhabitants in a large country. The
notable disadvantage of concept 1 poverty is that the representing of all a
nations inhabitants by a “median” person completely ignores differences
among regions, groups, and individuals within a country. For example, a
country’s per capita GNP may be climbing but large groups and many
individuals may be falling even further behind and more deeply into
poverty.
Given concept 1 inequality, the evidence is pretty clear that, although
there are some poorer countries that have caught up with the rich
countries, in general there is a reduction in the number of middle income
countries and a trend toward a greater gap between the top and the bottom.
Even when a poor country is growing, and some are not, their growth rate
is slower than the rich countries.
It is not so easy, however, to say with confidence that globalization is the
cause or even one cause of increasing inequality in the sense of concept 1.
The correlation of globalization and increasing inequality (concept 1) does
not entail that the former caused the latter. However, it is essentially true
that the economic failure in poor countries have been due to global factors
than to indigenous ones such as climate, paucity of resources, or endemic

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corruption. Even if it is accepted that concept 1 inequality is increasing, it
is not ethical to blame globalization for (increasing) poverty.
Concept 2 inequality: uses national accounts data and represents an entire
country by per capita GNP, GDP, or GNI, but unlike concept 1, weights
the result by population. Concept 2 inequalities, like concept 1, assumes
that everyone in the country has the same, that is, median income, but
adjusts the result in relation to the number of people in the country.
In accordance with concept 2 inequalities, in the last twenty years, poverty
and gaps between countries has decreased substantially due to the rapid
economic growth of and poverty reduction in China and India. It is this
concept of inequality that globalization and free market fans employ when
they celebrate economic integration. Three facts, however, cause one to be
less than sanguine. First, if we subtract China and India from concept 2
inequality calculations, the decrease in inequality either ―largely
vanishes, or is reversed. Second, analysts increasingly doubt the reliability
of China‘s official estimates of its high growth rates. Finally, China‘s and
India‘s accomplishment lose their luster when one retains concept 2
inequality but disaggregates the two countries into their subunits
(provinces and states, respectively). The growing interregional inequality
in both countries suggests that on a country-wide basis concept 2
inequality is not decreasing and that ―as more Chinese (and Indian)
provinces become rich while others stay behind, world inequality will rise.
Examining countries with respect to one representative and average person
and weighting these countries for population makes the world look flat in
the sense that per capita GNPs weighted for population are converging.
But if we look inside the country black box to its constituent subunits and
treat these subunits as countries, converging flatness becomes more like
the diverging averages as viewed from the lens of concept 1 inequality.

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However, ultimately development ethicists worry about the impact of
globalization on individuals.
Concept 3 inequalities likewise is concerned with inequality of
individuals and not groups, with flesh and blood human beings and not
with means, averages, or abstract persons representing thousands or
millions. The choice of the unit of analysis in development is an ethical
decision. It is concerned with what development does to individuals and
what individuals can do with development. Just as we must look beyond
national per capita income to find how much inequality exists among
individuals in a particular country, ideally, it is better to see whether
global inequality is changing and investigate their changing (if any)
relations by using national accounts, national boundaries, group
membership, individuals and their well-being as determinative.
To what extent, if any, is globalization causally responsible for these
changes in concept 3 inequality? Not surprisingly, since analysts neither
agree on whether or not there is change in these matters and—if there is—
what direction it takes, they are unlikely to agree on causation in general
and the role of globalization in particular. And among the reasons for
differing views on the impact of globalization on inequality is that the
impact in fact may differ depending on such things as (i) whether people
within a nation are rich or poor; (ii) whether a nation as a whole is poor or
rich, big or little, densely or sparsely populated; and (iii) a nation‘s past
history.
It is reasonably clear, however, that there is one way in which
globalization—as economic openness and rapid communication across
national boundaries—affects individual happiness and capability poverty
even if concept 3 inequality remains unchanged. Poor persons in poor (or
rich) countries become aware, through travel, television, movies, or

