BBC Media Action Feed

A new 'dawn' for young people in Ethiopia

2023-03-20T08:24:30+00:00

Young people in Ethiopia are coming of age amid high rates of unemployment and political and social instability. They face gender, cultural, traditional and social norms and barriers when it comes to education, access to services, public and civil participation, and when looking for work - all of which contribute to a sense of frustration and hopelessness, and can hold them back from exploring new opportunities.

Our team has been working to gain a better understanding of young people’s aspirations, challenges, motivators, influences and needs when it comes to access to relevant services, education and training, health and wellbeing, job creation and employment.

Through our series Negat (Dawn), on radio and television, we are reflecting stories and experiences of young people as they deal with these challenges in their communities around Ethiopia. We focus on the barriers that hold young people back, and share the way they navigate and overcome these challenges to illustrate resilience, inspire their peers, and change negative public perceptions and attitude towards young people.

Find our radio programme on SoundCloud and the TV show on YouTube (links lead to third-party sites).

Meet some of our Negat team:

Newal Abubeker, radio producer and presenter

Newal Abubeker, presenter

"The concerns of Ethiopia’s young generation include education, jobs, and our wellbeing. For me, as part of this young generation, producing Negat was not just producing a programme about something I barely know. It was like exploring my own life. From the drama series we have produced, and from the contributors and guests we have talked with, I have explored my own environment, challenges, and opportunities. That is what makes producing Negat special for me.

"Through the characters in our Negat drama series, we have tried to reflect the lives of many Ethiopian young people. Negat creates a place where young people who are involved in volunteerism, apprenticeship, entrepreneurship, and art can share their experiences in education and in building a career path. Family and community members also share their thoughts on these experiences and goals.

"Producing Negat helps me to understand that, in their day-to-day life, Ethiopian young people face challenges that make them feel hopeless and unable to find work. The challenges are different from place to place. Their perceptions of work, of access to information, of unreachable opportunities and a lack of skills are some of the challenges that many young Ethiopians are facing.

"While producing the show, we have tried to cover such problems. We have tried to show possible ways to find opportunities and information, and ways that young people can develop their experience and skill. We have also talked with experts and officials on how government and society can create a better place for young Ethiopians.

"The very interesting thing about our Negat TV and radio programmes is that we have put a lot of hard work to make them interactive and entertaining. We believe that delivering the programmes in a very interesting and entertaining way helps us reach the heart of audiences easily."

Kirubel Shiferaw, TV producer and presenter

"As a young person, being involved and working on a project that highlights the challenges of employment, job creation, wellbeing, and other issues youth face in our country, and that points out ways to inspire and help them better explore their options, has been a very interesting learning experience for me.

"Our research findings were an important element behind the programme. They helped us to come up with a well-structured communication framework to design the episodes.

"We put a lot of hard work into planning and preparation, while setting specific communication objectives to address, and including contributors that resonate with urban and rural audiences.

"Traveling to places and meeting contributors, interacting with youth, producing the episodes, and the teamwork required to deliver our 12 episodes were what I most enjoyed from this journey. Of all the profiles we featured, a group of young people in Adama city who produce bicycles out of bamboo was the story that surprised me the most.

"One thing that I hope sets a good example for other programmes is our approach to gender inclusion on the show. We followed the BBC’s 50:50 Project to ensure we fully included women and girls in our programmes. Female experts, decision-makers and role models were our advisors, and presented as part of our solutions.

"We also featured profiles of young people, young contributors and young decision-makers and experts - defying the old narratives that portray young people as the cause of a problem, and elders as part of the solution. Many young people in Ethiopia are fed up with this stereotype, and felt they were not being represented in shows made for young people. And I think that makes Negat unique and paves the way forward for future TV programmes."

Negat (Dawn) is broadcast on one television and one radio station in Addis Ababa, and one radio station in Amhara region, and accompanied by social media content. It is funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation as part of our ‘Engaging young people through media’ project, working to gain a better understanding of young people in the country: their aspirations, and what factors hold them back from succeeding in employment, and living healthy, active lives. Learn more about the project on our website. Read our research here.

Supporting public interest media in Ethiopia

2021-05-05T08:53:36+00:00

It has been just two years since Ethiopia proudly hosted Unesco’s annual World Press Freedom Day conference, a moment of pride and hope for the country’s media landscape.

