11 May, 2011Representatives of IMF affiliated trade unions from Central and South Africa gathered for a communicators' forum to discuss how they can improve communication work in their region and their national unions.
KENYA: Participants of the IMF regional communicators' forum for Central and South Africa gathered in Nairobi, Kenya on May 10 and 11 to discuss how to improve communications in their national unions and in the region.
During the seminar the participants, mostly young women, shared their experience on how communication work is organized in their unions and identified the existing challenges in their region. Unions from Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia attended the Forum.
Participants shared how the unions in the region use different channels to deliver their messages and communicate with their members. In some cases the primary channel is electronic mails and website, in others landline and mobile telephones as well as SMS-messages. However many referred to the necessity of additional contact with their members and activists even after they receive messages. Some participants identified the problem of lack of adequate training for their leaders, activists and rank-and-file members who often fail to effectively use the existing technical communication equipment. Also quite often activists are not reachable during working hours as their employer does not allow mobile phones at workplaces.
Almost all trade unions use extensively regular printed publications like magazines, newsletters or bulletins; distribute hand-to-hand pamphlets and leaflets among their members. Many are developing websites, however lack of resources is a serious problem to maintain this work at a strong basis.
The participants of the Forum including also representatives of the leadership unanimously decided to give a strong commitment to build and develop their own regional communicators' network starting from the participants of the seminar and reaching beyond in order to exchange information about challenges for their unions and the ways to find adequate solutions. They also agreed to increase cooperation with the IMF regional office in Africa and supply the office with regular and timely updates on the work carried out by their respective unions.
During the Forum the participants received information on existing system of communication in the IMF. Following the presentation of the IMF regional office about regional publication Umoja the participants committed to assist in its development.
In conclusion of the first day of the Forum participants viewed a series of short films from the 2010 Geneva Labour Film Shorts Festival. Some copies of DVDs with the films were distributed among the participants to be used as training and education materials. The regional office also showed its own video materials made during the IMF global solidarity action in support of Mexican miners.
A short exercise on writing for the IMF website and an introduction to various communication resources was included in the Forum's programme. The participants also received an update about the process of creation of a new International between IMF, ICEM and ITGLWF and the related communication work.