Participatory Assessment of Gugar Goge, an Entertainment-Education Radio Soap Opera in Nigeria – A Qualitative Assessment Report

by Arvind Singhal, Sarah Hurlburt and Radha Vij

This report documents the results of a participatory assessment exercise conducted in Nigeria to gauge audience reception of Gugar Goge (“Tell It To Me Straight”), an entertainment-education radio soap opera produced by Population Media Center that sought to promote education for girls, the delay of marriage and pregnancies, and the adoption of family planning and maternal health services to both prevent and treat obstetric fistula. The assessment exercise, which used participatory sketching and participatory photography, aimed to assess how frequent listeners engaged with the radio programme, and how they derived personal meanings from its plot, characters, and educational messages.

For full article, visit:http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269041/38

In this announcement from Nazareth, Ethiopia, thirty religious leaders from the Afar region, representatives from the Office of the Supreme Sharia Courts, Islamic Affairs Bureau, and the Women’s Affairs Bureau of Ethiopia issued a declaration to end the practice of female circumcision, also called female genital mutilation (FGM). The declaration was issued at the end of a Population Media Center (PMC) workshop held from July 30 to August 1 in 2007, to discuss the issue of female circumcision and what religious leaders can do to help eradicate the practice. The PMC workshop was the first part of a “whole society” strategy to eradicate the practice of FGM in Ethiopia, and the Afar region in particular. PMC uses a “whole society” strategy to strengthen the impact of communication initiatives. The PMC strategy in Ethiopia includes a radio serial drama with a storyline about the risks and negative consequences of FGM.

For full article, visit:
http://www.comminit.com/en/node/270991/38

Global Consultation on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (30 July – 3 August 2007)

Over 100 million women have been subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting, a practice that still puts 3 million of girls at risk each year. The Global Consultation on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (30 July – 3 August 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) brought together a wide range of development partners to share their experiences on how to address this global concern from many perspectives—human rights, health, culture, gender and politics.

At the UNFPA-sponsored forum, development partners, research institutions, funding agencies and civil society organizations developed a consensus document—a kind of road map for the elimination of FGM/C. This UNFPA web page contains meeting materials, a related video and links to other resources.

For full article, visit:

http://www.unfpa.org/gender/fgm2007/

The letter below by Katie Elmore was sent in response to an article in the Canada National Post on female genital mutilation

Letter to the Editor of the Canada National Post (Word doc., 42 KB)

The following chapter titled “With an Antenna We Can Stop the Practice of Female Genital Cutting: A Paticipatory Assessment of Ashreat Al Amal, an Entertainment-Education Radio Soap Opera in Sudan” was included in the spanish lanuage book “Investigación y Desarrollo.”

Ashreat Al Amal (“Sails of Hope”) was produced by Population Media Center and aired in nothern Sudan from November 2004 to June 2006. The program addressed the issue of female genital mutilation/cutting.

Download the full chapter in Spanish: Chapter on PMC’s Program in Sudan, “Investigación y Desarrollo”