Learning and sharing in communication
for rural development

Female

42

I conduct research on the application of Communication for Development in Peacebuilding, with a focus on post-civil conflict realities. I explore and evaluate new communication for development approaches that employ different media and communication channels to contribute to social change and sustainable peace in the aftermath of civil violence. I also look at the application of communication for development for citizen engagement and youth participation in governance and peacebuilding. I collaborate with UNICEF and other NGOs on different projects related to Communication for Development and Peace.

My PhD has looked the ways in which participatory media can be used as story-telling tools to share experiences of war among hostile communities in the aftermath of a civil war, and how sharing stories through the media can facilitate healing and reconciliation. As part of my doctorate project, I worked on the evaluation of two participatory media activities implemented in Kenya in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 Post-Election Violence. I assessed the impact of these projects in relation to ethnic reconciliation between and among communities in specific areas of the Rift Valley, where I spent three months interviewing both victims and perpetrators of the 2007/2008 conflict who have been in contact with these media productions. I collaborated with the international NGO Mercy Corps.

My work is available at this link: https://unsw.academia.edu/ValentinaBa%C3%BA

More generally, I am also interested in looking at the different ways communication can be used in development contexts (particularly in post-conflict settings), as well as in studying the impact / reaction that communities living in extreme poverty have when introduced to the use of the media.

I have previously worked for London-based international NGO Panos, the Italian Cooperation in Mozambique and UNDP in Angola.

University of New South Wales
School of the Arts & Media
Sydney NSW 2052

Australia

Sydney

http://au.linkedin.com/in/valentinabau

University of Reading

2009