Addressing the central challenge of our time means putting communication at the heart of development now more than ever. Our strategy shows how we will use our skills and experiences in four core ares of communication: Voice, Dialogue, Media, and Information and Comunication Technologies (ICTs) to expand the reach, scope and impact of our workwith individuals and communities living in poverty and marginalised by their societies.
As we move into the second decade of the 21st century, and closer to 2015, the date set by the world to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the central challenge of our time is how to help the 1.4 billion people living on less than US$1.25 a day escape the poverty which constrains their lives. Development in many parts of the world is not happening fast enough; even where it is, growing imbalances between rich and poor are leaving millions behind.
Without open, inclusive and transparent information processes, societies suffer: governments and other powerful groups grow more unaccountable, economies become less efficient and the relationships that create social cohesion are weakened. Sustainable development can only take place where channels exist for people to communicate with one another at all levels. A free and vibrant media is vital to this process.
The means of communication are multiplying, transforming the ways individuals, organisations and governments can relate and share information and knowledge. But this revolution has barely touched the lives of the very poorest groups. The information and communication revolution needs to be deeper, more open and inclusive.
