Message heard and understood?

Development depends upon communication. To have practical benefit, development specialists wishing to influence change in policies, change in attitude or adoption of technologies, must communicate clearly and effectively so that the message is heard and understood by all those who could potentially benefit from their activities. Furthermore, competition for development funds is fierce. Development agencies, research institutes, and others dependent on external funding, need to present a high profile. They need to demonstrate that their projects and programmes have been effective. They need to demonstrate that their proposals for future work justify support. They need to reach people of influence. The mass media - print, radio and the Internet - offers rapid, widespread knowledge transfer to different target groups adding further value to interpersonal communication.