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newspapers, of the contrast between their deprivation and others’
affluence. Further, they frequently view their lot in life—their being left
out—as undeserved and unfair. Such awareness is likely to cause
unhappiness, frustration, and even anger with the result that the person‘s
well-being is lowered. Moreover, such loss of well-being also is not
unusual on the part of a person that ―falls behind when s/he receives the
same percentage or proportionate pay increase as those with higher
salaries but one that increases the absolute gap between him/herself and
those others.
In sum, this debate over whether or not global inequality is growing is an
important one, and development ethicists can contribute to its resolution
by assessing different ways of counting the poor and conceiving of
inequality. Sen (2001) asserts that the debate over whether the rich are
getting richer and the poor getting poorer does not have to be settled as a
precondition for getting on with the central issue. The basic concerns
relate to the massive levels of inequality and poverty—not whether they
are also increasing at the margin. Even if the patrons of the contemporary
economic order were right in claiming that the poor in general had moved
a little ahead (this is, in fact, by no means uniformly so), the compelling
need to pay immediate and overwhelming attention to appalling poverty
and staggering inequalities in the world would not disappear.

9.3. Ethical Assessment of Globalization

Dear learner, in the last section we saw that analysts may have very
different concepts of poverty and inequality and that even when they agree
they may evaluate the same data in different ways. In employing one
method rather than another, analysts assume certain values. Or if we focus
on results, we can say that different methodologies “secrete” different

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values. Most basically, those for and against globalization do not share the
same values about what constitutes a just distribution of the gains from
globalization.
Development ethicists’ challenges economists and policy analysts to make
their values explicit, subject them to rational scrutiny, and engage in
ethical analysis and argument of globalization. This is primarily because
the empirical facts in contention do not stem solely from objective data on
incomes, prices, and so on but also depend on value judgments made in
measurement—judgments one may or may not accept. It can hardly be
surprising that different people hold different normative views about
inequality. And it is well understood in economics that those views affect
how one defines and measures inequality—although it is ethics, not
economics, that determines what trade-offs one accepts between the
welfare of different people. A class of “ethical measures‟ of inequality is
built on this realization. What is more notable in the present context is that
important differences on values have become embedded in the
methodological details underlying statements about what is happening to
inequality in the world. These differences are rarely brought to the surface
and argued out properly in this debate.
Many economists and policy analysts seek to divorce economics from
ethics and back away from engaging in ethical critique and argument with
respect to what justice requires. It has been argued that equity
considerations need to be brought squarely into the center of both
diagnosis and policy since equity is central both to the investment
environment and to the agenda of empowerment, working through the
impact on institutions and specific policy designs (WB, 2006). Policy-
makers and citizens should understand national and global justice, and
should not make equity either exclusively a matter of personal opinion or a

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causal factor in bringing about growth and reducing poverty. Equity must
be recognized for its importance as “equal opportunity”, “avoidance of
absolute deprivation”, and “fair” processes. Most importantly, the
arguments for equity and fairness as means to “long-term prosperity”
should not refrains from taking a stand with respect to right of “preferring
fairness” or seeing equal opportunities and fair processes as matters of
social justice and thus as an intrinsic part of the objective of development.
Dear learner, from the above discussion, you can note that it is important
to make efforts to clarify and defend criteria to identify whether and in
what ways globalization is good or bad for human beings, enhances or
limits valuable freedoms, protects or constrains democracy, respects or
violates human rights, fairly or unfairly distributes benefits and burdens
within and between nations. It is not enough to inquire if, how, or why
globalization affects human choice and institutional distribution. One must
also have a reasoned normative view of what counts as beneficial and
deleterious consequences, and how the concept of justice should be
understood or decided. Otherwise we will know what globalization is, how
it came about, and what its future career is likely to be, but will have no
basis for deciding whether to embrace or fight it—in whole or in part.
Dear learner, the most promising approach to such explicitly normative
dimensions of development ethics is the “agent-oriented” capability
perspective that has to be explained, defended, and applied into the
intrinsic part & objective of development. Applying a conception of the
human as agent and of human well-being as a plurality of capabilities and
functioning that humans have good reason to value, the capability
development ethicist can inquire into the effects different kinds of
globalization have on everyone‘s agency and capability for living lives
that are—among other things—long, healthy, secure, socially engaged,

