Local language communication importance

This is an interesting topic. Thank you for providing the link to the article by Besley and Burgess. The dialects in India are so many and there may not be any language experts who can tell you everything. I think Mobile Kunji is doing it right. They are asking someone local to record for them and then pilot testing it with local people as well. Additionally, they can seek more feedbacks after a few days of launch.  

In the current context in nations still grippling with literacy and language as a major barrier of communication, especially given we have more hindi speakers in the world than english, language definitely is a major communication priority. Internet for example is reaching everywhere but still we are grippling with language translations and transitions over the internet, making usage a big challenge despite access being there. Here is a very interesting read given current Indian context.

In such situations, language becomes as much as a development agenda as a communication agenda. Linking the two is extremely critical for development goals to be achieved. Only a few systems have realised this and given India's history of multiple languages, it becomes even more important to bring it out for fastening the pace towards sustainable development. 

Having closely observed and participated in the shaping of Community Media sphere in India for the past 5 years I feel that development organizations are increasingly understanding the importance of content in local languages and dialects. A relevant example being the rise of hyperlocal Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems in various states of India where users generate content in their own local dialect. These IVR systems have been spearheaded as a Mobile based Community Media platform by Gram Vaani. Many development agencies and civil society organizations have partnered with Gram Vaani over the past 5 years to effectively reach out to their "target audiences" on various issues in the regions where this service is available. At the most basic level of engagement/partnership, these organizations use Gram Vaani's popular Social Campaigns service that solicits and curates user generated content (in local language) making it contextually relevant for people's understanding and effective development action.

At ZMQ we have established a talking toolkit, MIRA Channel, on RMNCH+A for mternal, Adolescent and Child Health with a universal health communication approach using not only local language and context but also building an iconioc interface using local context for semi-literate and people with low literacy. We have used gaming techniques to communicate. The tool kit has user customised Prenatal Care channel, Immunization channel, Family Planning tools, Neo-natal care tools, tools for adolescent girls and also Story telling and games on issues related to subject. The tool is available in Hindi in local dialectys and local iconic context. We are also right now building it Uganda in Lugandi and Rotaru languages and Pushto and Dari for Afghanistan. It is also very important to build such tools with local community participation, who understand the context and all the dos and donts.
To learn more you may visit www.Mirachannel.org 

Best 
Subhi

Kudos to this  ‘eye-opener’ thread  which unfolds , the tremendous potential lying ahead, by way of putting focus on ‘Local Language’ and its multitudes in the context of communication for development.  Firstly, it is so informative, educative, suggestive  and hence ‘generative’ too in terms of scope of development  and related strategies in a local, regional, national and global context,  when it comes to unleashing a wide spectrum of technologies, voice-based, mobile/internet, , community radio and other appropriate tools and apps. Also, such unleashing of technology is sure to generate a lot of learning for development practitioners and communities proving to be an effective two-way process eventually producing positive ripple effects and the scope for rapid cross-pollination of best practices at various levels.

Hitherto impossible ways of stringing together ‘people’s thoughts hidden behind a phenomenal range of dialects’ have of-late been fathomed by way of 'technology' making in-roads to every nook and corner of India and increasing the scope of improving the participatory nature of development per se. It is therefore bound to become more and more generative in the future, while deriving at solutions and tackling complex developmental issues caused by this very multiplicity of dialects.

Synergy building by way of bringing together an interesting range of technology based innovations and solutions extending to grassroots development initiatives and creating corresponding synergies at ‘multi-stakeholder’ levels  vis-a-vis various facets of development, are bound to produce faster achievement of outcomes towards our envisioned sustainable development goals.

We at Women’s Synergy  (an evolving, Delhi-based organization for empowering women through ‘Synergies & Symbiotic relationships’ among women from varied backgrounds) would definitely like to explore opportunities for synergy building with organizations inclined to help our women’s groups transcend their current levels of individual and collective levels of achievement through the adoption of the wonderful, relevant, latest technological aids and apps in use today.

Vaidehi Krishnan, Women's Synergy,

Delhi, India.  E-mail: info@womensynergy.org

Local language has its own importance, particulary when we are working in a country like India. Because expert cannot explain everything, so we need some local experts who can handle the session. While working with Care India, I experienced Marwari is only the language which is understood by most of the people and next to this hindi comes as a medium of communciation.

In this regard,we have developed a puppet program is desgined by us in Marwari laguage to overcome from the communication barrier and contextulized it local format with some technical issues focusing on gender and cross cutting issues of power relation. Very soon we witnessed this programs penetration into the local areas and laid a long lasting impact on awareness component and we beleive it came due to incroporation of the local language in the program implementation.