Women's Empowerment and Good Governance Through - amarc

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Best Experiences for an Action Research Process 26 Radio, allow for a change in social behaviour. The experience of Pengdwendé Radio at the heart of women’s development Radio Pengdwendé is a radio station that was set up by the association bearing the same name. It is situated in a rural area, in the commune of Sabou, 90 km from Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. The inauguration of Radio Pengdwendé took place on May 26, 2006, but it had already been broadcasting for a year. Transmission is within a 60 km radius, covering three rural communes in the Centre West region of the country. The missions assigned to the radio are consciousness-raising, socio-economic advancement of women and, more generally, behaviour change for true development of men and women, therefore of the region. It is worth noting that Radio Pengdwendé’s missions are linked to those of the head association, the Pengdwendé Association, which has had as its leitmotif for 20 years the emancipation of 52 per cent of the Burkinabe population, that is, women. Radio Pengdwendé is a woman’s idea made reality. As part of the activities of the Pengdwendé Association, its president, a woman, observed the need for a community radio station that could address women from several villages. That is how Radio Pengdwendé saw the light of day. This is worth emphasizing since of the 23 other radio stations, this radio is the only one of thids nature. The staff of Radio Pengdwendé is made up of seven employees, only one of whom is a woman. She was recruited so that women listeners could identify with her. The fact that she is the only female employee of the station is due to a major difficulty, the recruitment of young women, which we will return to below. Although Mrs. Kaboré is the only woman host on Radio Pengdwendé, major air time has been given to her to speak specifically to women, a priority target group for the station. A series of programs is thus produced each week called “Paag la Yiri,” which translates as“without woman there would be no home.” This series includes the “Zaak Viim” programs, meaning the life of the couple, as well as another program called “associative life” and, finally, a program on women’s rights. To animate this series of programs, the host receives women who come to share their experiences with others. Officials, traditional chiefs and opinion leaders are also often invited to
27 Best Experiences for an Action Research Process express themselves on the condition of women, especially excision, on the schooling of young girls, and on women’s access to land. Besides the series of programs made for women, radio jingles have been produced inviting women to listen to the radio, but, above all, inviting men to let women listen to the radio. Radio Pengdwendé also works with NGOs that play a role in the advancement of women. Thus RECIF/ONG (a communication, information and training network for women in NGOs), PROMACO (the social marketing of condoms project), DED (the German development agency) and many others order broadcasting already-produced programs or awareness-raising spots on Radio Pengdwendé. All of this allows us to conclude that Radio Pengdwendé reserves a major place for women on the airwaves. But what about the results on the ground? The impact of Radio Pengdwendé on women’s living conditions No study until now has been carried out to measure the impact of Radio Pengdwendé in the area where it can be heard. However, a certain number of statements and spontaneous testimonies by some of our listeners have convinced us that the population has begun to be aware of the plight of women. Several examples can illustrate this change. In terms of their civil status, following the consciousness raising by Radio Pengdwendé, women increasingly possess such documentation as birth certificates and identity cards received by court order. This was not always the case, for, while many women had certificates documenting their civil status, it was often the men who had them in their possession. With respect to development, income-generating activities that women took up with advice from the “associative life” program brought them substantial income. This income has allowed them to send their children to school, including their daughters. The women’s commercial activities are an effective means of development for the communities involved, making the different local markets livelier, with more attractive products fashioned in novel ways. Given that the opinion makers have publicly denounced forced marriage and the practice of excision, these phenomena have changed of status: from being normal and customary, to being reprehensible acts committed by the ignorant. We don’t claim that this change is due only to the
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Women's Empowerment and Good Governance Through - amarc

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