Much has changed in those two years – as it has for media around the world. Political, legal and especially economic pressures are making it more difficult for independent media everywhere to survive. Ethiopia's economy has been severely affected by the global pandemic, and both public and private media organisations are reporting significant advertising revenue losses. They are also facing additional operational costs to ensure the safety and security of their journalists.

Yet, while the pandemic has intensified media's financial struggles, it has also unleashed an infodemic of false and misleading information, which makes reliable media all the more important in ensuring people can access information they trust.

So, how do you support public interest media in a country such as Ethiopia? BBC Media Action is leading Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development, funded by UK Aid and working across Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Bangladesh, to help tackle some of these challenges.

A diverse group of partners

Here in Ethiopia, PRIMED is working at several levels. We have identified several media outlets already producing valuable public interest content, and we will work with them to help them make that content even better, by helping them raise their ethical and professional standards, and helping them engage more strongly with their audiences so they understand and serve them better. We will also work with them to develop effective and sustainable business models, and strengthen their management skills, so they can become more financially viable and better able to resist shocks and pressures, while still remaining independent and impartial in their content.

Our partners so far range from well-known TV stations to a small community radio station – a diverse group whom we hope will, in turn, go on to inspire others to follow suit, and even encourage the next generation of journalists. These have been validated through careful audience research, which has demonstrated that Ethiopian readers, viewers and listeners already consider them more trusted than other local media outlets, and that they make a positive contribution to public discourse. And we have found that many journalists, media and internet platforms already show real commitment to high ethical and professional standards. The hope is that by helping these partners to become more successful, the bar will be raised for all media outlets.

PRIMED is also working at the sector level, strengthening institutions and organisations that can help improve the operating environment for media: advocating for legal reforms, helping raise ethical standards, and developing effective mechanisms for self-regulation. Organisations such as the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA), the Editors Guild of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Community Radio Association and the Ethiopian Media Council all have a role to play in professionalising robust, independent, impartial media.

All of our partners in PRIMED share the hope and conviction that shoring up the foundations of independent, impartial, trusted media in Ethiopia is possible, and fundamental to the country’s growth and development. Solid institutions are not built overnight, but in time, through strong partnerships. On this World Press Freedom Day, we have celebrated these first steps toward stronger public interest media in Ethiopia.

Mihret Aschalew is project manager in Ethiopia for Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development, a consortium led by BBC Media Action and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. This blog is based on her presentation to a World Press Freedom Day webinar hosted by International Observatory of Human Rights.

Continuing the fight against COVID-19 in Ethiopia

2020-11-13T14:38:10+00:00

Amid unrest and pandemic fatigue, our Ethiopia team is working to deliver trusted information about COVID-19 as well as inspirational stories about how people are coping. Our social media producer Annis Tefferi gives us the behind-the-scenes view.

I joined BBC Media Action earlier this year as the pandemic was beginning, when we were just starting to understand the huge impact it would have on our work and on our society. Since then we have worked through a six-month national emergency, and adjusted under difficult circumstances to continue providing trusted health information in multiple languages in Addis Ababa, and in Amhara and Tigray regions.

Our work on COVID-19 is focused on three areas. The first is on the virus itself – how it is transmitted, how to protect yourself, symptoms and how and when to seek treatment, and how families and communities can best care for each other and cope in this difficult time.. We are examining the impact of COVID-19 on the lives of women and girls. And we are raising awareness about misinformation, to dispel and counter the dangerous rumours that circulate about COVID-19.

We are creating public service announcements, social media content and a new radio segment covering all these themes. We are also supporting partner radio stations in Amhara and Addis Ababa with our Lifeline training, so that they are better able to report on the pandemic, check their facts and share trusted information, and stop the spread of misinformation. Our hope is that these radio stations are better able to serve their audiences with what people need and want to know.

A man washes his hands in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Credit: Getty Images

Public interest media are essential in the pandemic to reach a wide audience with trusted information. Radio is still the most powerful format in Ethiopia, as many remote and rural communities otherwise have no access to media at all. Our support for our partner radio stations helps ensure these communities receive reliable information.

But in urban centres, Internet use is exploding, especially through mobile phones and among young audiences. We are proud that our new Facebook page, launched earlier this year, already has more than 11,000 followers, and we are working hard to make sure we can reach audiences and engage wherever they access information most.