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and politically participatory. Because agency and these valuable
capabilities (or functioning) are the basis for human rights, social justice,
and both individual and collective duties, a development ethic will also
examine how a globalized world is a help or a hindrance as individuals
and institutions fulfill their moral obligations to respect rights. The long-
term goal of good and just development—whether national or global—
must be to secure an adequate level of agency and morally basic
capabilities for everyone in the world—regardless of nationality, ethnicity,
religion, age, gender, or sexual preference.
Some kinds of globalization—for instance, such global phenomena as
money laundering, illegal drug distribution, weapons smuggling, sex
tourism, trade in human organs and endangered species, forced migrations,
epidemics, and HIV/AIDS—are bad and there is a duty to resist them.
Other kinds of global interconnectedness are good and should be
promoted. These include commercial linkages that result in more
affordable food, medicine, and travel, fuller exchange of ideas (internet).
Good globalization also includes the global dispersion of democratic
norms, and the ideal of global citizenship. Most kinds of globalization,
such as open trade, financial liberalization, foreign direct investments,
outsourcing of work, migration, labor mobility, development of
international law, and multinationals, are a mixed blessing. For example,
reduction of trade barriers may increase commercial opportunities for
some producers and decrease them for others.
According to international legal theorist Scheppele (2007) the first wave
of public law globalization emphasized international human rights and
universal jurisdiction and had a progressive impact on national
constitutions. A second wave globalizes an “international security law,”
promotes constitutional changes in favor of national security state, and

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both strengthens executive power and attenuates civil liberties. The extent
to which these sorts of globalization either undermine and reduce or,
alternatively, enhance, secure, or restore agency, human capabilities, and
justice will depend on context and especially on a reform of global
institutions and how national politics integrate and shape global forces.
Dear learner, the agency-focused capability approach judges both hyper-
globalism and skepticism as empirically one-sided and normatively
deficient. Nation-states are neither obsolete entities of the past nor possess
a monopoly on global agency. A globalizing world weakens some states
and strengthens others, and all states find themselves interconnected in
various ways. This approach challenges global institutions as well as
national and sub-national communities to protect, promote, and restore
human capabilities, among them the capabilities for political participation.
This approach also challenges both territorial and non-territorial political
communities in two related ways.
First, territorial political communities and transnational agencies—such as
the EU, UN, WTO, World Bank, Amnesty International, International
Commission of Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, and International
Criminal Court—are responsible for setting policies that improve—rather
than reduce—the chances of all persons to live decent lives. Second, these
overlapping political communities should themselves be “civilized and
democratized”. These communities must be venues in which people
exercise their agency and have substantive freedoms, including some kind
of effective political participation, such as democratic deliberation. They
should also be imaginatively restructured so as to achieve greater
democratic accountability. Scholars go on to insist, the new normative
challenge is how to combine a system of territorially rooted/deepened
democratic governance with the transnational and global organization of

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social and economic life. Part of this challenge is that of deciding each
governance level‘s responsibilities, whether unique or shared. The Spanish
parliament struggles, sometimes through deliberation, to define the
relative distribution of powers, rights, and duties between the central
government and the 17 constituent sub-national units. Likewise, in
regional organizations, such as the European Union, and the Andean Pact
nations, and in global institutions, such as the WTO and the UN, national
entities negotiate and deliberate about the best balance between national
and super-national responsibilities.
However, the above articulation and defense of a normative vision of good
and just development and globalization are incompatible with individuals
and groups taking charge and deciding their own development ends and
means. One reason the scholars do not take a stand on questions of equity
and justice is that they believe that such judgments usurp a society‘s own
prerogative. Whatever such tradeoffs (between components of equity as
well as between equity and efficiency) exist—which is most of the time—
no textbook policy prescription can be provided. Each society must decide
the relative weights it ascribes to each of the principles of equity and to the
efficient expansion of total production (or other aggregate). Reports by
global institutions should not prescribe what is equitable for any society.
That is a prerogative of its members to be undertaken through decision-
making processes they regard as fair. This rightly challenges societies to
be self-directing agents and resists the temptation to prescribe from above
and outside specific institutional designs. But the reports by global
institutions abdicate its own responsibility to articulate a vision of the
ethically justified ends, means, and responsibilities of development in a
globalized world—a vision not to be uncritically, mechanically, or
slavishly applied but one to be democratically debated, criticized, adapted,

