Knowledge is power.

Information has been the most neglected link in the development process. Yet it should be evident that a massive, rapid metamorphosis such as developing countries are presently undergoing can only be chaotic and extremely costly in human terms if not accompanied by large amounts of intelligently presented information, enabling people both to understand what is happening to them and to master their environment and destinies. This article presents several startling examples of misinformation in the developing world and discuses how these situations arise and how they could be prevented. With all the talk about basic needs that has been going on in the past years, the most basic of basic needs, without which one cannot do anything--the need for information and knowledge--has been apparently overlooked. This does not just mean any kind of information. What is meant here is the information that gives communities and individuals real knowledge, that enables them to master their environment, the forces shaping their life, ultimately themselves. What is referred to here is information which has a consciousness-raising aspect to it. As with all basic development problems, the challenge is primarily political. What must 1st be done is to define the content of the needed information. Then it will be necssary to reallocate resources so that the politically defined ends can be met in a certain period of time.