The biggest problem we face now is that people are tired of hearing about the pandemic, and some are even beginning to forget about the importance of using face masks and physical distancing. The six-month state of emergency declared to control the virus has been lifted, although COVID-19 prevention measures remain in place and are required for people who run businesses that attract large numbers of customers.. The initial fear and panic seem to have passed. People are much more worried about their livelihoods, everyday social issues and security amidst the possibility of further unrest. It is almost as if the pandemic has been forgotten.

But we are still at risk. As of November, we have had more than 100,000 reported cases till November, although the figures may be underreported as people do not always have access to testing. In rural areas in particular, access to water is often difficult, so it can be hard to practice regular handwashing with soap.

As we pay more attention to the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives and livelihoods, and how they are coping, we continue to remind audiences across all of our outputs that COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, and that it’s still important to wash hands regularly, maintain physical distancing and wear face coverings. We constantly challenge ourselves to ensure all our stories are engaging and memorable to grab people’s attention! This is an exciting part of the job.

When we started off, we worked on a series of stories about ordinary people supporting the most vulnerable in their communities. One was about a woman who is highly vulnerable to COVID-19 because of a lung condition, and how a group of young entrepreneurs in Addis Ababa ensured she was able to stay at home while continuing to make a living by supporting her in a bead-jewellery-making enterprise. Her products were collected from her and sold online, with the proceeds returned to her to look after herself and her daughter. That was really inspiring, to see how people can support each other to get through this pandemic. I was touched by this story and to date it remains my favourite.

Filming the ride-sharing service for women, by women, in Addis Ababa. Credit: BBC Media Action

Another story that I feel strongly about is a film about a new women-led ride-sharing company, whose drivers are also all women, and how they are working to keep drivers and passengers safe. This start-up success is a positive story of women’s economic empowerment at a time that is especially difficult for women and girls, because of disruptions to education and employment, and increased risk of domestic violence.

The ultimate joy and pride for me comes from the fact that my work will provide people with information that helps them and their families and communities stay safe, while dealing with the impact of the pandemic on their everyday lives.

It has been a challenging time to work in health communication but we know that it’s important to continue. It will take help from every part of our society to control the virus and our work is helping to remind people that they need to be aware of its impact, and to continue to protect themselves as best they can.

The Lifeline communication in the COVID-19 pandemic project is funded by Global Affairs Canada and running in Ethiopia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

Coming out about indoor pollution in Ethiopia

2016-10-26T14:16:04+00:00

A new radio drama is helping improve people’s health in Ethiopia by drawing attention to the harmful effects of traditional ways of cooking, heating and lighting homes.

“Bring that wood over here and make some fire in the room!” Although the woman can see the smoke has already made her daughter’s eyes “so red, they’re like pepper”, her voice is so commanding that disobeying her is unthinkable.

These are actors taking part in BBC Media Action’s new radio drama and they’re more than convincing.

After barely two months on air, Golaafala (meaning ‘solution from within’ in Ethiopia’s Oromiffa language) is already one of the most popular shows on ORTO (Oromia Radio).

The Golaafala crew – actors, writers and producers

"I love to listen to Golaafala every Wednesday because it’s a real reflection of the villages we live in and it's like hearing your own voice,” says Bezina Getachew, a listener from the eastern town of Harar.

Funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and broadcast across Ethiopia’s vast Oromia region, the drama draws attention to the harmful effects of traditional ways of cooking, heating and lighting homes.

Indoor air pollution is a big problem in Ethiopia. The country ranks 163 out of 180 in the International Environmental Performance Index for 2016 for indoor air quality.

Inefficient cooking stoves, the smoke from open fires and kerosene lamps are seen as the main cause of life-threatening respiratory illnesses and the reason for thousands of premature births.

Unconventional approach

“We decided that using storytelling and radio theatre is the best way to address such a serious topic,” explains Dawit Batri, Golaafala’s senior producer. “Spoken word, poetry and music are very popular in Oromia and appeal to the artistic nature of the Oromo people.”

The subtle tactic seems to have worked. Audiences are hooked on the storyline without feeling lectured to or criticised. It is not until episode nine - when one of the characters is taken to hospital with a serious lung problem - that listeners discover what the drama is all about. Until that point the fictional world of the drama had focused on creating a realistic picture of traditional uses of energy that are then shown to be harmful.

