News

Communication strategies for DFID’s Policy and Research Directorate

Scriptoria is working with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) to produce communication strategies for all the major groups within its Policy and Research Directorate (PRD). This highly prestigious work has involved brainstorming with senior staff in each Group.

The aim is to provide focused communications strategies that will ensure efficient and well-planned communications on complicated issues ranging from climate change to health, education and social protection. This will ensure that messages are conveyed in the best way possible and that no resources are wasted - an important strategy for an organisation like DFID, which has committed itself to spending around £7.8 billion on development in 2010-11.

DFID contracted Scriptoria as part of a comprehensive drive to improve communications within the Directorate. And, as part of this, we also recently ran a training course for 16 PRD staff in London on 27th November. This workshop, which focused on strategic development communications, was extremely well received.

Training course for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Scriptoria was recently commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (the largest private foundation in the world) to provide communications training for 20 top African research and development specialists. Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA), which works in close partnership with the Foundation, convened the training session from 15th to 20th November in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

More than 700 research specialists applied to attend the training session, the first of its kind to be provided by the Foundation. The course was a runaway success, providing intensive training in writing skills and prompting very positive feedback from the high-level participants.

Scriptoria regularly provides specialist training around the world in writing, presentation skills and other communication techniques. On this occasion we were delighted to work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which, through its Global Development Program, focuses on high-impact sustainable projects throughout Africa.

Communicating success stories from DFID

Every year a lot of good techniques are developed to help poor people improve their lives – ranging from better ways to grow crops to techniques for tackling health problems. The problem is that communicating them is never easy, which means that many useful new options get lost and forgotten instead of being applied more widely.

So we’re very pleased to say that Scriptoria has worked with DFID‘s Research Into Use (RIU) programme to produce a book that highlights good ideas from around the world for communicating new development options to the people who really need them.

In fact, we’d say that Communications Success Stories - Mainstreaming Research Findings to Lessen Poverty (40 pages) is a must-read for communication officers, researchers, extension workers, project managers, and policy makers everywhere. Examples given in the book include proven ways to use radio, TV, internet kiosks, mobile phones, telecentres, drama groups, cartoon booklets and face-to-face initiatives as innovative ways to get information into the hands of the poor. You can download a copy by clicking HERE (2.3 MB)

Multi-lingual annual report for a pan-Africa anti-poverty programme

Since SCRIPTORIA started working with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) two years ago, CAADP’s profile has rocketed. Now they’re setting standards for others to follow, with one major donor recently referring to CAADP’s external communications as “a flagship example that other development programmes in the region should work to match”.

The latest product we’ve produced with CAADP to publicise the programme’s work across Africa is its 2008 annual report. We produced it in both French and English, so you can choose your language, settle back and read all about the latest developments in efforts to tackle rural poverty in Africa. You can read the English version HERE (2 MB) and the French version HERE (2 MB).

Global Donor Platform annual report
The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development is a grouping of some of the world’s largest international donors working to reduce poverty. Members range from the United Nations to GTZ and SIDA, all of whom are working together to promote economic growth in rural areas, and tackle issues such as boosting agriculture and coping with climate change. Scriptoria’s in-depth expertise and experience made us the clear choice to research and write the Platform’s 60-page 2008 annual report. The report’s look and layout were done by the Platform itself.

The report contains very useful one-page summaries of each donor’s main activities in 2008 in tackling the food-price crisis and other important issues in agriculture and rural development. You can read the report HERE (761 KB)

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback on the annual report. Scriptoria managed the whole process highly professionally, producing a technically high quality product with minimal time input from our side.” Secretariat Coordinator, Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

SCRIPTORIA helps produce new DFID Water Policy
We’re pleased to say that the UK Department for International Development (DFID) recently launched its new water policy. This globally important publication is designed to help DFID meet its £200 million commitment to vastly increasing the number of people with access to safe water and sanitation.

SCRIPTORIA’s role was to help the government’s senior policy advisors translate a series of complex issues into this relatively short and easy-to-read document. At our initial meeting we advised on the style and tone of the document. The next three months involved regular meetings and lots of late nights as we worked closely with them to rewrite their original policy document and fine-tune the final product according to comments from the International Development Minister and his team.

DFID’s aim is to help twenty-five million people across Africa to gain access to safe water and basic sanitation over the next five years. 

To read the Policy Document, please click HERE (1.37 MB)

New Photo Guide to help you get the pics you need
We can’t tell you how frustrating it can be to have an important story to tell (or project to promote), and not have the pictures to really show it off. Charities and NGOs often don’t have the budgets needed to buy photos from picture houses, and instead rely on their staff to take compelling pictures as part of their everyday working lives. But this can be a pretty hit-and-miss process.

So, we’ve teamed up with the UK Government to produce a Field Guide to Photography for anyone working in development.

This guide isn’t aimed at professional photographers. Instead it targets project staff, researchers, volunteers, and the many other people working in the field who have the chance to take great-looking photos if only they had the confidence. The guide explains why it’s important to take these kinds of photos, what situations make for a great photo, and how to frame and actually take your picture.

And of course the same techniques can be applied at your next barbecue to produce great family photos too – what a bargain! You can download the photo guide by clicking HERE (1.2 MB).

Teaming up with business to fight poverty

Here at SCRIPTORIA we’re very proud to have produced the UK Department for International Development (DFID) brochure and display stand for the recently held, and globally important, Business Call to Action meeting.

The meeting saw the UK’s Prime Minister (Gordon Brown) welcome more than 80 CEOs from some of the world’s largest companies to London to showcase new business initiatives to reduce poverty in the developing world.

The meeting highlighted successful projects run by more than a dozen global companies, including Coca Cola, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters and Vodafone. Over the next five years, initiatives like these are expected to save almost half a million lives, create thousands of jobs, and benefit millions of poor people across Africa and Asia. They’re part of a concerted push to meet the Millennium Development Goals by helping poor people to access up-to-the-minute information, money and business expertise and by creating new business and employment opportunities.

Young people’s summary of the United Nations’ Human Development Report
on climate change
Do you ever read the United Nations’ Human Development report? We do (every year) and we can tell you that it’s a great read – stuffed full of useful statistics and facts and giving much-needed key information on development-related trends. But, it’s certainly not the kind of book you’d use to read your kids a bedtime story from.

So, how are the kids supposed to get balanced information on key issues like global warming? Well through the Human Development Report’s Youth Summary of course! This great little publication makes the key issues accessible to young people, and we’re pleased to say that, for the last couple of years, we’ve had the fun job of giving it a final expert review and read through, to check that it’s readable and communicates its messages as well as possible.

The latest issue is on climate change. So, if you haven’t already given a copy to your kids, we’ve got to ask “why not”? Download it HERE (5 MB).

A new look for the DEW Point Water Consortium
We’re not just about the big jobs here at Scriptoria; little touches to your public face can make a huge difference too. So, when DEW Point asked us to produce a desk-top calendar and a pop-up banner for them, we took the opportunity to push their brand forwards and really make them stand out. The result was a cracking new look, which Dew Point can now run with and add to their future materials - they’ve already used it to modernize their website. Great!