Professional Documents
Culture Documents
LVEMPII- Uganda
Communications Strategy
2014-2017
September 2014
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Forward
Lake Victoria is an important shared resource for the people of East Africa.
Over time, the Lake has suffered severe degradation resulting into dete-
riorating water quality, declining Lake Levels, overexploitation of natural
resources, resurgence of the water hyacinth and climate change.
Environmental stress that originates from the Lake, littoral zones espe-
cially near the shores, within the basin at upper watershed and outside the
basin have equally impacted on Lake Victoria Basin ecosystem and the com-
munities living around it.
The broad objective of the strategy is to ensure that all stakeholders are
informed and are knowledgeable about the role of LVEMP II in managing,
conserving and protecting the Lake Victoria and its catchment.
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ued effort to fulfil her commitment to the citizens and provide a mechanism
for relaying government programmes and achievements, while meeting ba-
sic requirements for transparency and accountability for service delivery to
the people.
David O.O.Obong
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Acronyms
CDD Community Driven Development
SI Strategic Intervention
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Table of Contents
Forward 2
Acronyms 3
Executive Summary 4
Communications Strategy. 8
Target Audience...... 12
Communications Mix... 18
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Executive Summary
The Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project Phase Two (LVE-
MP II) is a regional initiative of the East African Community (EAC) partner
states, coordinated by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and
funded by the World Bank. In Uganda, the project is implemented by the
Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), which provides an overall co-
ordination and guidance in consultation with other implementing Ministries.
The project aims at improving management of trans-bound-
ary natural resources and reducing environmental stress for
the improvement of livelihoods in the Lake Victoria Basin.
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Although the project has multiple stakeholders with diverse expectations
and aspirations, there are limited level of awareness about project objec-
tives, outputs and achievements. There is therefore need for developing a
comprehensive communication strategy that will provide a mechanism for
conveying accurate and timely information to all stakeholders in the most
appropriate manner.
In achieving the above objectives, the strategy has defined the target audi-
ence to be reached as primary , secondary and tertiary audiences; core mes-
sages to be delivered; communication mix required to reach intended audi-
ence; management and coordination approaches to implement the strategy;
mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation of the strategy and the budget
required to implement the strategy. A total of UgX 2.1 billion will be required
to implement the strategy within the next three years from 2014 to 2017
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1. Background and Context
The Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project Phase Two (LVE-
MP II) is a regional initiative by the five East African Community (EAC)
partner states, coordinated by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC).
It is a follow up of LVEMP I which came to close in 2005 and generated
data, information and lessons that was used in the design of LVEMP II.
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This objective is to be achieved through four broad components in-
cluding: Strengthening institutional capacity for managing shared wa-
ter and fisheries resources, point source pollution and prevention,
watershed management and project coordination and management.
2. Communications Strategy
2.1 Rationale
The LVEMP II project activities involve multiple stakeholders with
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diverse expectations and aspirations on the management and utili-
zation of natural resources. However there is limited level of aware-
ness about the project goals and objectives, as well as lack of uniform-
ity in communicating project outputs. There is therefore need for
developing a comprehensive communication strategy to address these
challenges and ensure sustainable management of the natural resources.
Currently, the project does not have a Communications Strategy. But in-
formation is disseminated through various channels, including print
media (newspapers, magazines, banners); broadcast media (radio, tele-
vision) and social media platforms (emails, Facebooks, twitter), which
should be strengthened through appropriate communications strategy.
The strategy shall therefore provide mechanisms and ways of conveying accu-
rate and timely information to all stakeholders in the most appropriate man-
ner who then shall be informed on the objectives, activities and outputs gen-
erated, as well as procedures that govern the implementation of LVEMP II.
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2.4 Specific Objectives
The specific objectives of the strategy are:
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Degraded land of Mubende District that requires urgent intervention
Again there is limited understanding about the different roles and contribu-
tion of LVEMP II towards the management and conservation of the Lake
Victoria Basin. Cases of poor coordination of expectation of the com-
munities, irregular feedback to the various audience groups, complacen-
cy on project implementation and difficulties in managing partnership, as
well as uncoordinated information dissemination have also been reported.
Albeit different interventions, project visibility still remains limited. The strategy
therefore attempts to address the aforementioned communication challenges.
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However there are also a number of opportunities that provide conducive
environment for the project to effectively implement the strategy. For in-
stance, there is available information for all key stakeholders. The most im-
portant aspect of which is to outline the process of mainstreaming and
disseminating the intended information to key stakeholders. Proper flow of
information will foster informed citizenry that is conscious on biodiversity
conservation, sustainable utilization of Lake Victoria resources, land and
water degradation issues. The public will also know how to address problems
emanating from such problems, and thus resulting into greater policy co-
herence and enhanced participatory development among key stakeholders.