The audience feedback has been incredible. “I like Golaafala because it portrays the harmful traditions in our community in an entertaining way," says one of the messages left on our answer machine.

It’s one of the dozens of phone-calls the Golaafala team receive every week. And that’s not counting the calls made to Oromia Radio. The national broadcaster EBC has also started airing the drama on its Oromiffa service.

“The issues the drama raises are very important to us because of their relevance to our daily lives,” a participant in one of BBC Media Action’s focus discussion groups about the show points out. He adds that Golaafala has triggered lively discussions in his village.

Coming out

And now, the Golaafala team have recorded their first public service announcement (PSA) that clearly hammers the message home.

“Why are you crying my baby? Is it because you are too spoiled?” a mother asks.

“She is not spoiled,” the father argues. “The smoke you’re making in the house makes her eyes bleed!”

The radio drama and PSAs don’t just raise awareness of how indoor pollution can damage health, they also aim to provide solutions.

“What can I do to help my daughter?” asks the father in Golaafala’s first PSA.

“Hey, man - stop living in the past!” says the drama’s storyteller – a traditional singer who inhabits Golaafala’s tej (wine) house and comments on the lives and ways of the play’s characters.

“Buy an improved cooking stove and make sure that your family is healthy!”

Crowd-pleasing radio

2016-03-14T12:14:14+00:00

The Jember team pulled in the crowds when they set out to meet listeners face to face in Ethiopia’s Amhara region.

Mother-of-two Addisie Beryihun visits her local market occasionally but today she’s in for a surprise. At the upper end of the crowded square, above the rows of colourful stalls that sell virtually everything – from clothes and animals to dried red pepper – is an improvised stage full of dancers. The Jember radio roadshow has arrived in Chagni, a town in Ethiopia’s north-western Amhara region.

This is our target area. Nearly 18 million people live in Amhara. Over 4 million of them listen to Jember (which means ‘Dawn’), BBC Media Action’s weekly radio programme in Amharic aimed at improving maternal and child health. But we want to reach even more. There's still a strong need to increase awareness about family planning, how important it is to visit a health centre during pregnancy or when to vaccinate your baby.

Broadcast on Ethiopian national radio (EBC) and on Amhara radio, Jember is among the most popular shows on both stations. It has become a source of valuable information for health workers and our researchers regularly stumble upon the phrase “I heard this on Jember” when out on field trips. “We would have saved a lot more mothers and children if Jember had come earlier”, a listener who lost her best friend during home delivery told us. “Thanks to Jember, now no one in our village gives birth at home.”

A truck full of presenters

Chagni was among the 12 Amhara towns we chose to visit to spread the word about Jember during our two-week roadshow. These are local centres that provide administrative and health services to the numerous villages surrounding them. We thought that arriving there on market day would be the best chance to connect with a bigger audience. We were right! Showing up with a truck full of dancing presenters, traditional musicians, loudspeakers and posters, Jember added a new and different blend of colour and sound to the market.

The live music, our question-and-answer sessions, the dance competitions, the public service announcements we played were new additions to the bustling market life that drew in hundreds towards our improvised stage.

We were definitely the main attraction, sometimes playing to nearly 2,000 people at a time. The “Jember word”, however, reached many, many more as we were clearly audible across the packed market square.

The dancing mother

Adults were the majority of our audience. But young boys, girls and children also attended the shows. All were keen to dance, but the quiz about important maternal and child health practices and Jember broadcast times was where parents shone brightest. Surprisingly, mothers won nearly all the prizes – proving to be more attentive Jember listeners despite radio ownership being a traditionally male domain in Ethiopia.

Among them was Addisie Beryihun who didn’t think she would end up dancing in the market when she went out to buy food that day.

Addisie Beryihun

“I heard the music, saw the crowd and didn't hesitate to join in,” Addisie told us, chuckling at our bewilderment on seeing a mother with a baby on her back and carrying a traditional zembil bag doing the frantic twirl of the local Agew dance.

“What a blessing, she added, “to shop, dance and get introduced to an important radio show, and also meet the people who make it. I definitely got more than I expected!”

It was great value for us too - a very successful market day for Jember!

Related links

More on our work in Ethiopia
See the Jember roadshow on Instagram
Go back to the BBC Media Action website

Can we improve women's health without improving their status?

2014-05-21T10:20:04+00:00

“Men know more about everything. They also understand [things] better. We women are very emotional and thus do not take practical decisions. They are also the ones who earn money by working tirelessly and understand the value of money.”

