Communication Strategy

Pretoria

2013
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Supported by the Government of Finland

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Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 3

1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE AFRICA INSTITUTE ...................................................................................... 5
1.2 Vision Of Africa Institute................................................................................................................... 5
1.3 Mission Of Africa Institute ................................................................................................................ 5
1.4 Key Strategic Challenges of the Institute ........................................................................................... 5
1, 4,1 . Legal & administrative framework ........................................................................................ 6
1.4.2 Information dissemination, Education and Training ............................................................... 6
1.4.3 Technical Infrastructure .......................................................................................................... 7
1.4.4 Research and Technology Transfer Capacity ........................................................................... 7
1.4.6 Regional Participation............................................................................................................. 8
2.0 STRATEGY ELEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Capacity Building ............................................................................................................................ 8
2.2 Purpose of Information Dissemination........................................................................................... 9
3.0 STAKEHOLDERS INTERACTION/ (TARGET GROUPS)...................................................................... 10
3.1 Staff of the Africa Institute .............................................................................................................. 10
3.2 Member Country Governments within AI Region .............................................................................. 11
3.3 Countries that have not yet ratified the AI agreement ....................................................................... 11
3.4 Non-Governmental organizations within and outside member countries ............................................. 11
3.5 International Organizations ............................................................................................................ 11
3.6 Private sector ............................................................................................................................... 12
3.7 Academic Institutions..................................................................................................................... 12
4.0 STRATEGIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES............................................................................................ 12
4.1 Strategic Goal 1 ............................................................................................................................ 13
4.2 Strategic Goal 2: ........................................................................................................................... 13
4.3 Strategic Goal 3: ........................................................................................................................... 13
4.4 Strategic Goal 4: ........................................................................................................................... 14
5.0 STRATEGIC APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATION TOOLS................................................................ 14
5.1 The Internet or Information Technology ........................................................................................... 14
5.1.1 The Website............................................................................................................................. 14
5.1.2 Electronic mails and newsletter .................................................................................................. 15
5.1.3 Tele-Conferences ..................................................................................................................... 16
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5.2 Publications and Other Print Materials............................................................................................. 16
5.3 Public Service Broadcasts and Videos ............................................................................................ 16
5.4 Media Relations ............................................................................................................................ 17
5.5 Spokespersons ............................................................................................................................. 17
5.6 Events and Interpersonal Contacts ................................................................................................. 17
5.7 Promotional Articles ...................................................................................................................... 17
6.0 MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION ........................................................................................................ 18
7.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION ..................................................................................................... 18
7.1 Indicators of effectiveness .............................................................................................................. 19
7.2 Monitoring Plan: Methods of collecting the information ...................................................................... 19
8.0 STRATEGIC OUTCOMES LOGFRAME .............................................................................................. 19

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Africa Institute addresses its mandate by collaborating with the countries in the region as its primary
beneficiaries and serving as a platform that the countries use to address the issues that relate to the
implementation of these conventions collaboratively. Its central stakeholders are the Joint Secretariat of the
Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the UN organizations such as UNEP, UNIDO, UNITAR,
UNECE, WHO, SAICM and the FAO. The Institute is also in regular contact with other regional centers
especially those in Africa. The other key partners are the donor community

The Vision of the Africa Institute has been formulated, for the foreseeable future, as:

To protect the human health and the environment from the hazardous wastes and chemicals in the
member states

The mission of the Institute is:

To build the capacity within the English speaking African region to implement effectively the multilateral
environmental agreements that address the sound management of hazardous wastes and chemicals
thereby preserving the environment for future generations employing education and transparency of
operations to build an agency that will serve as a model throughout the African region.

The Africa Institute is faced with a huge task of unifying African action towards sustainable development,
and bringing the African governments to a technically able position to effectively tackle all issues related to
the management of wastes, especially hazardous wastes and chemicals. Notable areas are found in Legal
& administrative framework, Information dissemination, and the most directed challenges that are brought
about by the wide divides among African populations namely Literacy and language divide, Urban -
Rural divide, Digital Divide, Gender and Age divide.

There are further challenges relating to Technical Infrastructure, in the areas of Recycling, Treatment,
Disposal, Research and Technology, technology Transfer Capacity and Education and training.

In order to follow up on the capacity building activities of the Institute, an Outreach programme has been
mounted with the overall objective of knowledge transfer.

This strategy has been developed as a rolling process, rather than a defined term plan. It is a guiding
document towards effective implementation of information dissemination mandate of the Institute, year
after year. Annual targets are however defined in the logical framework matrix. In all its activities, the
Institute has to interact with various stakeholders, source information, generate it and spread it to various
stakeholders, for the benefit of its members. The document thus provides a blueprint for systematic
strategic way of providing appropriate information where it is needed.

The strategy is guided by the three objectives of information dissemination: Dissemination for Awareness,
Dissemination for Understanding and Dissemination for Action. It thus identifies the five strategic levels of
actions to be addressed towards effective communication. These are:

a) Audience: Strategic groups of people who need to be reached must be firstly defined.
b) Behaviour: Addresses what changes in behaviour or action is required.

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c) Messages: Appropriate messages, to corresponding target audiences must be considered at all
times.
d) Channels: Determines Which tools of communications will be most effective in relaying the messages
and reaching the identified audiences
e) Evaluation: Some form of a feedback mechanism to assess the success or failure of the strategy
should be integral to the strategy.