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and improved. To take a stand on national and global justice is not to
impose the moral truth from on high but to stimulate and contribute to
morally-informed policy debate on local, national, and global levels.

9.4. Humanizing and Democratizing Globalization

Dear learner, in the preceding section, we have seen the importance and
approaches to moral assessment of globalization. In this section, we will
look at three models/ projects/approaches identified by development
ethicists to respond to the normative challenges presented by globalization
and make it more humane, ethically defensible, and democratic. If
development ethics has the task of “keeping hope alive”, one way to do so
is to identify best practices and promising projects for globalization with a
human and democratic face.
(i) Liberal internationalism: this approach aims at incremental reform of
the existing international system of sovereign nation-states, and
international organizations and regimes. Popular governance takes place in
nation-states in which democracy is either initiated or made more robust.
In addition, according to Nagel (2005), sovereign governments have
unique duties to protect not only the civil and bodily but also the
socioeconomic rights of their citizens. In the face of cross-border threats
of various kinds, nation-states can and should cooperate in regional and
global trade, and in financial, military, legal, environmental, and cultural
institutions. To protect national self-interest and sovereignty, national
governments try to negotiate favorable loans and loan forgiveness with
international financial institutions. In general, this approach emphasize
that although human individuals have rights and responsibilities and
international bodies like UN and ICC have responsibilities, the rights and
duties of (legitimate) nation-states are the most fundamental.

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(ii) Radical republicanism: As expressed by Falk (1995) and fervently by
many anti-globalizes, radical republicanism or localism, this approach
seeks to weaken—if not dismantle—existing nation-states and
international institutions in favor of self-governing alternatives and largely
local communities committed to the public good and harmony with the
natural environment. The proponents of this model argue that it is
inherently unjust, for it systematically favors affluent nations and
corporations and is stacked against poor nations, peoples, and individuals.
Giving priority to the empowerment of grassroots and indigenous
communities that resist and struggle against the many forms of
globalization, this bottom-up approach utilizes communications
technology to enable grassroots groups to become a global civil society of
concern and action. Advocates of this perspective contend that institutions
such as the World Bank will or should become obsolete or decentralized.
An elite-dominated ICC or a UN promoted transnational security law at
odds with national and local judicial processes would do more harm than
good. Indigenous communities, whether or not located within only one
nation-state, should govern themselves according to their own rules and
traditions. The right of communal self-determination will support
enhanced sub-national autonomy and, in extreme, cases succession.
Democracy, largely direct and local, must operate on the basis of
consensus.
(iii) Cosmopolitan democracy: the proponents of this third approach to
humanizing globalization seek to “reconstitute” rather than reform (liberal
internationalism), or abolish (radical republicanism) the current system of
global governance. This reconstitution, to be guided by an evolving
“cosmopolitan democratic law”, consists in a “double democratization”.
First, nation-states should either initiate or deepen and widen both direct