These words were spoken by a woman we met while conducting research to inform our programmes in Odisha, India.

We were there to explore the reasons why many young women are not able to carry out the recommended health practices during pregnancy, such as attending enough antenatal appointments, or delivering their baby at a health facility.

As part of BBC Media Action's Global Grant programme, we were also able to conduct similar research across Bangladesh, Ethiopia, South Sudan and, as well as Odisha and Madhya Pradesh in India. (Read our full findings here.)

Alongside poor access to information and health services – young women's lack of status in society consistently emerged as a barrier to improving their health.

We found that young women’s health is not given priority when men are allocating money, and many young women do not have the confidence to negotiate for better care.

And where families are supportive of pregnant women receiving care, it’s often for benefit of the unborn child rather than for the woman.

Country insights

In Bangladesh and India many young rural women have little power and their mothers-in-law and husbands are the household decision-makers. Many mothers-in-law do not sanction a pregnant woman receiving special care.

Pregnant women fleeing fighting in South Sudan.

In South Sudan, meanwhile, following years of civil war, many young women are under pressure to give birth to as many children as possible within quick succession, as reflected by this health worker quoted in our research:

“The culture says let the woman produce. If you produce you will be a lucky woman at home, if you don’t produce the man will divorce.”

In Ethiopia our research found that young women appear to have relatively more autonomy and, generally, more supportive husbands, however it also found that some husbands refuse to help their pregnant wives with what they see as “women’s work”.

Impact on programmes

These findings suggest that women’s status and gender stereotypes shape what they do in relation to their health, across the four countries. But what does this mean for our programme makers?

We’ve shared these findings with our programme makers who are already trying to weave storylines and features around women’s status into our programmes to try to bring positive change.

For example, in Ethiopia, our maternal health radio programme has encouraged men to start calling their wives by their first names, which is a sign of greater respect.

In Bangladesh, our health TV drama, which is trying to delay the age of first marriage, portrays how taking a girl out of education to marry against her own will can act as the catalyst for the decline of her health and her family’s fortune.

It’ll be interesting to see to what extent these programmes will have an impact on attitudes towards women’s care – but from our initial findings, it seems clear that improving women’s health and status go hand in hand.

Related links

BBC Media Action's health work

Research report and briefing: Improving maternal health practices in four countries: insights and lessons learned

BBC Media Action’s work in Ethiopia , South Sudan , Bangladesh and India

Follow BBC Media Action on Twitter and Facebook

Go back to BBC Media Action

Making it stick: training that works

2013-11-06T11:34:50+00:00

Listen to a PSA about antenatal care from Ethiopia, the result of a workshop earlier this year.

Building the capacity of production staff within the organisation - and in other organisations - is a key activity for BBC Media Action. But when the workshop is over, will the training stick? What can happen all too often is what I call ‘teflon training’. It provides a pleasant break from work but slides away as soon as the trainees are back at the grindstone, leaving no mark.

But a well-timed, well-planned workshop, aimed at producing media output, can be a powerful and inspiring jolt to busy producers. It gets people off the treadmill and provides time and head space to reflect on how to make our media output more logical, creative and powerful.

Here are my tips to make training stick.

Two trainers are better than one

Quite apart from the logistics of getting the projector to work, two trainers can spark off each other.

On a production workshop in Addis Ababa earlier this year, I was extremely lucky to work with the charismatic and sharp-witted Radharani Mitra, National Creative Director and Executive Producer of BBC Media Action India.

Radharani works in film, while my roots are in radio. Radharani cut her teeth in advertising, and went on to flourish as a senior creative person in two of the world's top agencies; while I more modestly worked in and out of BBC World Service and media for development projects.

But what we share is a passion for ideas, stories and communication, and we are never happier than arguing and debating strategies for producing top quality communications.

Our mission in the workshop was to train producers to make creative, well-researched and powerful Public Service Announcements (sometimes called spots) in the area of maternal and child health.

The trainees included BBC Media Action staff from Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, along with staff from BBC Media Action’s partners in Ethiopia: the Ministry of Health, ORTO (Oromia Radio and Television) and ERTA (Ethiopia Radio and Television) – all coming with different production experience, cultural backgrounds and different project needs.