The whole range of stakeholders is identified and the tools that will be engaged are also selected in order
to facilitate that:

 Key messages of AI are communicated and reinforced to a large audience of stakeholders and
impacted parties
 Communities in all African countries are informed about the concept, scope, successes and benefits
of AI (regional approach)
 Support for the Programme is solicited and acquired through highlighting its benefits to the member
governments, educators & researchers, partners, and administrators.(enforcement).
 Programme process, structure, planned and running projects deliverables and timeframes are
explained to all impacted parties
 Partner institutions and companies are informed of the current and future requirements for
participation (i.e. infrastructure, processes and inputs required)
 An environment with a positive disposition to the Programme is created through communication,
transformation, change management and capacity-building activities
 A platform for knowledge management, dissemination and sharing is established

The strategic outcomes here in are:

 Mobilization of Resources and Assistance for Programmatic implementation

 Continuous Provision of Essential Information and Skills to maximize member countries’
competency and competitiveness in hazardous waste management
 Accelerating Sharing of Achievements and sustainable solutions in global management of
hazardous and other wastes in the region and
 Raising Awareness to the General Public to heighten grass roots participation in hazardous
waste and chemicals management and support behavioural change.

A full array of Information, Communication and Educational tools ranging from internet based, through
other electronic media, print media to promotional materials will be continually used and the strategy shall
be evaluated on annual basis, against the inputs and their quality, the coverage and their impacts. The
indicators shall be those appearing in section 7.1 as well as those in the logical framework table.

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1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE AFRICA INSTITUTE

The Africa Institute for Environmentally Sound Management of Hazardous and other Wastes is the Basel
and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centre for all English speaking African countries. It is based in
Pretoria, South Africa hosted by the Government of South Africa through a hosting agreement.

The Basel convention was established to protect human health and the environment from the adverse
effects resulting from generation, management, trans-boundary movement and disposal of hazardous and
other wastes. The Stockholm Convention was established to protect human health and the environment
from persistent organic pollutants (POPs). In order to assist developing countries and countries with
economies in transition, both conventions made a provision for the establishment of Regional Centres.
These regional centres are intended to build the capacity of the developing countries and countries with
economies in transition to effectively implement these conventions. They do so by facilitating technology
transfer, promoting research and information exchange, and awareness raising on the topics covered by
these conventions.

The Institute addresses its mandate by collaborating with the countries in the region as its primary
beneficiaries and serving as a platform that the countries use to address the issues that relate to the
implementation of these conventions collaboratively. It is also in regular contact with the Joint Secretariat of
the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions in Geneva which coordinates the implementation of
these conventions at the global level. Other key stakeholders that the Institute cooperates with are the UN
organizations such as UNEP, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNECE, WHO, SAICM and the FAO. The Institute is also
in regular contact with other regional centers especially those in Africa. The other key partners are the
donors. The current donors are Denmark, Finland, Sweden and SAICM

1.2 Vision Of Africa Institute

The Vision of the Africa Institute has been formulated, for the foreseeable future, as:
To protect the human health and the environment from the hazardous wastes and chemicals in the
member states

1.3 Mission Of Africa Institute

The mission of the Institute is:

“To build the capacity within the English speaking African region to implement effectively the multilateral
environmental agreements that address the sound management of hazardous wastes and chemicals
thereby preserving the environment for future generations employing education and transparency of
operations to build an agency that will serve as a model throughout the African region.”

1.4 Key Strategic Challenges of the Institute

The Africa Institute is faced with a huge task of unifying African action towards sustainable development,
and bringing the African governments to a technically able position to effectively tackle all issues related to
the management of wastes, especially hazardous wastes and chemicals. The challenges are classified in
terms of legislative framework, Information, technical and technology transfer and Regional participation.

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1, 4,1 . Legal & administrative framework

The core of hazardous waste and chemicals management lies in enabling governments to instigate
responsive legal and administrative frameworks .Frameworks that allow control and enforcement, citizen
participation and volunteerism.

1.4.2 Information dissemination, Education and Training

Secondly, it is faced with creating an enabling platform for knowledge management through information
sharing, for while the challenges may be the same, country situations vary substantially based on
geography, cultures and all socio economic stances. Yet there also are a lot of commonalities that
advocates for regional approaches.

The most directed challenges are brought about by the wide divides among African populations:

A Literacy and language divide

One of the prominent and real challenges in information dissemination is the wide variance in literacy and
languages among African countries. Because a substantial percentage of inhabitants know little English,
there is a need to translate to local languages, which in some countries are numerous. Even then, there is
a substantial ratio of population that cannot read or write.

B Urban Rural divide

Up to 80 Percent of African populations live in rural areas. Rural areas are generally characterized by poor
living conditions- absolute poverty and absence of almost all amenities of life. But the rural dwellers are as
information-hungry as any group of human beings anywhere else and they need to be more aware of the
impacts of HW more than most as they resort to all kinds of activities to avoid poverty. . This condition
presents a huge challenge, which must be overcome; if the vast contribution of the rural dwellers must be
harnessed, with a view to enabling them their significant quota to waste management efforts. They need to
be reached effectively and constantly.

C Digital Divide

It has been found that most of the population of Africa are still “digital immigrants”, using computers only in
as far as word processing is concerned, at most to spread sheets. The internet is still not accessible to the
vast majority, even where connectivity is good. This sis a result of access to computers as a result of
poverty (many people do not own one, cannot pay café fees even when they have some skills.) The
impact of internet is thus considered limited but in a longer term it is envisaged to increase. Use of cellular
phones has grown so much, but this again requires strategic use.