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and representative democratic rule. Such internal democratization will
include some devolution of power to constituent territorial units and civil
society. Rather than merely periodic voting, democracy should include
public debate and democratic deliberation from top to bottom. Elected
representatives would regularly deliberate with—and be held accountable
by—their constituents as well as their parliamentary colleagues. Second,
one can anticipate that nation-states would come to share sovereignty with
transnational bodies of various sorts (regional, intercontinental, and
global), and these bodies themselves would be brought under democratic
control. For instance, given the atrocious global inequalities (especially
concept-3 inequality), one would anticipate some sort of global system of
progressive redistribution in which richer individuals would be taxed and
poorer individuals would benefit. Although the details would vary with the
organization, cosmopolitan democratizing will institutionalize popular and
deliberative participation in global institutions—such as the UN, WTO,
ICC, World Bank, and global taxing authority—and in regional
institutions.
Necessary for this institutional democratization will be new and complex
individual moral identities, and a new ideal of multiple citizenship. People
will no longer view themselves as nothing more than members of a
particular local, ethnic, religious, or national group, but rather as human
beings with responsibilities for all people. And one can anticipate that
citizenship will become multi-layered and complex – from neighborhood
citizenship, through national citizenship (often in more than one nation-
state), to regional and ‘cosmopolitan citizenship’
Dear learner, among the possibilities for “democratic cosmopolitanism” is
a form of world government compatible with “soft nationalism”.
Contributory to this institutional democratization as well, as one of the

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latter‘s results, will be new and complex individual moral identities and
new ideals of “inter-culturalism” and multiple citizenship. People would
and should no longer view themselves as nothing more than members of a
particular local, ethnic, religious, or national group, but rather as human
beings with the freedom to be responsible for all people. And one can
anticipate that citizenship will become multi-layered and complex—from
neighborhood citizenship, through national citizenship (often in more than
one nation-state), to regional and world or “cosmopolitan citizenship”
(Held et al, 1999).
Regardless of scope, citizenship is neither trivial nor absolute. Each kind
of citizenship is partially constituted by a commitment to human rights,
including the right of democratic participation, and the duty to promote
human development at every level of human organization. In line with this
view, Held et al (1999) argues that democracy for the new millennium
must allow cosmopolitan citizens to gain access to, mediate between and
render accountable the social, economic and political processes and flows
that cut across and transform their traditional community boundaries. The
core of this project involves re-conceiving legitimate political authority in
a manner which disconnects it from its traditional anchor in fixed borders
and delimited territories and, instead, articulates it as an attribute of basic
democratic arrangements or basic democratic law which can, in principle,
be entrenched and drawn on in diverse self-regulating associations—from
cities and sub-national regions, to nation-states, regions and wider global
networks.
In the same spirit, the cosmopolitan process need anticipates and
implicitly endorses the increasing importance of new global institutions,
especially in relation to tackling the challenge of global poverty and
concept 3 global inequalities. This shall happened step by steps: Firstly,

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integration of local people with the global community and global
democracy need to be done; Secondly, once this is done, many of the
functions of today‘s national governments—including dealing with
extreme cases of inequality and poverty—need to be taken over by new
global institutions. Off course, the road to this goal will be long and
arduous. . . Yet, if these developments projected into the future, there is
little doubt that further inclusion of all peoples and globalization of
decision-making awaits us there.
Dear learner, how should we assess these three political model/projects for
humanely responding to globalization and what might be the relations
among them? Each of the three projects has different emphases and
normative commitments. One task of development ethicists and others is
to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and to
examine whether the three projects must be mutually exclusive or may be
combined in some way. Although better ways of combining may come to
light, one way would be to say something like the following. Liberal
internationalism has current institutional salience and should become a
starting point and platform for (as well as a constraint on) the more
substantive changes that local and cosmopolitan democracy require.
Radical republicans rightly insist on the importance of local and deep
democracy. Cosmopolitan democrats share many democratic and
participatory values with radical republicans, but the former judge the
latter as too utopian about grassroots reform that is not accompanied by
“double democratization” and too pessimistic about the democratic
potential of transnational institutions. On the agenda for development
ethicists and others is the pressing question of whether national
governments—in contrast to both sub-national and global institutions—

