Panos Institute for West Africa (PIWA)
From TrustAfrica wiki - African Regional Organizations
PIWA
6, rue Calmette
P.O. Box 21 132
Dakar Ponty, Senegal
Tel: +221-849-16-66
Fax: +221-822-17-61
Email: panos@panos-ao.org
Website: http://www.panos-ao.org
Ms. Diana Senghor, Director General, dsenghor@panos-ao.org or secretaire@panos-ao.org, Tel: +221-849-16-52 Cell: +221-558-46-17
Description
Created in 2000, Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is an international, autonomous and non-religious nongovernmental organization based in Dakar, Senegal. It is a member of the global network of Panos Institutes. PIWA seeks to promote a culture of democracy, citizenship and peace in Africa, by fostering the democratization of communication and information pluralism. It contributes to the emergence of values and critical views likely to influence institutional and social policies and practices that are more favorable to a sustainable, equitable and integrated development.
The Institute works on seven themes: Information Pluralism; Diversity; Civil Society and Good Governance; New Information and Communications Technologies; Radio; Print Media; and Globalization.
Track Record
In the nearly seven years of its existence, PIWA has established itself as a leading media rights actor in West Africa and beyond.
Media and ICT policy and law: PIWA has been pivotal in mobilization and advocacy for the recognition of the community radio sector. In Ivory Coast, it supported the participation of community radio broadcasters—through the URPCI (Union des Radios Libres de Côte d’Ivoire)—in advocating for a new media law (2004). PIWA also supported its Nigerian partners in a three-year campaign (2003-2006) for community radio. As a result, the Ministry of Communication set up an independent commission that submitted recommendations to the Government in December 2006 on a specific status for the community radio stations.
In Guinea, PIWA contributed to CSO sensitization and mobilization for advocacy on community radio. As a result of efforts by PIWA and other media support organizations, and also of international pressure, the radio landscape was liberalized in 2005. In Sierra Leone, PIWA facilitated a participatory process to draft a National Communication. The draft has been adopted by the Ministry of Communication, and is awaiting passage and adoption by the Parliament.
PIWA initiated the first pan-African multi-stakeholder gathering in Benin in 2006, in partnership with regional regulatory institutions, to discuss the regulation of the convergence of broadcasting and telecommunications. A pioneering report has subsequently been published. Throughout 2004 and 2005, PIWA (through its CIPACO project) supported African media and CSO participation in the UN-organized World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). In addition PIWA has played a leading role in organizing policy debates, delivering training and publishing reports on ICT governance (including Internet governance).
Production and dissemination of African generated content: PIWA facilitates a regional network of radio and print journalists (in French, English and Fulani) on socially relevant content (Peace, Governance, Globalization). More than 30 journalists from all the ECOWAS countries generate content monthly, which is disseminated locally by the media the journalists belong to, and regionally by PIWA through its Bank of Programs (BDP), and through the features e-bulletin “Panos-Infos”.
PIWA produces a regional Newspaper “Flame of Africa”, during some key international and continental events (the World Social Forums in Mumbaï, Porto Alegre, Nairobi; the Africa Social Forums in Lusaka and Conakry; the World Summit on the Information Society, Tunis; the WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong). The newspaper is produced by a team of Africans in print and on line. Since January 2007, PIWA has extended “Flame of Africa” to radio. Programs are produced on location and disseminated online and via short wave and FM through partnerships with various radio stations.
PIWA has developed a web portal on ICT issues, featuring bimonthly articles on media and ICT issues and innovative uses of ICTs by communities. An annual media contest, the ‘PIWA–Information Societies Prize, was launched in 2006.
Media and CSO as communication capacity building: Regional thematic training are regularly organized for journalists on key issues (globalization, governance, conflicts, ICT). PIWA’s TAUR (Technical Assistance Unit for Radio), based in Bamako, has equipped community radio stations and provides them with technical assistance then for training and maintenance. PIWA has provided training to CSO to communicate through the media (Senegal: creation of a newsletter for the CSO asking the government for accountability after the drought of the Joola; Benin: creation of CSO directory on national PRSP; Ghana: production of a series of “Oral Testimony” on radio; Senegal: series of radio debates of local CSO about the right to access to administrative information).
Institutional achievements: Created in 2000 as a completely independent organization, PIWA developed without the technical or institutional support received by other similar and more experienced organizations. PIWA built its “niche” in a general and media context fraught with numerous challenges. By the time it had implemented its Five-Year Strategic Plan (2000 - 2005), its role in the West African communication media landscape had begun to be recognized. PIWA is a key player in innovative approaches such as the convergence of technologies, and has implemented pilot projects in media education, provided technical support to radio, designed participatory production formats, and so on. PIWA also plays a federative role between West African countries, as well as among different categories of actors in the traditional dialogue between media professionals and information policy makers.
Challenges
Funding trends: Donor policies have an impact on PIWA. On the one hand, it has limited access funding from donor headquarters, where the priority is given to international or northern NGOs. On the other hand, as a regional organization, PIWA finds it difficult to access funds at country level where more and more donor resources are being channeled. This threatens to jeopardize not only PIWA’s viability, but also its regional strategy. Ironically, being part of the global Panos network reduces PIWA’s access to international funding, and could increase North/South competition within the Panos family. This also could jeopardize PIWA’s sovereignty as well as its sustainability.
The Institute’s budget for 2007 is FCFA 1,234,187,901, an estimated US$2.5 million. Over the past five years, PIWA has received funding from at least 25 different donors. Those providing core funding include DGIS, DANIDA, SIDA, NOVIB, DFID (program partnership agreement), NORDIC, and FreeVoice. Project donors include the European Union, BUCCO, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), CAF, CRDI, USAID, AIF, DFID CATIA, ACDI, CORDAID, CCFD, Oxfam, Aide & Action, Open Society Institute, Inter Press Service and Agence Catalane.
Regional partnerships: PIWA has developed several partnerships with continental and sub-regional organizations such as the Highway Africa News Agency, ENDA Tiers Monde, Association for Progressive Communications and Economic Community of West African States, among others. A challenge for PIWA is to increase its partnerships with other autonomous African Panos institutes, as well as with similar organizations in other regions. However, a lack of confidence and long-term vision makes this process very slow.
Capacities: Local expertise is limited in the narrow media support sector in which PIWA operates. This is particularly the case where it plans to work simultaneously in Francophone and Anglophone countries. Capacities need to be built internally and to be maintained. However, institutional competition around scarce human resources leaves NGOs unable to compete with intergovernmental organizations such as the UN.
Opportunities
Private foundations could help PIWA strengthen its institutional capacity by making possible experience sharing between less and more advanced African organizations, the sharing of common services (such as training and fundraising), and strategic dialogue towards win-win partnerships between regional organizations. PIWA could benefit from additional core funding. This would help sustain costs that are not covered in their entirety by project funding, increase PIWA’s independence from Northern partners, and allow for the development and implementation of a coherent long term strategy.
