Combined Federal Campaign #9956

Communications

Preamble
Communications is a critical component of a comprehensive strategic effort to establish and maintain lasting and productive relationships between Africa and Africans in the Diaspora. To be successful, it must be a strategic process, integral to all African Union and Network programmatic and policy activities.

Objectives
The Communications Working Group objectives are:

• To encourage and facilitate communication between and among the working groups and the African Union.
• To disseminate information about the African Union to Diaspora Forum participants and others.
• To amplify the voice of the AU throughout the Diaspora.

Recommendations

A Strategic Approach
To ensure consistency and effectiveness, the AU should develop and fund a strategic communications plan to forge strong AU-Diaspora Linkages. The resulting CIEM program should include a minimum of the following:

• Developing and executing imaging, branding and positioning strategies.
• Conducting research, analysis, testing, targeting and segmentation to ensure the effective development and delivery of information and messages.
• Defining and delivering the AU message with consistency.
• Interactivity: ensuring continuous dialogue and an active interchange of ideas between the AU and the Diaspora. AU-Civil Society communications must be based on "talking with" each other, not "talking at" each other. Real listening must occur on both sides.

A Targeted Campaign
The AU must make effective use of communications media to develop and execute a targeted, educational campaign in Africa and the Diaspora that would use all available communications tools. This process involves the exploitation of all channels of communication, including appropriate technology, traditional and nontraditional media, and formal and informal avenues. Specific attention should be paid to:

• Maintaining a current and dynamic website.
• Producing information and educational materials on the AU for distribution in the Diaspora.
• Utilizing community and local media

The AU should promote continental and Diaspora linkages through AU sponsorship of, and participation in:

• Themed events
• African festivals
• Educational activities
• Trade fairs and other outreach opportunities

Africa Day
Specific attention should be paid to encouraging the celebration of Africa Day, a day when all Africans on the continent and throughout the Diaspora unite in paying homage to the motherland.

Promoting African Culture
Each AU event should include culturally recognizable symbols and rituals of the past to reclaim our lost or fading identity, and regenerate pride in being African (For example, opening libations, drumming, etc.).

Empowering Diaspora Communications Professionals
When implementing these recommendations, the AU should make every effort to use the skills, talents and firms of people of African descent. The AU should also encourage collaboration between continental and Diaspora people of African descent.

Empowering the Media
The African Union should encourage and support the development, maintenance and civil society ownership and control of dynamic local media, including electronic (radio and television broadcast), print, satellite, internet and other.

The Africa Union should also encourage a constructive relationship with the media, and support the development of professional associations to build capacity and maintain an active journalist community with high professional standards.

What Can the Diaspora Do?
Actively seek and engage in partnerships with counterpart organizations on the continent to participate in critical areas such as:

• Training
• Create Models as starting points for the development of professional organizations and standards
• Disseminate African Union messaging through formal and informal communications networks.

What is the Working Group Already Doing?

WHADN Website
In addition to the standard website content, it will also enable WHADN to function as a web-based communications network providing:

Online discussion groups (web and email)
Online discussion groups have become an effective way to stimulate the exchange of ideas and encourage widespread participation. Standard discussion group protocols will be established. The groups will be self-moderated with oversight initially handled by the Communications Working Group.

E- Newsletter
An email newsletter has been in distribution since January 2003. To encourage wider participation, and information exchange, the e-newsletter will soon be enhanced by an online version available on the website. It will feature articles, opinion editorials, announcements, and letters-to-the-editor and point-counterpoint debates. Guidelines for submissions are currently being developed.
An editorial board will also be developed to assess submissions and determine content priorities.

Database Management System
To support all Groups' plans to create skills and resource databases.