communications for the ones who never spoke: running the mim marathon in the peruvian highlands (may...

8/6/2019 Communications for the Ones Who Never Spoke: Running the MIM Marathon in the Peruvian Highlands (May 2011)

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SMARTLESSONS MAY 2011 1

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

KARLA DIAZ CLARKEis an Associate Operations

Ocer in the IFC Sustainable

Business Advisory team, LAC,

working on Strategic

Community Investment

activities.

FERNANDO RUIZ-MIERis a Senior Operations Ocer

in the IFC Sustainable Business

Advisory team, leading the

Strategic Commnuity

Investment activities in LAC.

APPROVING MANAGERJuan Gonzalo Flores,

Sustainable Business Advisory

Manager, LAC.

COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE ONES WHONEVER SPOKE:

Running the MIM Marathon in the Peruvian Highlands

How do you bring public accountability or millions o dollars to a regionwhere the population is largely uninormed and lacks the savvy to monitorthe actions o the authorities? From 2006 to 2011, the mining industry inPeru transerred over $4,774 million in royalties to municipalities located inkey mining regions, in compliance with a 2004 mining canon law, but localofcials have not always put these unds to the best use. With the support

o Canadian, U.S., U.K. and Norwegian (through CommDev) donor partners,IFC responded to this need with an innovative project: Improving MunicipalInvestment (Mejorando la Inversin Municipal in Spanish, or MIM). MIMPeru empowers the populationgives them a voiceto demandaccountability rom their authorities in the use o royalties. For this Latin

America and Caribbean (LAC) initiative, communications are essential. And

the project team learned that developing eective communication is not a sprintits a marathon! This SmartLesson shares lessons learned about

communications during project implementation.

Background

Municipalities in Perus mining regions arepoor and located in remote areas, so royaltiesoer a great opportunity to improve peopleslives. However, these resources have notnecessarily gone to projects that benet the

needy. Some have been used to buildunnecessary monuments or projects, such as astadium with a capacity greater than thetowns population.

The MIM Peru project seeks to promotemunicipal social accountability or the use oroyaltiesby monitoring royalty fows,disseminating inormation, buildingcapacities, and engaging key stakeholdersrom the population. It started in 2005 as apilot, monitoring two municipalities in theCajamarca region. It now monitors 23municipalities in seven Peruvian regions.

MIM Peru has gained the recognition o thepopulation and o authorities. In the words oFrancisco Chavez, deputy mayor o theprovincial municipality o Mariscal Nieto,It isstill necessary to improve transparency andcitizen participation, and I think MIM plays animportant role, as it provides us withinformation and ideas about the communitysperception about our management.

MIM volunteers in Cajamarca are ready or a

street theater perormance to teach rural

communities about royalties and municipal

investment.

MAY 2011


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2 SMARTLESSONS MAY 2011

Lessons Learned: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!

1) To win the race, dont be araid to change the goodor the better.

Initially, the communications strategy had an operationalapproachocusing on dening the content to bedisseminated, determining the requency o publications,and reaching the population.

Halway through the project, we switched to a morestrategic approachocusing on changing behaviors andattitudes in key target audiences. This meant:

Prioritizingkeyaudiences

Analyzingcurrentandexpectedbehaviors

Identifyingknowledgeneedsandattitudesrequiredfordesired behaviors to start occurring, as well as barriersand acilitators

Mappingstakeholders

Deningtheappropriatecombinationofcommunications products or each target audience.

This change in the approach proved to be an eective waytoalignprojectactivitieswithexpectedbehavioralchangesor each target group, dene specic objectives, prioritizeactions, and eectively use communications materialsbased on the specicities and needs o each group. It alsohelped us dene behavioral-change indicators or eachtarget audience, which acilitated monitoring the evolutiono the project results.

WiththevaluablehelpthattheLACCommunicationsTeam

provided during the transition, the project team alsochangeditsperceptionofcommunication.Asaresult,thecommunications strategy became part o the projectimplementation at dierent levels, touching every activityand material output that the project undertook.

