Population Media Center – Yeken Kignit

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Yeken Kignit – Results

QUANTITATIVE

The effect of the serial drama was dramatic. In just two and a half years of nationwide broadcasting, the program achieved the following results:

Half the population reported being regular listeners to PMC’s programs.
As of November 2004, 63% of new clients seeking reproductive health services at 48 service centers in Ethiopia reported that they were listening to one of PMC’s serial dramas.
26% of these new clients named one of PMC’s programs by name as the primary motivating factor for seeking services.
Of new clients who cited radio programs as a motivation for seeking services, 96% said that they were motivated by one of PMC’s programs.
Listeners were five times more likely than non-listeners to know three or more family planning methods.
Among married women in the Amhara region who were listeners, there was a 55 percentage point increase in those who had ever used family planning methods, while among non-listeners, the change was only 24 percentage points. A similar increase occurred among male listeners in the Amhara region.
Male listeners sought HIV tests at four times the rate of non-listeners, and female listeners sought tests at three times the rate of non-listeners.
The fertility rate in Amhara (the most populous region) fell from 5.4 to 4.3 children per woman.
Demand for contraceptives increased 157%.
Spousal communication about family planning issues among married women climbed from 33% to 68%.
There was a 50% increase in communication between mothers and their children about sexuality issues.
There was a 52 percentage point increase among men and a 21 percentage point increase among women in recognizing the importance of girls’ education.
There was a 35 percentage point increase among men and a 13 percentage point increase among women in the belief that women are fit to hold public office.

QUALITATIVE

The outpouring of emotion in Ethiopia, in response to PMC’s programs, has been overwhelming. From all over the country – and even beyond the borders of Ethiopia – 15,000 letters have poured in to PMC’s office in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia’s news media have run over one hundred stories on the soap opera phenomenon PMC has created.

WHAT'S NEW

Following the success of our previous projects in Ethiopia, PMC recently received funding from Save the Children-Norway (funded by the Norwegian government) for a four-year social content radio serial drama project. The program, Sibrat ("Trauma") went on the air in September 2007 and is broadcast nationwide on Radio Ethiopia two times per week.

The project also involves production of a radio talk show for youth; two radio magazine programs addressing FGM, production of various print materials on reproductive health and capacity building programs for journalists, playwrights, religious leaders, women leaders, youth associations, and reproductive health professionals.

Recap of all Programs done in Ethiopia

RADIO SERIAL DRAMAS

Yeken Kignit ("Looking Over One's Daily Life")

Dhimbibba ("Getting the Best Out of Life")

Menta Menged ("The Crossroads")

Maleda ("Dawn")

Sibrat ("Trauma")

RADIO TALK SHOW AND PANEL DISCUSSION PROGRAM

Alegnta ("Security")

RADIO MAGAZINE PROGRAM Naedetai (“Let’s Stop”)
Igaddaa (“We Do Not Want It Anymore”)

SHORT STORIES COLLECTIONS
Drops of Life (2003)
Winged Dreams (2004)
Waiting for the Rivers to Rise (2006)

FULL LENGTH PLAY
Ysak Jember (Laughter at Dusk)