D Gender

Even in the 21st century Africa, the roles and habitation of women in society remains prominently
differentiated from that of men. While men still go out of homes and villages to work, many women remain
and are affected more by environmental issues that are in the household. The case in point was seen with
food and chemicals labelling, storage and disposal, which have affected women and children more than
men as they were not at home most of the time.

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E Age divide

The generational gaps and norms are widening all over the world. The younger generations are more
digitally oriented than the older ones. Additionally, the roles and decisions taken by different generation
levels seem to have different degree of impacts to national development. Young people still have little say,
yet they continue to increase in proportions. Messages empowering young generations have to be
coordinated to address interrelated environmental and development issues.

F Staff Turnover

One substantive strategic challenge facing African governments that hampers continuity in programs and
competence is the inability to retain qualified and experienced personnel within the public sector. The
turnover is so high, despite the efforts and investments made into national education. A continuous on the
work training has to be provided for all incoming and old staff members, on annual basis in areas of
greatest needs.

1.4.3 Technical Infrastructure

Recycling

One of the emerging strategic challenges facing the region is the need for Recycling facilities. Many
countries have no capacity to establish holistic infrastructure or to attract investment on their own. They
have resorted to protectionism policies in an attempt to protect themselves against inflow of wastes,
which may bring more problems as the environmentally sound management is not yet well developed.
Many countries then opt to ban such influx. The situation however remains complex because most articles
are imported not as waste but as items for use, (as second hand articles) and as donations.

This restriction in itself further complicates the situation in the sense that it translates to individual countries
having to provide the full management cycle all by themselves. In all situations, quantities are not sufficient
for recycling purposes. This becomes a real problem where treatment processes requires threshold
quantities to make economic sense.

Treatment

On the same hand, adoption of technologies for treatment of wastes is not easily adopted in African
countries. This is mainly due to economic reasons, where countries are still struggling with basic human
needs and developmental issues and environmental issues are seen as peripheral.

Disposal

Countries in Africa are still grappling with basic Municipal waste collection and disposal. Many have no
landfills, or landfills are poorly managed, let alone poorly designed. Collection seems to be key to disposal
as segregation is possible before disposal. Hazardous waste disposal is even a greater problem;
transportation to other regional facilities has proved to take a toll on the resources.

1.4.4 Research and Technology Transfer Capacity

The African countries are still struggling with basic human needs, poverty, food security and diseases. This
limits investments in technical environmental options. Under these circumstances, technology transfer
and absorption capacity are very low. Research and real time information is lacking, and so is the
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capital to make and maintain them. Through IEC tools, a steady seepage of knowledge shall be effected,
with continuous supply of relevant information in world solutions, whys and How’s, will enable officers,
teachers and the communities to participate meaningfully in the environmentally sound management of
hazardous and other wastes.

1.4.6 Regional Participation

The Institute region covers twenty three countries. To date there are only eight countries that have
completed the instrument of ratification of the Institute. There is a visible lack of coordinated African
positions and voices in international even regional affairs. The Africa Institute is poised to position itself to
face the challenge of promoting coordinated and committed participation of African countries in regional
and global initiatives in order that an African voice and perceptions can be heard and taken into
consideration in formulating MEA. To this end, strong awareness on the part of the decision makers
regarding AI activities, benefits of regional approach and ability to link national planning processes with
environmental issues necessitates a complete ratification of the Institute Instrument by all member
countries.

A combination of audio-visual information dissemination apparatuses namely the radio, television and
posters should be explored complementarily in conjunction with the environmental extension and health
officers towards meeting the diverse needs of the rural dwellers. The messages linking environmental
management, trade and industry as well as socio economic indicators shall be developed to convince,
policy makers, the public and capital holders that all can be handled together.

2.0 STRATEGY ELEMENTS

There are two major elements of this strategy; to capacitate the whole system of governance and
to empower communities to participate meaningfully in their own affairs.
2.1 Capacity Building
The objective of the Institute is capacity building. By definition, capacity building encompasses the
country’s human, scientific, technological, organizational, and institutional and resource capabilities. A
fundamental goal of capacity building is to enhance the ability to evaluate and address the crucial
questions related to policy choices and modes of implementation among development options, based on
an understanding of environment potentials and limits and of needs perceived by the people of the country
concerned.
While Capacity Building is much more than training it also includes:

 Human resource development, as the process of equipping individuals with the understanding,
skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enables them to perform effectively.
 Organizational development; the elaboration of management structures, processes and
procedures, not only within organizations but also the management of relationships between the
different organizations and sectors (public, private and community).
 Institutional and legal framework development; making legal and regulatory changes to enable
organizations, institutions and agencies at all levels and in all sectors to enhance their capacities.

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Information dissemination and communication remain the major tools and in the processes of knowledge
transfer from one base place to another. Effective communication is thus an essential element of capacity
building. The Institute thus acknowledges that this is the first strategic element in its substantive mission.

This document therefore prints the scope of effective implementation of information dissemination mandate
of the Institute. As one of the main objectives of the Institute towards capacity building, communication
shall be a linking string among all sets of activities year after year. In all its activities, the Institute has to
interact with various stakeholders, source information, generate it and spread it to various stakeholders, for
the benefit of its members. The document thus provides a blueprint for systematic strategic way of
providing appropriate information where it is needed.