2) Just like Gatorade, development projects need a littlemarketing, too.

Use o a brand is an eective way to position the initiativeto obtain positive results. The team recognized this at anearly stage and dened the attributes it wanted its brandto represent. This guided the denition o the valuesreliability and independencethat would be associated

with the brand, the graphic and visual identity o it, and thekey messages that it would convey to the public. (See Figure1)

Partnering with local institutions was also essential or thesuccess o this initiative. Selection o local partners wasbased on such characteristics as good reputation, roots in

the community, impartiality toward the mining industry,and interest in supporting local development, values thatthey would transer to the MIM.

Each MIM partnered with 5 to 7 local civil societyorganizations which are represented in the boards odirectors.

Awell-denedbrandhelpedpositionMIMPeruasthelocalresource or reliable inormation on royalties and municipalinvestment. It resulted in a better understanding o theinitiative and created conditions that supported the smoothimplementation o its activities.

Currently, the MIM Peru brand is associated withindependence, impartiality, reliability, and credibility.Survey results show that, by project completion, 20 percento the population in the regions recognized the brand1,which refects the positioning and awareness that theproject created.

3) When sharing the spotlight, keep your dimmershandy.

Managing brands goes hand in hand with managing thevisibility o dierent partners. The project teamed up with 36local institutions rom seven regions in Peru (businessassociations, proessional associations, and universities) thatvoluntarily participate to promote social accountability intheir regions. The project also was supported by our donors,all o which had dierent interests and visibility requirements.

Initially, we wanted to grant equal visibility to all involved, soall MIM materials eatured the MIM logo along with thelogos o all o the partnersIFC, the donors, and the localinstitutionswhich made approval or each publication avery lengthy process! (see Figure 2)

1According to a study undertaken by the frm Arellano Marketing

commissioned by El Comercio Newspaper in May 2011, the recognition oMIM in the seven regions it works is comparable to that o Mitsubishi cars inthe fve regions o Peru with the higher consumption levels.

MIMs work helps strengthen the municipal government

through the recommendations they give to improve the

quality o our expenditures.

Ricardo Alvarez, First Reagent, Provincial Municipality

of Puno

MIM gives us numbers to analyze and make us think about

the work we do.

Javier Ponce, Reagent, Provincial Municipality of Puno

Figure 1: Branding MIM Peru

The logo conception

An eye that sees everything A rising sun that sheds light allowing to see


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Figure 2: MIM PublicationsBeore, with Logos o Local

Institutions, IFC, and Donors

Figure 3: MIM PublicationsAter, with Logos o Local

Institutions

Figure 4: MIM Toolkit, Ater, with Logos rom IFC and Donors


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Astimepassed,weusedthelogosinawaythatwasmoreselective but still responded to the interests o our partners.IFC and donor logos appeared only in institutional materials(banners, les, the project brochure, and the MIM Toolkit),and the logos o the local partners, along with that o MIMPeru, appeared in all o the dissemination materials thatwent to the broader population. This helped the initiativetake root and encouraged the commitment, pride, andownership o the local institutions, while giving sucient

visibility to the project donors. (See Figures 3 and 4)

4) Expect the unexpectedand be ready!

When providing inormation to the public, doors areopen to misinterpretation, controversy, and debate onmany levels.

Aproject focusedon distributing information faces therisk o being challenged constantly. Thereore, in additionto the procedures established to manage risk (bypreparing credible and solid inormation), there is a needto know how to manage potential crises.

During project implementation,MIM Peru occasionallyaced crisis situations that risked its reputation andcredibility. For example, mayors and municipal ofcersdenied the veracity o the inormation produced by theMIMs, so as to avoid looking bad and being questioned.In one municipality, the local media tried to link theproject to the mining industry to take advantage o thesituation.