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have distinctive duties of justice with respect to protecting the
socioeconomic rights of their citizens.
Insofar as the globalization processes are neither inexorable nor fixed,
development ethics must also consider the kinds of globalization most
likely to benefit human beings. Again, such an inquiry requires that one
have criteria for normative appraisal as well as a basis for assigning duties
as to the various agents of development and globalization. The challenges
of globalization expand – rather than narrow – the agenda of development
ethics. Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue and forums of
democratic deliberation allow development ethics to understand and
secure genuinely human development at all levels of political community
and in all kinds of regional and global institutions.
In judging globalism, the central issue of contention is not globalization
itself, nor is it the use of the market as an institution, but the inequity in
the overall balance of institutional arrangements—which produces very
unequal sharing of the benefits of globalization. The question is not just
whether the poor, too, gain something from globalization, but whether
they get a fair share and a fair opportunity. There is an urgent need for
reforming institutional arrangements—in addition to national ones—to
overcome both the errors of omission and those of commission that tend to
give the poor across the world such limited opportunities. Globalization
deserves a reasoned defense, but it also needs reform.

9.5. Social impacts of Globalization

Dear learner, there are divergent views regarding the social impacts of
globalization, which can be grouped into three: (i) social gains from trade,
(ii) developmental roles of multinational corporations and (iii)
developmental roles of global financial institutions and multilateral
organizations. As you are reading this section, we hope that you will be

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able to form your own opinion regarding the social impacts of
globalization.

 The social gains from trade

Dear learner, regarding the social gains from trades, there are also
divergent views based on the perspectives held by anti-globalists and
proponents of globalization. Whereas, many studies have demonstrated the
gains from trade in terms of improvements in per-capita income, it has
also been argued that there are greater social benefits for countries
experiencing greater per-capita trades and lower social benefits for
countries with lower per-capita trades. In considering the ethics of
development, hereunder, we present the social, rather than purely
economic, gains from trade.

Individual rights (as measured by child labor, the human development

index, and the index of economic freedom): The great concern among
free-trade opponents is the belief that increased globalization leads to a
greater exploitation of children as lesser developed countries employ
greater numbers of low-wage children to supply products to developed
countries. However, there is also a concern that the reverse is true–
countries with higher per-capita trade actually have a significantly lower
incidence of child labour or a decrease in child labour for countries with
greater per-capita trade. This argument is based on the claim that an
increased trade provides the additional standard of living that enables
parents to remove their children from the workforce and put them in
school, thus reducing the incidence of child labour in both the current and
future generations.

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(i) Income distribution: A common counter-argument to globalization is
that, while increased trade may indeed lead to an increase countries‘
GDP‘s, the income gains accrue to a select few leading to a widening of
the gap between rich and poor. But, in support-argument to globalization,
there is a claim of clear positive relationship between per-capita trade and
a more equitable income distribution. This group further argues that most
countries with high per-capita trade have equitable distributions of
income, but not all countries with equitable distributions of income exhibit
high per-capita trades. A possible explanation for this apparent
contradiction (high per-capita trade is associated with a more equitable
income distribution, but only up to a point) is that too much equity is a
sign that the society has squelched the work incentive through (for
example) overly progressive taxes. Thus, increased trade has the positive
effect of decreasing the gap between rich and poor, but requires that
enough of a gap remain that entrepreneurs are incented to develop goods
and services of value to trade partners.

(ii) Health (as measured by life expectancy, infant mortality, the daily
supply of protein, and the daily supply of calories): In examining the
relationship between globalization and health, scholars in the field of
development ethics have attempted to look at both outcome measures
(longevity and infant mortality) and food intake measures (protein and
caloric consumption). In this regard, there is argument that, in terms of
outcome measures, higher per-capita trade is strongly associated with both
increased longevity and decreased infant mortality.

(iii) The environment (as measured by the annual rate of deforestation,

and CO2 emissions): Another argument against globalization is that
multinational corporations exploit the environment in the interest of

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producing lower cost goods. This argument considers there is a strong
relationship between globalization and environmental pollutions in the
interest of producing lower cost goods. Because trade requires industry
and industry creates CO2 emissions, this and other factors push the
multinational corporations to exploit the natural environments and cause
involves into environmental pollutions. However, according to the
globalists, there is strong positive relationship between per-capita trade
and CO2 emissions. This group acknowledges that higher CO2 emissions
necessarily accompany greater productivity, which accompanies greater
trade. According to proponents of globalization, as globalization increases,
CO2 pollution declines as a fraction of the value of trade. The globalists
suggests that, while greater levels of trade are associated with greater CO2
pollution, the pollution cost of a dollar of trade declines as the level of
trade increases; and globalization leads to a reduction in the environmental
opportunity cost of production.

