New radio station to tackle women's problems

Sitting behind a microphone, Nurbegum Sa'idi speaks to her female audience on a wide range of women-related topics, thereby rendering Radio Sahar [Dawn], a newly established independent women's community radio station in the western city of Herat, an invaluable mouthpiece for thousands of Afghan women. "It's great when you feel you can bring about change. The feedback we have been getting from listeners tells us that Sahar is providing new hope for the women in Herat," the radio presenter and former school teacher told IRIN. She is one of four women to be chosen out of over 100 candidates to speak on the two-hour-daily, first-ever, women's radio programme in the province. Radio Sahar is the latest in a network of independent women's community radio stations to spring up in the country, following Rabia Balkhi in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, which began broadcasting in March, along with the Kabul-based Voice of Afghan Women. Such initiatives are vital. Given the high percentage of illiterate women in Afghanistan with little or no access to education, radio provides one of the most powerful ways to reach and educate women, allowing them to connect in this conservative male-dominated society. "For many Afghan women who still live very isolated lives, radio can serve as a bridge to the outside world. It can help them develop skills to survive in their daily lives. It can help them feel less alone," Jane McElhone, the project director for the Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS), a Canadian charitable organisation committed to the protection and expansion of democracy and to strengthening civil society, told IRIN in Kabul. Working alongside Internews, an international nonprofit organisation supporting open media worldwide, the group has received funding from the Canadian International Development Agency and USAID. "We also provide start-up funding for a six-month period and long-term training and mentoring in radio, journalism, management and fund-raising skills," the IMPACS project director explained. Looking at the larger picture, IMPACS believes that establishing women's community radio stations provides more women the opportunity to be journalists, producers, technicians, fund-raisers and decision-makers. In assuming these roles, they learn new skills, develop greater self-confidence and awareness, and become active participants in their own communities. McElhone added IMPACS hoped to establish additional stations in the provinces of Konduz and Badakhshan, providing a network capable of linking women up country-wide. Sahar has an outreach of about 50 to 70 km, with two hours daily programming comprising educational items and around 20 per cent music as entertainment. "We don't have professional women. We may extend the outreach and the time of the programmes once we ourselves learn more about this new experience," Hulan Khatibi, the editor of Sahar and director of the Women's Activities and Social Services Association [a Herat-based agency], told IRIN in Herat. Radio programming at the station addresses primarily cultural, social and humanitarian matters, but stays clear of political issues, she said, adding that she and the other women had to perform all the jobs including technicians, presenters, reporters and all other relevant works. "We coordinate and work jointly. All we have to do is become self-sufficient for the longer term," Khatibi noted. Sahar is supported by a community radio advisory board, composed of a variety of people from the local community. "This board is also mandated to assist the station, to offer advice, and to ensure the station reflects the needs of the community and, in particular, the needs of women," she underlined. According to Khatibi, lack of awareness and ignorance remained endemic among the women of Herat, often leading to depression and other psychological ailments - and sometimes suicide. "Our top priority is to raise the awareness and education of women. We unfortunately witness women burning themselves or attempting other types of suicide. It all originates from their lack of awareness of basic rights and their capabilities," she explained.