The Strategy articulates, explains and promotes the vision and a set of well-defined goals as also
articulated in the strategic plan 2012/2017. It creates a consistent, unified traditional and modern solutions
and “options “that link diverse tools and goals of capacity building in a way that engages all stakeholders.

2.2 Purpose of Information Dissemination

Disseminating information always has a reason, be it to influence or just notify one party in the information
flow; in the final analysis there is a change of perception and behavior expected. This strategy thus
considers the following three tiers of communication based on the outcomes expected;

1. Dissemination for Awareness

It is desirable that all stakeholders are aware of the situation or activities of the Institute or any project it is
running. Even most importantly is to let people be aware of the dangers around them, to be aware of
management options and healthy lifestyles choices surrounding hazardous waste and chemicals. This
level of communication is useful for all members of the society, but in more technical issues awareness is
for those target audiences that do not require a detailed technical knowledge of a project, but should
appreciate the activities and outcomes. Creating such awareness about the country’s initiatives helps grass
roots levels to speak out and help working departments as they build an identity and profile within the
communities.

2. Dissemination for Understanding

There are a number of groups or audiences that need to be targeted directly with specific information. This
is normally because it is believed that countries can benefit more on the ground when such groups have
deeper understanding of what a project or Programme has to offer or what the impacts of certain
occurrences are. Such groups include governments’ officials and decision makers. It is important,
therefore, that these audiences have a deeper understanding of civic impacts and technical requirements
of some projects or programs.

3. Dissemination for Action

Information is also disseminated towards certain expected action to follow. .“Action” in this context refers to
a change of practice resulting from the adoption of products, materials or approaches offered, by any
project, program or campaign. Dissemination for action targets those people that are in a position to
“influence” and “bring about change” within their organizations and communities. These are the audiences

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that need to be equipped with the right skills, knowledge and understanding of the work in order to achieve
real change.

Within these three broad outcomes, there are five decision levels that the Institute shall act on to concretize
this strategy and maintain the effectiveness of the information dissemination to attain the desired outputs.
These are decisions about:

f) Audience: Strategic groups of people who need to be reached must be firstly defined.
g) Behaviour: Addresses what changes in behaviour or action is required.
h) Messages: Appropriate messages, to corresponding target audiences must be considered at all
times.
i) Channels: Determines Which tools of communications will be most effective in relaying the messages
and reaching the identified audiences
j) Evaluation: Some form of a feedback mechanism to assess the success or failure of the strategy
should be integral to the strategy.

These five decision levels form the core of the communication strategy and thus its implementation, and in
this document, the audience has been represented by various stakeholders; not only as receivers of
information but also as producers and conveyors of information as well. Indeed communication is
supposed to be a two way process, hence all players are both sources and audience of the messages;
feed in and feed back in the least. The messages vary with target audience, the possible channels and the
expected response thereof. The channels are tools, by which ends are met. They are on the ground
Implementation instruments. Any targeted program has to be evaluated as to its effectiveness. Specific
indicators have to selected and are monitored, that can help in establishing the effectiveness or lack of, of
the messages and their tools. This constitutes the monitoring and evaluation part of the strategy.

3.0 STAKEHOLDERS INTERACTION/ (TARGET GROUPS)

Activities of the Institute are integrated and involve wide ranging groups of role players. Awareness,
knowledge and action agendas in member countries are promoted through several means of projects,
cooperatively and in unison, with the assistance of other interested external parties in hazardous waste
and chemicals management. These parties are found in different fields of services with various types of
involvement, all integrated towards attainment of safe environment for citizens of the globe and Africa in
this case. These groups range from collective individual citizens, community based organizations; local
governments to central governments and their agencies; from Intergovernmental organizations to non-
governmental organizations and international ones. This section thus identifies and defines the links and
roles of each stakeholder group to and in the work of Africa Institute, and hence the need and form of
information flow.

3.1 Staff of the Africa Institute

The Africa institute has staff within the operation office based in South Africa. This is a logical point of
departure for it is the center of activities. The staff acts on behalf of member countries to mobilize
resources, represent the region and coordinate most regional projects and programs. For smooth running
and management of programs, assignments and operations, staff has to be efficient, coordinated and at
the same wavelength. They have to be connected among themselves and with all other role players. They

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thus have to have a well-structured internal and external information flow system. The staff members act
as managers of the program, coordinators of some information and as producers and disseminators of
other information.

3.2 Member Country Governments within AI Region

There are 23 countries that fall within the scope of the Institute and thus are target for capacity building.
The countries need to have sufficient awareness level, adequate knowledge and skills base regarding the
sources, impacts and management options of hazardous and other wastes. Regularly they also have to be
brought together and meet to discuss issues of common interest. They need to be encouraged and
assisted to some extent to prioritize and act on these sectors. The countries should also share experiences
of their endevours among themselves. The member countries should among other actions, undertake the
following activities:

 Receive and provide Projects information,(running and proposed)

 Ensure national ownership and leadership of programs
 Ensure multi-stakeholder consultations and decision-making
 Adopt a holistic approach to capacity building
 Integrate capacity building in wider sustainable development efforts
 Promote partnerships
 Accommodate the dynamic nature of capacity building and
 Adopt a learning-by-doing approach

3.3 Countries that have not yet ratified the AI agreement

Even countries that fall within the operational region of the Institute that have not yet ratified the Institute,
must be constantly kept in the picture regarding the operational mode of the Institute, the successes and
good practices adopted by those involved. They should also receive information about the advantages of
going the regional way, the synergies and differences of country situations (social, economic and political)
and approaches. This would be to keep encouraging them to join forces with others for stronger action.