(iv) Gender equality (as measured by female adult literacy, the gender
related development index and the gender empowerment measure): A
common thread in the arguments against globalization is exploitation –
whether of children, the poor, smaller trading partners, or the environment.
As evidenced by their plight in many countries, when eradicating
exploitation, one of the last groups to be considered is women. As such,
gender equality measures may serve as a bellwether for other forms of
exploitation. If globalization results in greater gender equality, then it
likely also brings with it a reduction in other forms of exploitation.

 Social impacts of Multinational Corporation

Dear learner, this section discusses the ethical issues that may deserve
attentions while assessing the social impacts of Multinational Corporation.

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As you could understand from your previous readings and experiences,
there are divergent views based on the perspectives held by anti-globalists
and proponents of globalization concerning the social impacts of
multinational corporations. For instance, anti-globalists preach that
intercontinental corporations enrich themselves at the expense of both the
inhabitants of least developed countries and of the labourers who would
supposedly become unemployed in the developed countries. Differently,
the proponents of globalization argued that the positions held by the anti-
globalists are inconsistent with evidence from countries considered as
disappointingly benefiting from globalization. The globalists hold views
that free trade, the rule of law, access to better education, and private
property rights offer a better life and substantially more socio-economic
opportunities to all individuals of both developing and developed
countries. They also try to reveal that numerous free trade economists
have formulated economic policies that assist the disadvantaged and poor
through both multilateral grants (not loans) and trade policies that create
millions of jobs and provide industry growth for developing countries.
They further argue that, for decades, international corporations have done
more to clean up the environment and to promote world welfare with the
aggregate initiatives of the World Bank, World Trade Organization
(WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The proponents of
globalization also hold the views that the power of transnational
corporations appears to be disseminating over broader base rather than
consolidating economic power. Regarding labour exploitation, they
suggest that transnational firms actually provide better wages than
indigenous firms.

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 The social impacts of multilateral organizations

Dear learner, like the views presented above concerning the social impacts
of multinational corporations and international trades, the proponents of
globalization and anti-globalists differ in their views on the social impacts
of global financial institutions and multilateral organizations such as the
WTO, IMF and WB. Development ethicists explain that the WTO, IMF,
and World Bank have sought to promote trade and capital flows through
the opening of domestic markets, resolving financial crises, direct loans,
financial support for NGOs (non-governmental organizations), and
expenditures on various welfare-oriented projects. These multilateral
organizations are expected to reducing world poverty rates. However,
since the 1999 Seattle‘s protest, development ethicists have been accusing
WTO for providing a forum that favours multinational corporations at the
expense of domestic labour and the world environment. The WTO
discussions concerning labour and environmental rights were also
criticized by development ethicists due to their prohibitive impact on the
exports of developing countries and their tendency to favour in an obvious
hegemonic fashion the inefficient industries of the developed countries.
According to development ethicists, real GDP per capita has a U-shaped
relationship with environmental pollution—as real GDP per capita rises
the environment at first worsens.
Dear learner, besides, since 1995, the IMF with the assistance of the
World Bank and the U.S. Treasury‘s Exchange Stabilization Fund has
provided billions of dollars to soften the financial crises of numerous
developing countries (e.g., Mexico in 1995; Thailand, South Korea, and
Indonesia in 1997; Russia in 1998/99, Ecuador in 1999, and Argentina in
2002/03). But numerous development ethicists have questioned if these
loans prevent contagion, reverse financial crises, and lay a foundation for