At the same time, there are a number of partners within the pri-
vate and public sector engaged in the management and con-
servation of water resources. LVEMP II therefore will be re-
quired to form strategic partnerships with the aim of leveraging
resources, which should result in improved coordination and cooperation
4. Target Audience
The Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project Phase II is a
multi-sectoral environmental and natural resources management pro-
ject. It has diverse stakeholders that constitute the main target audi-
ence of the projects communication strategy and plan. These include
the local communities that earn a living from the Lake Victoria Basin
Resources, water and sewerage service providers, industrialists, fish-
ers, local authorities, relevant ministries and Development partners.
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Community training initiatives
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5.2 Primary Audiences
Legislators and Executive
The Executive advises parliament on policies before they can be made into law
and is also responsible for monitoring the implementation policies and reg-
ulations. They command respect and influence among their followers, espe-
cially in the rural districts. They are expected to have a deep understanding of
traditional knowledge systems that relate to natural resources management.
This category include the staff of the Ministry of Water and Environment,
Directorate of Water Resources Management, National Project Coordi-
nation Team; Local Government; and Implementing Agencies, including
the Directorate of Fisheries Resources (DFR), Ministry of Agriculture,
Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF); Department of Zoology, Mak-
erere University; Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA); National Wa-
ter and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC); National Agricultural Research
Laboratories (NARL) Kawanda ; National Fisheries Resources Research
Institute (NaFIRRI) and Uganda Cleaner Production Centers (UCPC).
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Government ministries, departments and agencies are affected by natural
resource and sustainable land management issues. For purposes of draw-
ing up advocacy and communications strategy, stakeholders with specific
mandates in implementing policies that deal with environmental, or sus-
tainable resource utilization were sampled. Although ministries and de-
partments were aware about the natural resource issues in general, few
were aware about the role, activities and achievements of LVEMP II.
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Development Partners
Media
The media comprises both electronic (radio, television) and print (newspa-
pers, magazines). They are important partners in raising public awareness,
reaching out to targeted audiences and promoting core messages about LVE-
MP II. They are always interested in accessing information about the project.
Communities
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tic bags. This is mainly because they do not see evidence of such deg-
radation or pollution of the Lake and its impact on the communities.
Key messages shall also revolve around the need for protecting and conserving
the Lake Victoria and catchment areas from stresses within the lake, littoral
zone, the basin and outside the basin. The development of the messages shall
further be guided by the tagline: Conserving and protecting the Lake Victo-
ria and catchment areas for improved community livelihoods. All communi-
cation efforts shall ensure that the tag-line is contained in all key Informa-
tion Education Communication (IEC) material prepared under LVEMP II.
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6. Communications Mix
The target audience of LVEMP II shall be divided into three categories:
primary, secondary and tertiary audiences, with varying degree of sub-au-
dience levels. A Comprehensive Communications Mix, consisting of
various channels shall be used to reach each of the target audience, lev-
els and segments as spelt out in the table below: Roles and messages for
each target audience are indicated in Annex 2 of the strategy document.
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Table 1: Target Audience and Communication Channels
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7. Strategic Communication Approaches
Participatory approaches shall be used to ensure that LVEMP II ad-
dresses information needs and expectations of its stakeholders.
This approach shall help LVEMP II communicators and spokesper-
sons constantly review their communication plans, information ma-
terials and messages while interacting with various stakeholders. Ca-
pacity building efforts shall also adhere to the same principles. The
strategic communication approaches to be used shall include among others:
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f) Indirect communication approaches: The project shall employ indi-
rect communication approaches to market itself. These shall include spon-
sorship of major tournaments and events such as football tournament, espe-
cially those that are popular, including marathon devoted to environmental
conservation; canoe racing on Lake Victoria, cultural festivals; essay, drama
and debate competitions through secondary schools; and support to radio
and televisions programs, youth programs; and social responsibility affairs.
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Communications Team shall be established to oversee the imple-
mentation of LVEMP II Communications Strategy. There shall
be a Communications Lead within the secretariat, who shall work
closely with all key stakeholders on matters of communication.
d) They shall jointly determine the nature of response and make sure it is
formulated;
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The Communications Team shall survey the media and social media, includ-
ing Blogs, Facebooks, Twitter and YouTube for potentially harmful activities.