3.4 Non-Governmental organizations within and outside member countries

As the greatest partners of governments all over the world, NGOs occupy a very strategic position in
development. Where governments need to roll out programs, NGOs are very instrumental in
implementation of programs as they also afford to raise their own resources and are normally focused on
solutions. Among the group there are International, Regional and Local types of NGOs. Thus a partnership
with them has proven beneficial. They therefore also have to be kept closer to the programs and projects of
AI, as partners at all levels. NGOs also have their own experiences and rich knowledge that can be tapped
to assist in steering programs in the desired direction.

3.5 International Organizations

A close exchange of information among International organizations is essential to synchronize activities for
successful global and local interventions. This information may be in the form of regional needs,
challenges, voices and priorities. On the basis of their knowledge, international and regional actions are
set and support is rendered by them where needed. Standards, Guidelines and Protocols are also

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developed at this level and should be made accessible to countries as means of implementation support.
International organizations comprise UN Agencies, Conventions Secretariat, Donor Countries’ Agencies
and working partners. They are able to provide organizational, technical and financial assistance to the
needy partners.

3.6 Private sector

The Private Public Partnerships have come a long way in addressing developmental issues globally. The
institute recognizes the role that private sector has and is playing to assist the society to attain the
acceptable levels of livelihood. The biggest business and profit makers are private entities; the biggest
industries that produce all sorts of materials, good and bad are private entities and the suppliers of capital
in the countries revenue are businesses. The Institute shall therefore endevour to work closely with the
appropriate private sector and foster as many partnerships as possible in building and sustaining the
management of hazardous wastes and chemicals in the African region.

3.7 Academic Institutions

While private(business) sector is driven by market forces to generate a wealth of information and make
profits, academic institutions are focused on undertaking research and training purely for solutions, current
and future needs of mankind. These are knowledge and information institutions, thus close association
and information flow with Schools, Universities and Research Centers shall be maintained in all manners
as it remains fundamental to knowledge management and thus in the work of the institute in providing
solutions through empirical data.

4.0 STRATEGIC GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The following Goals are strategically elucidated based on the expected roles of the Africa institute
stakeholders to especially enhance the work of the institute in fulfilling its stated mission. The Vision of
Africa Institute is essentially a shared Vision among all these stakeholders and as such the following key
communication outputs form the fabric of this communication strategy:

 Key messages of AI are communicated and reinforced to a large audience of stakeholders and
impacted parties
 Communities in all African countries are informed about the concept, scope, successes and benefits
of AI (regional approach)
 Support for the Programme is solicited and acquired through highlighting its benefits to the member
governments, educators & researchers, partners, and administrators.(enforcement).
 Programme process, structure, planned and running projects deliverables and timeframes are
explained to all impacted parties
 Partner institutions and companies are informed of the current and future requirements for
participation (i.e. infrastructure, processes and inputs required)
 An environment with a positive disposition to the Programme is created through communication,
transformation, change management and capacity-building activities
 A platform for knowledge management, dissemination and sharing is established

To realize these outputs, four encompassing overall goals have been formulated and targeted in this
strategy. The objectives are defined for each goal to be achieved in a manner that all activities are
informed and directed towards them. An emphasis shall be put on activities that develop and synthesise
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materials, processes and systems that will culminate in effective information acquisition and feedback
provision by each stakeholder group. The question that was asked at this point was “What should the
Institute do make the maximum impact in its mission?” These are the goals that the Institute shall endevour
to attain, and when reached, the mission would be accomplished and the vision thus realized;

4.1 Strategic Goal 1: Mobilizing Resources and Assistance for Programmatic

implementation

Objective 1: Providing strategic outlook, challenges and needs of the Institute and its member countries

The Africa Institute shall continually communicate with all stakeholders towards sustaining its programs
and supporting its human resources needs. Proposed sustainable solutions projects and programs shall
be tabled annually in order to solicit needed funds.

Objective 2: Outlining details of on-going activities and successes of the Institute

Past and present initiatives shall be documented and shared with all stakeholders, highlighting envisioned
impacts and successes. Sustainability of the successes would draw some more support.

4.2 Strategic Goal 2: Continuously Providing Essential Information and Skills to maximize
member countries’ competency and competitiveness in hazardous waste management

Objective 1: Develop, adapt and adopt communication materials, strategies, and Interventions in
environmentally sound management of Hazardous waste.

Educational, Information and Communications materials shall be developed, sourced from other partners
and others adapted to African situation. These shall be distributed to member countries and deposited in
the information sharing platform developed as per objective 2 below.

Objective 2: Establish FORA for continuous information exchange and flow.

Web based and physical face-to-face platforms shall be engaged where materials will be deposited and
interactive exchange enabled. Over that a link with existing global and regional networks will be forged
and participation be extended to member states.

4.3 Strategic Goal 3: Accelerating Sharing of Achievements and sustainable solutions in

global management of hazardous and other wastes in the region.

Objective 1: Ensure the timely dissemination and translation of evidence-based research to member
countries for adoption and adaptation.

Pilot projects results from across the globe within the subject areas and categories of hazardous wastes
and chemicals will be searched and made available to member country governments and officials. Study
tours and demonstration outcomes shall be shared and distributed.

Objective 2: Support and promote the adoption of evidence-based practices.

Guidelines and situational information shall be developed from the pilot projects and provided to
governments for them to adopt in similar situations. Strategic partnerships and collaborations to diffuse
evidence-based practices to augment national capacities shall be negotiated.