In one case, a local newspaper included the name o oneo IFCs sta as an ocer o a mining company, sayingthat the MIM should be used to attack the mayor. Theteam, with the support of IFCs LAC CommunicationsTeam, rapidly reacted, getting the president o the local

MIMtobroadcastonlocalTV,explainingtheroleofMIMand highlighting its independence.

These situations led the project team to devise a crisis-management procedure to deal eectively with thesesituations. The course o action included the ollowingsteps:

Identifythecauseofthecrisis.

Determine the different actors involved and theirinterests.

SeparateIFCfromthesituation.

Discuss with IFC (project team and communicationsteam), theMIM board, and the executing agency the

strategy to be ollowed.

Designateaspeaker(usuallyfromthelocalMIMboardo directors).

Preparearesponsewithkeymessagesandargumentstobe delivered.

Keep the IFC communications team updated on theevolution o the situation.

The procedure was included in the MIM Toolkit2 and sharedwith the technical teams in the eld and with the projectpartners.

5) Have the media run the race with you.

Were oten asked how MIM Peru managed to obtain over3,800 nonpaid media hits during the lie o the project.(See Figures 5 and 6)

2 The MIM Toolkit systematizes the methodology devised by IFC to promotesocial accountability at the local level.

Figure 5: Sample Headlines Publishing MIM Inormation Figure 6: Media Coverage o the MIM Peru Project

111274

1,160

2,197

3,703

3,805

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

Jan - Jun '0 8 Jul -Dec ' 08 Jan - Jun '0 9 Jul -Dec ' 09 Jan - Jun '1 0 Jul -Dec ' 10

Media Coverage of the Project

Accumulated per semester (Jan '08 - Dec '10)

It is necessary to know about local governments economic

management, but many times we do not understand some

o the technical words used and numbers presented. MIM

provides us with that inormation, showing data rom

diferent public institutions as well as comparative charts

that allow us to understand the nal use o the public

budget. The inormation we receive is shared with the

media, proessionals associations, and social organizations,

so that they can have a broader view o municipalinvestments.

Yovanni Manrique, Radio Onda Azul, Puno


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MIM volunteers perorm Don Justo street theatre in a rural

community o Ancash.

Photo by Karla Diaz

MIM volunteers in Ancash.

Photo by Karla Diaz

Box 1: MIM Caravans: Young Volunteers Put the Fun into

Becoming Inormed

The Don Justo theater, educational games, a question box

or residents questions to the mayor, and a mobile

chalkboard (to gather local opinions and inorm the

population about other activities) were part o the

education caravan held in the town square o the city o

Moquegua, the copper capital o Peru. The caravan

initiative, organized by MIM Moquegua, seeks to inorm

and educate the local population regarding local authorities

management o mining canon resources and help residents

exercise inormed citizen oversight.

The mayors o the cities o Arequipa and the province o

Mariscal Nieto (Moquegua), both located in southern Peru,

visited the activities and were surprised at the massive

showing o local residents and the enthusiasm present.

Young people are clearly very interested and concerned

about municipal investments in Moquegua, said the mayor

o Arequipa upon witnessing the participation o the young

volunteers who gave the caravan lie by guiding, motivating,

and educating the population in un and entertaining ways.

The volunteers are mostly university students who ndMIM work appealing, given their desire to contribute asagents o change, to promote the good use o municipal

resources, and to help improve the livelihoods o the localpopulation. Volunteers come in particularly handy inactivities with communities, because they are enthusiasticandrelatewelltothepublic.OneexampleoftheprojectsistheDonJusto(Mr.Earnest)streettheaterpresentations,where basic concepts o royalties and municipal investmentare taught to rural communities in a un and interactiveway.(SeeBox1)

The use o volunteers has proven to be an eective way toreachmore communitiesand local leaders. All sixMIMswork with volunteers, who have helped reach over 44,500people rom 221 communities.

