– extracted and adapted from RAKAN Sarawak January-March 2022
Sarawak’s digital knowledge and information are essential for the people to successfully navigate through the opportunities and challenges of social, economic and technological changes. But to make it more useful, knowledge and information must be effectively communicated to the people, a task that is even more crucial for the Sarawak Civil Service (SCS) in the digital era.
One of the most important and exciting developments in government communication systems is the commitment to public information programs that focus on participatory approaches where the community is an important catalyst. Effective communication between government and society places a heavy emphasis on dialogue, not ‘media management’, top-down announcements, advertising and ‘spin’. Public administration must now prioritise the needs, concerns and views of the community as important factors in formulating government policy/ies.
Citizens also deserve know the policies and activities of their government. Hence, the government must deliver consistent and appropriate information the public. And this process must be done in a well-coordinated, integrated and consistent exchange or dialogue between the people and the government.
In a world driven by communication and the desire to connect, with the usage of social media and e-mail being so widespread, it is important for us in the SCS to respond quickly to any communication addressed to us, either in the form of suggestions or complaints.
This is important because our government recognizes that we need more direct participation from the community to govern well to ensure stability, facilitate community well-being, and manage future environmental, health, safety and energy issues.
Especially in the context of a multiracial society such as ours, we need to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard and at the same time, accurate information is given to everyone regardless of where they are and which communities or group they belong to. Thus, support for communication in the context of sustainable development involves promoting dialogue in which government authority holders listen, consider, respect the views of, and where appropriate, apply the knowledge of the community. Government communication mechanisms and approaches must be driven by the needs and views of society. Therefore, approaches such as ‘development communication’ should be implemented at all times. When the public is allowed to fully understand the development plans and programs of the government, then it is easier for implementors to garner support from the stakeholders of such initiatives.
Development communication approaches, which is mainly premised on an ongoing dialogue between the government and the people, facilitates public participation to ensure successful monitoring, completion and evaluation of the development programs. The development communication approach makes it imperative for government employees to face the community in an ongoing, coordinated dialogue so it encourages accountability at the local level. This then makes it an effective method of reviewing government activities for public scrutiny, thus promoting efficiency, transparency and accountability.
Development communication is about the use of simple and relevant language where concepts are packaged based on the community’s experiences, in their own language and where they themselves have played a key role in the development of information and knowledge dissemination materials.
The main emphasis of the development communication approach is to plan together with the community, create platforms or mechanisms that allow for consistent and open exchanges of information among the stakeholder of a development program. These offer all of those involved in, and affected by the development program, a level playing field in jointly making the best decisions for the success of the program or project.
Development communication is an approach to communication that empowers communities to obtain, share and make use of information that can improve their lives and make development programs more meaningful and sustainable. When the stakeholders themselves are free and willing to share useful information in implementing development initiatives, it gives them a sense of ownership and pride in the process, thus ensuring sustainability of the program.
We must leverage on the ideas, knowledge, wisdom and skills of all the stakeholders involved and affected by any government development initiative. These are the non-governmental sector, the business, academic, professional and voluntary organizations as well as the grassroots themselves. Failure to get them involved will waste resources and restrict opportunities.
Development communication is about enhancing the access and visibility of government where we are no longer a distant and unapproachable entity in the process of developing our nation. Instead, development communication approaches are crucial in making the people our effective partners in development implementation.