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Objective 3: To create core knowledge technocrats to support localized adoption of technology and
best practices

Training programs shall be developed regionally and existing ones identified where national governments
personnel will be enrolled for competency and skills development.

4.4 Strategic Goal 4: Raising Awareness to the General Public to heighten grass roots
participation in hazardous waste and chemicals management.

Objective 1: Provide information about Global, Regional and Local exposures and impacts of
hazardous waste and chemicals.

Messages of effects of HW based on monitoring, surveillance as well as other research results on the
effects of existing and emerging hazardous wastes and chemicals will be developed and widely
disseminated to grass roots communities as appropriate.

Objective 2: Provide Information about on-going Global, Regional and Local Initiatives and means of
participation

Activities in other parts of the world, success stories, reports of demonstration projects and new
technologies in use around the globe will be collated and disseminated. The public shall be given
appropriate solutions to follow (the how’s and why’s of waste management).

5.0 STRATEGIC APPLICATION OF COMMUNICATION TOOLS

This communication program will combine the following tools to transmit the intended message to the
target audience. The tools outlined herein indicate the whole spectrum of communication activities. Their
use in appropriate combinations shall be dependent on the situation analysis and the communications
budget at every point in time during the programs running. Development and engagement of these tools
constitute the activities towards achieving the objectives above.

In their use, consistency in the aesthetic appearance, linguistic style and tone, and message (including
facts, figures, slogans, quotes) used in all the communications products for any particular campaign shall
be maintained. This is important since without this consistency, the message may not be as effective, even
if the target audience is exposed to several of the communication products. Worse still, a lack of
consistency may confuse or distract the Intended audience.

5.1 The Internet or Information Technology

5.1.1 The Website

The institute shall develop and maintain an attractive, functional and up to date website for the following
purposes:

A. Increasing clientele base: Everyday more people turn to the internet for their information
solutions regarding choices in organization or business. Whether it is for research into potential jobs,
service providers, job execution or even scholarly activities, the internet is among the top sources.

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B. Educating stakeholders about core business: Many consumers research services and products
and information online. A website will familiarize consumers with our area of business and make them feel
comfortable associating with the institute.

C. Increasing customer confidence: Stakeholders can sometimes become sceptical of an

organization, its position in society and how it carries on its business. Just the design of a website can tell a
lot about an organization. An organized, appealing website can be a major attraction to consumers.
Adding on a professional looking touch lets stakeholders know that the organization is professional and
dedicated to its mission.

D. Cost effective promotion and marketing: A website is a low-cost, effective way to market
an organization. A website does not have a page or time constraint, so there is no rush to get the required
information across. Search engines allow organizations to target a desired audience group more
effectively than any other advertising strategy. Researchers that utilize search engines know what they are
in need of and show a stronger desire in that product or service or information. Having high ranking search
engine results in high web traffic which in turn means essential information would be disseminated.

E. 24 hour global presence: Consumers need information 24 hours a day. The internet is
always active, and consumers around the world can look up information and interact with the organization
at their convenience. A website will allow the organization to always be there for those stakeholders who
have access and use it as a modern tool, especially at higher levels of official and research nature.

F. Keeping Stakeholders updated: Stakeholders feel more comfortable being associated with
companies or organization of which they are familiar. It is therefore important for the organization to keep
its associates updated with their latest news, services and products. This will help increase the mission
drive.

G. Improving communication with users: A website can enhance communication between all
stakeholders. A lot of time users are interested in something on a website, but feel awkward or are too
lazy to call for more information. The Websites will be equipped with email forms to allow consumers to ask
their question in a moment’s notice. Other features such as message boards, blogs, contact information
and other web forms will add to the site.

H. Providing convenient support for implementing stakeholders: A website is a way to help

support officers’ and public needs where phone support is unavailable. Frequently asked questions page
shall be engaged and updated to answer many stakeholders’ questions and concerns about projects and
HW & C management.

5.1.2 Electronic mails and newsletter

All stakeholders with given addresses will receive email communications on regular basis, mainly as a
basis for alerting stakeholders of new information available and the means of accessing such information.

Internal emails, among member countries and the office will function as central means of communication
for sharing basic information, such as updates on projects and preparations and logistics to implementing
partners. Focal persons in member countries will be able to access such information from a computer, a
cellular phone or personal digital assistants (PDA) nearly anywhere, and so shall the organization’s current
and potential partners.

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Newsletters shall be published both online at least four times a year to consolidate and highlight the
successes and changing approaches to hazardous waste and chemicals management.

5.1.3 Tele-Conferences
Presentations and meetings that culminate in fast needed and crucial decisions are held without any
geographical limitations, providing real time solutions as required. These tools have thus reduced on
travelling costs substantially and link all stakeholders in all corners of the globe at the same time. Facilities
already installed by the Basel Webinars provided by the Convention secretariat shall be taken advantage
of, through regular participation in regularly scheduled webinars. Member countries shall be encouraged to
register and participate in these webinars. Skype, pop-network/PEN, will also be engaged to link more
parties and disseminate information when an immediate feedback is sought.

5.2 Publications and Other Print Materials

The many advantages offered by printed publications make them one of the most used communications
tools in outreach campaigns. Publications can reach large audiences with more targeted, technical and
detailed information than that which can be communicated through press releases advertisements.
Publications are handy educational tools that remain with the target audience long enough for future
reference and consultation.