We had just three days to cover the principles of PSA production and come up with the basic concepts for four different PSAs, in two languages, which were to be pre-tested and broadcast a month later.

Break it down

As Radharani explained, the challenge is to combine science (know your audience inside out, barriers, triggers, culture and media landscape to mine for insights), art (think laterally to come up with brilliant yet relevant ideas), and finally, craft (the devil being in the technical detail: in radio, this means making that fade half a second longer, kicking off with a crisp sound or musical phrase, moving, adding and losing words).

Teach techniques that can be used again and again

For the first day and a half, we talked about being a ‘sponge’, soaking up experiences, stories, and theories - deconstructing and re-arranging them. Then we played with idea-generation techniques, including exercises to tease the left and right parts of our brain. And then finally got down to creating - no, not ideas, but the creative briefs!

Once the briefs were ready after much discussion and some arguing, the groups got down to cracking the ideas. The proof of the pudding is indeed in the eating because we came away with at least four ideas that we acted out to make sure they would work for radio.

As my colleague here in Addis, Seble Tewelderbirhan, told me after the workshop, "I used to think that ideas just pop up – something you have or don’t have. I now realise with this workshop that ideas develop, and there are techniques for making them develop."

Learn from each other

But I think we gained more than just knowing how to make PSAs. In the best workshop tradition, we all got to know each other - both during and outside training.

Amina Kato from Nigeria taught me that “assumption is the mother of frustration”, and dazzled me with her acting abilities.

Daniel Realkuy Awad Barnaba and Gerry Allan from South Sudan taught me what it’s like to live in a recently established nation state and astounded me with their linguistic abilities. (Daniel was speaking bits of Amharic fluently by the time he left).

And of course there was for me the joy of working with some of my Ethiopian team outside the daily routine, and seeing them conjure up new and witty ideas.

Put it into practice quickly

But of course, it’s the application of such new and witty ideas that’s the real test of a good workshop.

A month on from the training, we had scripted, recorded and produced a number of PSAs ready to pre-test with our audiences – and the reaction was a warm and thoughtful one.

A focus group give their feedback to the PSAs.

Our focus group's favourite PSA featured a curious child whose mother has just returned from the health centre for her first antenatal check-up.

What was fascinating was that the focus group perceived a secondary idea about family planning in the PSA which we had not picked up on. They calculated the age difference between the foetus and the child and saw this as a cue to think about how best to space your children’s births!

Follow BBC Media Action on Twitter and Facebook

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Accurate information for healthier lives

2012-09-14T08:03:25+00:00

Desalegn Assefa interviews a young woman, Addis Ababa.

During my teens, questions about love, sex and identity worried me and the young people in my hometown of Gondar, Ethiopia. We guessed the answers because we could not openly discuss them with our families. My mind kept on chewing these questions but before I could find answers to them, I went away to college, where I focussed all of my energy on my studies.

Years later, back in my hometown, I met childhood friends who had grappled with the same questions. I found out that some of our friends had died of Aids, while others were living in poverty with the children they bore in their tender youth.

I knew that these problems came from a lack of accurate information on sexual and reproductive health, and that is why I spent four years producing and presenting the Abugida radio programme.

Abugida, which means A, B, C, D in Amharic, launched six years ago in partnership with the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA), alongside the first ever national reproductive health strategy. At that time, 51% of the Ethiopian population was under 18 years of age, but information on sexual health for young people was very scarce.

Early initiation of sex, high rates of rape and female circumcision, and poor knowledge of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) were just some of the challenges we faced.

While making sure to be culturally sensitive and appropriate, Abugida sought to open up discussions with young people on sexual and reproductive health using an entertaining format and featuring real life stories and honest advice.

The last episode of our award-winning programme broadcast last week and I have spoken to some people – from young listeners to government officials – about its impact.

Biruk, a first year student at Jimma University, told me that Abugida has been like a brother or sister to him. He confided that, “listening to Abugida since I was 12 has helped me to make informed decisions. If it were not for Abugida, my friends and I would have been in a lot of trouble.”

Yodit, a student, told me that she was “addicted” to Abugida, and enjoys its open discussions above all, while Yenework said that Abugida helped her understand the physical changes that she is going through as a young woman.

Last year a 19-year-old woman wrote to tell us that she had been raped at early age. After a professional counsellor replied, she started listening regularly to Abugida and said that she felt greatly relieved. When I last heard from her, she was finishing high school and preparing for university.

