Development of a Communication Strategy

The communication strategy responds to tasks in the scope of work to develop a comprehensive strategy that improves and facilitates communication within the NETWAS team and with other stakeholders on one hand and secondly to enhance communication between water users and providers in Wobulenzi, the area of operation on the other hand.

The Communication Strategy Report (CSR) that explains the communication strategy is intended to offer a coherent and comprehensive plan that will allow to better relationship among all the stakeholders of the program, as well as will help to disseminate the benefits of the applying social accountability tools.

The strategy will also facilitate change in the water sector, in the sense that the program is expected to promote the concept of users’ feedback and social accountability as an institutionalized mechanism for improving service quality. Thus, the communication strategy is key in bringing about change in actors’ behaviors and perceptions about social accountability. The communication strategy will also aid to achieve the goals of the program including:

a) Information sharing: communication may be used to announce objectives and goals of the program or provide stakeholders with information about the nature, timing, and significance of the program.
b) Participation: Change agents may create communication processes that actively involve even common citizens from Wobulenzi into the program to: provide them with new and creative ideas, and change their perceptions about the service delivery in the water sector. In addition, change agents may construct communication processes that allow the upper-level management from the water sector to get feedback and fresh ideas from implementers and citizens.
c) Vision and Motivation: Communication can be utilized to convey the vision, set of goals, and highlighting the important drivers for changing existing organizational or individual attitudes, beliefs or practices within the water sector in Wobulenzi, or even at national level. For example, communication in this project could provide information about perception on OBA (Output-Based Aid) provision. This new financial system is supposed to pay the provider after confirming delivery of the product or service.
d) Social Support: when efforts are put to produce a change, high-levels of anxiety can arise within the government and providers, and communication may be needed to determine people’s responses to change, alleviate potential fears to social participation, and encourage partnerships for improved service delivery and the establishment of networks support systems for the program. Evaluation/Feedback: Impacting a public service requires the structuring of communication processes that provide providers feedback about their performance during the program and provide feedback to implementers regarding strengths and weaknesses during the implementation.

Use of Communication Tools to Share Information to promote governance and improve relashionships among stakeholders within the water sector

The goal of the communication component of this program is to foster communication and knowledge sharing by providing and ensuring effective flow of information, updates, success stories, challenges, key messages and action plans promptly within the implementation team and among all targeted stakeholder groups with the aim to increase the overall awareness levels about the social accountability and transparency program. At the same time to collect feedback and knowledge in order to continually improve the program activities.

During the process of the program, NETWAS is sharing information with all types of stakeholders in involved decision-making, implementing process or feedback mechanisms in a two-way communication process. When some one raises his voice, sh/e must feel that sh/e is being heard, and thus must get an answer or a response, even if it is negative. Focusing on increasing understanding and relations among stakeholders through the use of communication enables participants to move forward with implementation plans, because stakeholder’s dialogue is important to avoid blaming for the past mistakes and creating a shared future

This program is basically a program devoted to promoting dialogue and building partnerships among stakeholders which is what CRC/CSC is about. NETWAS will be implementing through the Community Score Cards process, a dialogue between users and providers of water services, in Wobulenzi. It will take place with the participation of local authorities to promote partnerships and good governance within the sector. In order to generate a productive dialogue, NETWAS will be doing the following actions:
* Engaging frequently and systematically with stakeholders to determine mutually beneficial actions.
* Remembering that communication must be two-way. Communication is not the same as information. The aim of the dialogue should be to achieve mutual understanding and rational agreement or consent about the goals of the programs and its achievements. Information is crucial, but it must go beyond by incorporation channels from sharing ideas and worries.
* Inviting stakeholders to become involved in our program also exploring their concerns about our initiative.
* If there are no channels with stakeholders, create them! NETWAS will be trying to reach silent stakeholders and form partnership with stakeholders early, as has been done since the beginning of the project by working with the local government of Luwero and Wobulenzi town council.