Posters, bookmarks, calendars, postcards and other such print materials can contribute to awareness
raising activities without incurring huge costs. The more attractive these materials are, the more people will
want to use them and the more they will be reminded of the campaign's message. Posters, Brochures and
pamphlets will be produced from time to time as targeted initiatives. A Newsletter will be produced at least
four times a year and equally, formal quarterly institutional Reports will be produced and published.

5.3 Public Service Broadcasts and Videos

Audio-visual products, such as televised public service announcements (PSAs), film and video can be
particularly effective in attracting the attention of, and communicating a message to, a target audience.
Their development, however, usually requires the services of experienced professionals. While the
production of effective PSAs and videos may need a substantial investment, the institute shall endevour to
engage low cost alternatives and strive to obtain eventual distribution for free.

PSAs shall be used to increase awareness about the organization and its mission, and to diffuse a
message about a specific issue or event. PSAs with a thematic message rather than the promotion of a
specific organization are often more successful at securing free broadcasting and printing.

Videos shall be used at conferences, workshops or seminars, and they will also be streamed on website to
increase their reach. Videos of very good quality and sufficiently topical or interesting subject matter shall
be developed as they attract the interest of national TV networks in airing them. Networks are particularly
interested in airing a series of videos rather than a single video; hence an attempt at continuous
development shall be made.

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5.4 Media Relations

Media coverage offers the dual advantage of being cost-free and carrying more credibility than paid
advertisements. The Institute will venture to form relationships with media houses for their support. The
nature and extent of the media coverage that the organization and its activities will attract will depend
largely on the relationship with the press; on targeting the message to the appropriate outlet; and on
communicating effectively with the media. In this regard the institute shall endevour to use the following:

News advisories, to provide advance information to the media of an event or press conference that will be
held.
Press conferences will be organized for big and important stories that cannot be properly covered with a
standard press release. It also has the advantage of bringing in some visual appeal for cameras and
photographers.
Press briefings: These being informal meetings with individual or a small group of journalists, they are
useful for discussing complicated issues, providing background data, and improving communications with
journalists.
Broadcast interviews. These will be used in all events of the Institute with identified broadcasters and
existing shows with common interest.

5.5 Spokespersons

Spokespersons, or figure-heads, can be particularly effective in communicating Hazardous Waste issues

by putting a face on what can sometimes be difficult concepts to grasp. The visible and known
characteristics of a spokesperson, and the way in which the target audience perceives these, provide
tangible cues for understanding the issues being communicated.

A choice of spokes persons will be engaged from time to time and they may appear in campaign public
service announcements (PSAs), make personal appearances and speeches at press conferences and
other events (such as awards, symposiums, exhibitions, etc.), give media interviews.

The Institute will endevour to seek a commitment of at least one state leader, at the level of a minister or
higher, among the member countries, as a patron to the institute and the issues of hazardous waste and
chemicals management. Such a patron will be asked to include in all his/her appearances and speeches,
issues of HW and Chemicals management where possible.

5.6 Events and Interpersonal Contacts

All appropriate events effective for outreach and information dissemination will be targeted from time to
time. These include: Global, Regional and local Special days, Awards, Exhibitions, Seminars, Workshops
and Meetings.

5.7 Promotional Articles

Some promotional materials or like advertising specialties are geared toward reminding a customer about a
business Advertising specialties are promotional items such as calendars, pens, paperweights or notepads
that contain the name and phone number of an institution.

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Africa Institute shall develop as many of these materials and send them out to all stakeholders to keep
reminding them and simply concretizing the existence and work of the Institution.

6.0 MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION

This strategy shall be integrated within three major implementation modalities:

1 There shall be a standing budget of the institute to maintain the core tools.(Internet, Newsletter and
Reports)
2 Each project shall have an in-built communication budget based on selected tools as appropriate.
3 It is also envisaged that some more demanding campaigns shall be made into standalone
projects.(Seminars, Shows and Conferences)
4 For both 2 and 3 above, the projects proposals shall be developed annually and deposited with
potential partners.

A robust cost benefit balance will be undertaken in order to minimize the obvious disadvantage of
publications, namely, the cost related to their distribution. Appreciating that the disadvantage of
publications is that they are only as effective as their distribution, an appropriate mailing lists and
distribution at special events and key locations are essential to the communications success of publications
and shall be an adopted approach.

7.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The purpose of planning is to accomplish goals. One way to know whether the goals are being
accomplished is to measure performance .In order to track the progress and utility of the strategy, a
monitoring and evaluation plan thus becomes part of the strategy. The Key Performance Indicators are
first outlined under Major Indicators. How and when they shall be used is defined as the Monitoring plan.
The process of evaluation and feed-back will be undertaken on an annual basis. .Appropriate measures
shall be instigated through the directive of Executive Director in consultation with Executive Committee.
The measures and indicators in this strategy have been selected through a process of asking questions
about how important accomplishments can be measured in an understandable manner with data that can
be collected using reasonable amounts of resources, thus already providing the feedback loop.

The following criteria were used while selecting these initial Institution-level strategic indicators:

A. Does the measure reflect an important Institution-wide performance dimension?

B. Are data on this measure likely to lead to improvement?
C. Does the measure reflect Africa Institute’s stakeholders’ needs?
D. Do key stakeholders view the measure as credible?
E. Can the measure be communicated to and understood by a wide audience?
F. Is the direction clear? That is, would an increase be clearly desirable or undesirable?
G. Is the cost/benefit relationship sensible (in terms of data availability or resources needed to collect
data versus value)?
H. Can units accountable for providing the data be identified?(source of data)
I. Will the measure be sustainable over a period of years?