Those personal stories matter most, but official feedback also tells us that the Abugida formula worked. Hiwot Adane from the Health Ministry told me that programming like Abugida made significant contributions to the implementation of the national reproductive health strategy, while Bekri Naser of ERTA’s educational programmes, said that Abugida was an exemplary programme.

The Demographic and Health Survey 2011 report indicates that Ethiopia is registering significant changes in reproductive and sexual health. For example, about one-quarter of young women and young men who are sexually active were tested for HIV in the 12 months before the survey—a dramatic increase over the 2005 levels.

So what has been the key to Abugida’s success? I believe it was the programme’s fast-moving and lively style which reflects the real lives of young Ethiopians. The voices of young people themselves featured strongly, making it more likely that they would adopt more responsible behaviour patterns. Young women and their vulnerable position in society was a particular focus.

Although the Abugida door closed in August, BBC Media Action will open a new door in early 2013 when it begins training and mentoring Ethiopian producers to create health programming for mothers and families in Amhara and Oromiya. This is aimed at tackling some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the country.

My recent conversations with young Abugida listeners reminded me of my youth in Gondar, and the questions that we young people had no answers for. It is a simple but very powerful idea that accurate information makes healthier lives, and that media can reach even the poorest and most marginalised people. I am looking forward to the next stage in our work, using the same energy and creativity that made Abugida work, and bringing that benefit of information to young, rural mothers and their families.

Related links

BBC Media Action in Ethiopia

Go back to BBC Media Action

Local heroines to inspire local people

2012-06-18T13:32:10+00:00

Despite challenges, Tirunesh is determined to continue her education

Selam Ayalew describes how documentaries starring young Ethiopian women are helping rural communities to reflect on women’s roles in society.

“…you showed us a girl selling tomato and changing her life. We want that girl here in Guguftu” an elderly man

A few weeks ago, I made a speech in Addis Ababa to a room full of mostly young people from universities and I asked the question “Who is your female heroine?”. The answers were Oprah Winfrey and Empress Taitu (an Ethiopian icon from the 19th century). When we asked the same question to young people in rural areas, they mostly named local girls from their community or nearby villages. This made me reflect on the importance of using local heroines or role models to encourage young girls to take action.

Prior to my talk in Addis, I had been in Gudino, a village in Oromia, where we were showing films and facilitating community conversations as part of our project: Catalysing the Girl Effect. I was very happy to see young boys and girls, as well as adults, excited to have one of the film’s ‘heroines’- Tirunesh - in their village for the screening. They asked her how she had managed to reach where she is now. Tirunesh is one of four young women who star in 30-minute documentaries which explore their lives. The idea is to use their stories as a catalyst to stimulate discussion around girls’ issues and their role in their communities. .

Catalysing the Girl Effect centres on three concepts of gender empowerment: ‘voice’, where young girls opinions are heard in their communities, ‘value’, where those girls’ views and roles are valued and respected, and ‘agency’ where girls have control over their own actions.

By showing these rural girls someone they can relate to – it helps them really connect with and open up about some of the challenges they face, the ways they are trying to overcome their problems, and ultimately what their dreams might be. It is an approach we have been using to help explore traditional beliefs about the value of girls and encourage others to think: “If she can do it, I can do it”.

During our trip to Gudino we were joined by visiting British peer Baroness Tessa Blackstone, who reminded her audience, that 'girl power' is about 'community power':

"I want to say to young girls and older women - keep fighting for your rights, but I want to say to the men and boys please support them too. They are half the world and half your world.”

Baroness Blackstone’s comments reminded me of a 13 year old I had met at a recent community gathering. She had the courage to stand up to an older male figure of authority, when she challenged the local administrator:

“No, you are underestimating the extent of the sexual harassment, rape and abduction we are facing. I am not exaggerating. It happens. This is what we are facing and this is what needs to change.”

The young girls portrayed in the films did not achieve their changes by themselves. One way or the other they were getting support and encouragement from people around them. This is why the words of Baroness Blackstone were very important. And she was keen for those girls to aim straight for the top, when she said:

“What you have to do is work hard, enjoy your life, serve your community, serve your country and somewhere in this class room there is Ethiopia’s first female Prime Minister!”

I hope so!

Related Links

The Nike Foundation - The Girl Effect

Go back to BBC Media Action website