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Some of the instruments to measure the impact of the Communications
Strategy shall include:
a) Public opinion surveys that could be done through a quick appraisal dur-
ing stakeholder analysis
b) Develop and manage functional project website and social media plat-
forms
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d) Maintain regular contacts with the media representatives, key stake-
holders, staff, communities and public interest groups
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References
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ppendices
community
driven devel-
opment groups
trained
Objective 3: To increase project visibility and influence conservation policies on environmental and natural re-
sources management over two years
Output 6 Strategic Produce & print at Number of e-news- 20,000 20,000 20,000 60,000
publications least 12 e- newsletters, letters produced and
promoted, 15 newspaper articles, printed
including 4 topical booklets Number of newspa-
communica- per articles pub-
tion notes, lished
booklets, Number of topical
press releases, booklets produced
newspaper and printed
articles
Organize debates Number of De- 52,000 30,000 0
for different target bates conducted 82,000
groups( university,
school, media, NGOs,
PSOs)
Output 7 Corporate and Develop at least 15 Number of pull-up 20,000 20,000 20,000 60,000
branded mate- corporate pull-up banners, outdoor
rials developed banners, 15 outdoor banners and tear
for increased banners & 15 tear drops developed
project visibility drops
Annex 2: Key stakeholders and messages with respect to environment pro-
tection, management and conservation water and fisheries resources and
other issues identified
The perennial message for project shall be communicated to key stakeholders at the
beginning of project implementation. While specific messages shall be crafted to
address knowledge, attitude and practice or behavior of target audiences. The mes-
sages shall include project vision, mission, objectives and goals, as well as project
components. Public campaigns may include messages such as Lake Victoria your
fortune; Lake Victoria Environment A sanctuary of natural wealth or Your water, your health
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N o . Target Au- Role of M e s s a g e M a t e r i a l P a r t n e r Assump-
dience/Key Target Au- tion
stakeholder dience/Key
stakeholder
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issues, bio-
diversity and
sustainable
resource use,
energy re-
sources wa-
ter resources
or climate
change
issues.
2. LVEMP II Coor- Sound As Politi- As
and MWE environ- Table 1 cians
dinate, above
super- mental and
above
vise and laws and policy
monitor regu- makers,
lations local
project
relating authori-
imple-
to pol- ties, en-
menta- lution viron-
tion of man- mental
LVEMP agement CBOs/
II and NGOs,
control private
for Lake sector
Victo-
ria and
trans-
bound-
ary
imple-
mented,
mon-
itored
and
reported
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3. Implementing Responsible Proper .As LVEMP
Agencies for direct conser- above II, MWE,
project vation, environ-
implemen- manage- mental
tation and ment and CBOs/
reporting use of NGOs;
clean tech- Commu-
nologies nities and
and the politi-
planting cians
of trees
to achieve
vision and
mission
of LVBC
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4. Non Govern- Improve Efficient As LVEMP As above
ment Actors( public manage- II, MWE,
CSOs, PSOs understand- above environ-
ment of
Media etc) ing of the waste, mental
project CBOs/
proper
NGOs,
conserva- devel-
tion and opment
man- organi-
agement zations,
water financial
resources institu-
stim- tions (e.g.
on pro- World
ulates
ducing Bank
business
com- Group,
pros-
mercial UNDP
pects for etc.)
crops,
entrepre-
livestock
neurs and
and fish-
create
ing in the
cheap sup-
shores
plies of
of Lake
water for
Victoria
farmers
intent
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5. Champion Identified Proper As LVEMP II,
MWE, im-
As above
as the key manage-
ment, above plementing
influential conserva-
partners en-
vironmental
ambassa- tion and CBOs/
dors for protect- NGOs,
The media,
promoting ing the households
vision, resource / citizens,
base on opinion
mission, which leaders,
and mes- over 35
investors
in industry
sages of million and big
the LVE- people businesses,
depend is members of
MPII parliament,
of course international
vital and and nation-
must be al events,
accorded workshops
and semi-
at higher nars
profile. As above
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6. Directly Directly Lake Vic- As Media, spe-
cial events,
As above
implement implement toria your
above workshops
the project the project fortune and semi-
and lake nars
at commu- at commu-
nity levels nity levels Victoria
Environ-
to reduce to reduce
ment A
pressure on pressure sanctu-
the lake on the ary of
lake natural
wealth;
Commu-
nities will
benefit
from the
sustain-
able
use of
natural
resourc-
es and
through
the
preserva-
tion of
the scant
water
resource.
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Event Date
World Wetlands Day February 2
International Womens Day March 8
World Forestry Day March 21
World Water Day March 22
World Meteorological Day March 23
World Biodiversity Day May 22
World Environment Day June 5
World Population Day July 11
World Tourism Day September 27
World Fisheries Day November 21
World Food Day October 16
World AIDS Day December 1
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