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responsible domestic financial institutions or if the loans are a source of
moral hazard promoting future crises. Clearly numerous financial
institutions of developed countries have benefited directly from the
bailouts, but the countries in crisis were left with severe recessions and a
highly indebted indigenous population. The World Bank has been playing
various roles by financing development undertakings in the developing
countries. The World Bank also consists of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International
Development Association (IDA). The IBRD borrows in international
capital markets and makes loans to developing countries at market rates
for development projects. The IDA obtains its funds from developed
countries and makes subsidized loans to the poorest developing countries.
Affiliated with the World Bank are the International Finance Corporation,
which provides direct loans to the private sector in developing countries
and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which
promotes flows of international investment by acting as arbitrators of
disputes between foreign investors and governments. However,
development ethicists criticized the World Bank for precondition linked
financial assistance to developing countries. The evidence indicates that
the salvation of least developed countries will not come from primarily
from World Bank directed loans. These countries need to impose market-
oriented reforms to attract foreign direct investment and developed
countries must open their markets.

9.6. Chapter summary

Globalization as an economic integration has unprecedentedly expanded
since after the 1990‘s. Although there is no one generally accepted theory
of globalization, three general interpretation of globalization are (i) hyper-
globalism, (ii) scepticism/anti-globalism, and (iii) transformationalism.

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There are varied views on the process of globalisation; few explain that it
has brought voluminous benefits to the majority of poor countries in the
world. Counter to this argument, there are handful of scholars who argue
that globalization has benefited only the fewer capitalists and debilitated
the poor nation or people.
Throughout its history, development ethics has emphasized ethical
assessment of the goals, institutions, and strategies of national and sub-
national development and constructively proposed better alternatives. In a
globalizing world, development ethics takes on the additional task of
offering an ethical appraisal of the global order moving beyond simplistic
views—such as globalization is exceedingly good or terribly bad—and to
analyse leading interpretations of the nature, causes, consequences, and
value of globalization as well as suggesting ways of managing new and
evolving global interconnectedness. Moreover, globalization has multiple,
often uneven, and frequently changing influences on individuals and
communities require empirical investigation, while deciding which
consequences are ethically significant and which the best future options
are requires the application of ethical criteria and judgments about global
as well as national justice. Even empirical investigation on the effects of
globalization, however, is not disconnected from conceptual and even
normative considerations.
There are conceptual and normative differences with respect to the
controversy about the impact of globalization on poverty and inequality.
Development ethicists believe that the best “space” for understanding and
measuring both poverty and inequality is not income but agency,
functioning and capability for functioning.

There are three models or approaches identified by development ethicists

to respond to the normative challenges presented by globalization and

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make it more humane, ethically defensible, and democratic. These models
include (i) liberal internationalism, (2) radical republicanism/localism, and
(3) cosmopolitan democracy. Likewise, there are divergent views
regarding the social impacts of globalization, which can be seen from (i)
social gains of international trade; (ii) developmental roles of
multinational corporations; and (iii) developmental roles of global
financial institutions and multilateral organizations.

Checklists:

Dear learner, below are important points that you are expected to know
concerning chapter four. Please note that if your response for the
statements is ‘Yes‘, it means you understand the concept so that you can
proceed to the next chapter. But if your response is ‘No‘, we advise you
restudy your note before proceed to the next chapter.

Descriptions/Items Yes No

I am able to define and discuss different interpretations and

theories of globalization
I can explain the links between globalization, poverty and
inequality
I can discuss the importance and approaches to moral
assessment of globalization
I am able to identify and discuss approaches to respond to
the normative challenges presented by globalization and
make it more humane, ethically defensible, and democratic.
I am able to discuss various views about the social impact of
globalization

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Review Questions

1. Development ethicists have identified the three models or approaches to

respond to the normative challenges of globalization and to make it more
humane, ethically defensible, and democratic. Discuss these three
approaches.
2. Globalization as an economic integration has unprecedentedly
expanded since after the 1990‘s. There are varied views on this
phenomenon; few explain that it has brought voluminous benefits to the
majority of poor countries in the world. Counter to this argument, there are
handful of scholars who argue that globalization has benefited only the
fewer capitalists and debilitated the poor nation or people. Write your
argument either in favour or against the two views.

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FOR PART TWO
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FOR PART TWO

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