Contraceptives and Couple Communication: The Impact of Umurage 2 in Rwanda

PMC has been producing entertainment-education in Rwanda since 2007, when the first installment of the Umurage series launched in partnership with Umurage Communication for Development (UmC). The series’ early success — and the urgency of its messages on the rights of women and girls — led to three sequels: Umurage 1, Umurage 2, and Umurage 3. By its third installment, Umurage 2 had captured 3.5 million loyal listeners across five radio stations.

To understand how audiences were engaging with the show, PMC-Rwanda and UmC conducted a qualitative participatory evaluation, posing open-ended questions to men and women of different ages from urban and rural areas. The themes that emerged centered on two areas the show was strategically designed to address: improved couple communication and understanding the benefits of modern family planning.

What listeners said

The Umurage 2 character Gasake — a husband learning to communicate with his wife Dancilla about family planning rather than making decisions unilaterally — resonated deeply with audiences. Listeners across multiple districts described seeing their own relationships reflected in the storyline.

“Following the messages passed through Umurage 2, my husband and I thought of a modern contraceptive method to use,” said a female listener from Bugesera District. “The Gasake family taught us a lot. I immediately decided to go for a five-year contraceptive plan so as to first cater for the child we have before getting another one, who we also intend to give a good life.”

“What I learned and liked much from Umurage 2, as a father and a married person, is the story about Koffi and Teta,” said a male listener from Gasabo District. “Messages encouraged couples to go for family planning. It also encouraged communication among couples, which is sometimes difficult, especially with us men, to give time to our wives to agree on the number of children to have and not dictating just because you are a man. This helped me like Gasake, who found it not easy at first but later had people to advise him.”

“The lesson I learned from Umurage 2 is that couples communicating about their reproductive health is important in making the process of family planning go well,” said a female listener from Nyarugene District.

“Following the show made me realize that family planning is important, whether you have one or two children,” said a female listener from Bugesera District. “My husband and I learned to discuss together which method to use. I even first thought that using contraceptives was bad. Later I learned from Umurage that it helps in family development.”

“Umurage 2 talks about couple communication and family planning,” said a female listener from Rulindo District. “Once a family lives peacefully and is in family planning, there is security, no quarrels, and develops faster than that with so many children.”

Why this matters

Across sub-Saharan Africa, one of the most persistent barriers to contraceptive uptake is not access alone — it is the social norm that reproductive decisions are made by men, often without discussion. The Umurage series addressed this directly, modeling couple communication as a path to shared decision-making. The qualitative data shows that for many listeners, seeing a male character struggle with and ultimately embrace that conversation gave them permission to have it in their own homes.