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7.1 Indicators of effectiveness

The table in this section contains typical expected outcomes; outputs in the form of questions that may be
asked towards assessing success of the information dissemination and to some extend its impact.

Questions that may be asked What to measure! To give answers!

Is there any information sources/deposits? # and type of Libraries

Is the information relevant to AI mission?
Are stakeholders accessing the information?
Are they getting the right information?
Are they providing any information?
Is the institute seeking funding?
How many countries are members?
How many are active and contributing?
Is the institute getting resources from other
external sources?
Are countries implementing programs?
Are communities getting information they need?
Is the information making an impact? Any
feedback?
Is new information being generated?
Is new information being deposited or
transmitted to stakeholders?
How aware are the communities about waste?
Are there any collaborative works or
implementation partnerships among countries?
Are there any forums for information sharing?
Is there any evidence based information?
Titles of publications
# and means of sharing
# Title of publications and forums received
# of Correspondence and reports
# of Funding proposals submitted
Member countries
Amounts of Member contributions
# of resources received per year
# and title of Projects running& completed
# and form of Public Information Dissemination
Same as 2 and 4
# and titles of research and pilot reports
# of Research and project reports shared
# and coverage of Public Outreach campaigns
# and type of collaboration initiative implemented
# and type of forums held
# of Pilot projects reports produced and distributed

7.2 Monitoring Plan: Methods of collecting the information

Targeted questionnaires shall be sent to focal persons in all member countries to provide essential
statistics. Reports and guidelines will be submitted to Africa institute when developed as per project
timelines. Statistical data shall be maintained by the Institute on monthly basis and included on quarterly
reports. A full analysis and evaluation shall be done and reports submitted to Council annually. All
quarterly reports shall be disseminated to member countries and strategic partners every quarter.

8.0 STRATEGIC OUTCOMES LOGFRAME

The Logical Framework matrix below shows expected outcomes for the planned goals. Each strategic
outcome has a key strategic initiative or activity central to achieving the outcome, a key performance
indicator (KPI) upon which progress on activities can be measured and annual targets, which will form the
greater part of strategy evaluation. .

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Strategic Goals
Strategic Goal 1:
Mobilizing Resources and
Assistance for Programmatic
implementation
Strategic Goal 2:
Continuously Providing Essential
Information and Skills to maximize
member countries’ competency and
competitiveness in hazardous waste
management
Strategic Goal 3:
Accelerating sharing of
achievements and sustainable
durable solutions in global
management of hazardous and other
wastes in the region
Strategic Outcomes Key Strategic Key Performance Minimum Annual
Initiatives/Activities Indicators Targets
Strategic Partners appreciate the Develop and submit project Proposals developed At least 1 out of 5
challenges and needs of the region proposals to strategic potential and submitted to proposals submitted
and accept to assist with resources funders potential funders to potential funders
should be accepted
and funded PER
YEAR
All partners to support present and Collate and distribute reports Number of submitted 4 quarterly reports
future planned initiatives by the and plans of the Institute to all reports and plans and 1 annual report
Institution partners documents distributed
Relevant Information for HW Search and organize Articles, reports and 20 relevant articles;
management collated and made information on HW Guidelines collated 10 guidelines and
available for dissemination to management globally 12 reports accessible
stakeholders
Relevant Information for HW Upload information on Number of 20 relevant articles;
management shared with all electronic media and distribute Documents uploaded 10 guidelines and
stakeholders to stakeholders and distributed 12 reports uploaded
Dissemination and translation of Provide information on Number of Guidelines 10 guidelines and
evidence-based research to member adoption and adaptation of pilot and Reports 12 reports distributed
results distributed
countries for adoption and adaptation
occurs timely
Adoption of Evidence Based Practices Provide guidelines to member Number of proposals 8 proposals
Supported and promoted to member countries on the adoption or and guidelines 4 guidelines (or based
assimilation of results pilot distributed on number of pilots
countries projects results undertaken)
Strategic partnerships and Identify and write proposals for Number and type of 2 partnerships
collaborations for dissemination and Technical Assistance collaborative
partnerships
diffusion of evidence-based practices to
augment national capacities created
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Strategic Goals Strategic Outcomes Key Strategic Key Performance Minimum Annual
Initiatives/Activities Indicators Targets

Strategic Goal 4:
Raising Awareness of the General chemicals easily available to general
Public to heighten grass roots public
participation in hazardous waste
management.
Core knowledge technocrats to support Provide training materials to Number and type of 20 Training material
localized adoption of technology and operational officers Training materials documents
Number of officers 10 Officers per
best practices available at country level receiving them country
Up to date knowledge base available Disseminate research reports Number and type of 20 research reports
through disseminating research results Research Reports and articles
distributed
and new technologies
Evidence based knowledge available Disseminate demonstration Number of Pilot Reports of all running
through disseminating reports of projects reports projects reports Pilots
distributed
demonstration projects
Global, Regional and Local exposures Collate information regarding Exposure and 20 Articles
and impacts of hazardous waste and exposures and impacts of HW Impacts statistics 10 Posters
and chemicals distributed 10 brochures
DVDs, CDs, Posters, 8 radio programs
brochures and radio 8 DVDs
programs published
Information about on-going Global, Disseminate information Reports on general Distribution of above
Regional and Local Initiatives available through all forms of media as Initiatives distributed numbers
per this document. in various media
to general public

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