Itwasnteasy!Atthebeginningoftheproject,thelocalmedia published only limited inormation about royaltiesand municipal investment, and the inormationdisseminated was o poor quality, oten sensational, andusually attacked mayors. Whenever MIM gave themmaterial, most media outlets wanted to charge orpublishing it or or conducting an interview about it.

Early in the project, the team recognized that journalists

were interested in obtaining timely and accurateinormation. They also wanted to improve their capacity,to be in a better position to report on technical aspects,and to be recognized as serious proessionals. Throughconducting permanent awareness visits and providingmaterial with inormation on royalties and municipalinvestment, MIM started to position itsel among local journalists as a credible and independent initiative thatregularly generated newsworthy inormation in an easy-to-understand ormat.

Later, the project organized training workshops orjournalists. Participation rates were high, and evaluationswere very good. This process helped build a relationship

with the local media, who not only published MIMinormation and held interviews with the MIM team andother key actors, but also provided airtime on the radioand space in the print mediawithout charge.

6) Motivation determines perormance. Give yourvolunteers more than thank-you notes.

The MIM Peru project work plan is very detailed andintensive. It includes preparation o materials, distribution

activities (including ace-to-ace meetings withcommunities and local leaders), and capacity-buildingactivities. The MIM technical teamseach composed o

two to three young proessionals who receive supportfromtheexecutingagencyhadahardtimereachingthehigh targets set or them. Thats why they started recruitingvolunteers.


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DISCLAIMER

SmartLessons is an awards

program to share lessons learned

in development-oriented advisory

services and investment

operations. The ndings,

interpretations, and conclusions

expressed in this paper are those

o the author(s) and do not

necessarily refect the views o IFC

or its partner organizations, the

Executive Directors o The World

Bank or the governments they

represent. IFC does not assume

any responsibility or the

completeness or accuracy o the

inormation contained in this

document. Please see the terms

and conditions at www.ic.org/

smartlessons or contact the

program at [email protected].

The project aimed at having the volunteersparticipateforatleastsixmonthsanentireMIM cycle. During the life of the project,however, there was high turnover amongvolunteers, with over 300 volunteers whoparticipated on average three months.

The team learned that this turnover was dueto the lack o a ormal structure that could

have kept the young students motivated.Managing volunteers includes consideringthem part o the projects team and preparingsix-month programs for them, includingtraining, dissemination activities, a certicateo participation, and, where possible, therecognition o their work as an internship(required to graduate) by the universitywhere they study.

Conclusion

Projects such as MIM Peru that ocus oninorming and educating the population arean integral part o promoting development.Communications were a key actor in thesuccess o the MIM project, as indicated by analsurveycomparingdatafromDecember2010tothatofDecember2008:

All of the municipalities monitoredshowed an increase in their understandingo basic concepts o royalties andmunicipal investment.

Understandingofminingcanonincreasedrom 17.7 percent to 46.7 percent.

Access to information on mining canonincreased rom 30.8 percent to 43.9percent.

Understanding of the right to ask for

inormation increased rom 45.4 percentto 55.0 percent.

Theperceptionregardingpublicdisclosureo municipalities on the use o revenuesincreased rom 8.0 percent to 26.3 percent.

The perception of the usefulness of theway in which municipalities report theirspending increased rom 25 percent to 58percent.

The lessons shared here have been tested andhave proven valuable, so much that they

were incorporated into the design o a newMIMPeruproject.(SeeBox2)

Box 2: The Next MIM Marathon!

The new MIM Peru project (ID 581028):

Has a communications strategy conceived

as a transversal component based on a

behavioral-changes approach. It has clearly

defned its target audiences and the

expected behaviors, and all the materials

and activities have been developed

accordingly.

As the project now goes beyond social

accountability and ocuses on promoting

good governance, it has a rereshed image

due to the revision o the attributes and

benefts associated with the project brand.

Has incorporated activities to provide

inormation, capacity building, and

incentives that target the media so they may

continue to be engaged with the project.

communications for the ones who never spoke: running the mim marathon in the peruvian highlands (may...

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