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International advisory reportREPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY PANEL
August 2011
COMMUNICATIONS
In its 2010 report, the Panel strongly recommended that QMM rethink fundamentally its approach to external communications, to include more structured community-based dialogue, presentation of setbacks as well as achievements, communications in partnerships with others (including the Chef de Région and ONE), as well as a heightened emphasis on multi-stakeholder community communications arrangements and structures. Much has indeed been done by QMM since last year. Dialogue structures have been developed to meet the needs of different constituencies. These include the Structures de Dialogue (SDD) which bring together 15 members from each of the communities in permanent dialogue with QMM, and the Comités de Pilotage which address 15 priority projects in the Fort Dauphin area by bringing together a QMM staff “champion” with a steering committee of members from interested communities. In addition:
a) Conflict Prevention Strategy: QMM has adopted a Conflict Prevention Strategy which will put in place a three-tier mechanism for bringing together all stakeholders, including those critical of or opposed to the project. This will be led by an independent mediator named by the Médiateur de la République. This independently-designed mechanism is predicated on two premises: First it accepts the necessity of going beyond a legally enforceable and transparent mechanism to address formal complaints. Second, the larger challenges lie in ensuring effective mechanisms for continuous dialogue and open exchange that can air differences, seek common ground, explain and communicate, reduce tensions and build greater mutual understanding. The three-tier mechanism recognizes that this is especially important in a region in which staggering levels of poverty and years of neglect will almost certainly make grievances and sentiments of injustice unavoidable.
There is, of course, no assurance that the new three-tier mechanism will avoid all conflict or even that it will function as intended. This will require good will on the part of all stakeholders. But it is an approach that the Panel finds truly imaginative, inclusive, transparent and promising. Given the underlying social needs and political rivalries in the region, it merits every chance to demonstrate that it can succeed and must be approached as an ongoing effort. One time constraint is to achieve some visible results before the next September-January period of hardship, the “soudure” between harvests, but no one should expect conflict to simply disappear. The failure of mediation will be apparent if overt social conflict in the region markedly worsens, but its success should only be judged over a period of two-five years. We wish all participants well.
b) Communication Strategy: QMM is also seeking to professionalize its more conventional approaches to communicating its achievements. This could be valuable, but care should be taken that it does not follow common corporate practice of a “publicity or advertising campaign” to trumpet only corporate successes. A communication strategy for the project requires very special approaches that take full account of the long history of marginalization of the region, the massive challenge of managing expectations reasonably and responsibly and the fact that, if sustainable development in Anosy is to be achieved, it will be the result of collective, multi-stakeholder efforts. It also goes without saying that any new QMM communication strategy should not preempt nor interfere with the Conflict Prevention Strategy being put in place.