Not Just Sweet Talk on Women’s Community Radio
24 March 2006
Media Release by FemLINK PACIFIC.
In the lead up to the 2006 General Elections in Fiji, a series of women’s community radio broadcasts are being organized by women’s media NGO, femLINKPACIFIC, in partnership with the National Council of Women Fiji (NCWFiji) and local NGO partners. NCWFiji chairs the NGO Task Force on Women in Shared Decision Making (WISDM):
“In the lead up to the 2001 elections, femLINKPACIFIC produced our first community video, titled Not Just Sweet Talk, and this year, we are using our radio in a suitcase to take women’s media to local communities to enable women and young women, whose viewpoints remain very marginalized from formal decision making processes, identify and articulate their vision and development priorities for the next 5 years,” said femLINKPACIFIC Coordinator, Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, “ When we talk about decision making structures, we are not just talking about national parliament, we are also referring to the under-representation of women, who make up 49% of Fiji’s population on tikina and provincial councils, district advisories and planning committees, and even within political party and trade union leadership. Everyone should be reminded, that research has shown, that it is really only women’s civil society, women’s NGOs who are actively nurturing women and young women for leadership.”
In Not Just Sweet Talk 2001, women and young women highlighted a number of critical areas of concern including: How can a Woman Best Use Her Vote; Poverty issues; Young Women’s issues, Violence against Women; People Centered Policies; Qualities of Leadership and Vision statements for Fiji: “We would like to find out whether these issues are still relevant, and how national and development programmes can be more responsive to these target groups. We are also interested to find out about new issues, especially on information-communication technology (ICTs).”
femLINKPACIFIC also reiterates that this is a non-political process, and the media initiative (local broadcasts) are designed to enable women have their say, without being inhibited by the existing barriers to their participation in decision making: “Yes, this is about putting valuing and enabling women’s viewpoints outside of the mainstream decision making constructs; It is about giving women a chance to speak and be heard. These views will guide us, our own policy advocacy in the next five years, just as we were guided by the issues raised by women and young women in 2001.”
To assist participants prepare for the local broadcasts, a day long pre broadcast consultation will be held in each community, targeting at least twenty women drawn from the NCWF affiliates members: “This is not the ideal time-frame, nonetheless it will enable femLINKPACIFIC to explain the project process, provide information about gender equality commitments and conventions, and then form broadcast clusters on common issues to prepare for the broadcast the following day.”
Field work and broadcasts will commence immediately after the Easter long weekend, and a tentative broadcast schedule has been drawn up:
- Ba broadcast: Saturday 22 April
- Nadi broadcast: Tuesday 25 April
- Nausori broadcast: 28 April
As a member of the WISDM task force, which among other issues works to support women reach national decision making positions, femLINKPACIFIC will also document interviews with women candidates and also stage a community radio broadcast specifically for women candidates in Nasinu on Saturday 29 April.
The Not Just Sweet Talk broadcasts will continue after the elections, when femLINKPACIFIC will stage a more comprehensive pre broadcast consultation and a demonstration for women NGO leaders, to communicate findings from the field and also address national priority issues.
The broadcasts will be heard in the local communities on femLINKPACIFIC’s suitcase radio frequency 89.2FM. The women’s media initiative is being made possible through a grant from a Netherlands based funding agency, MAMA CASH.
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Meanwhile, femLINKPACIFIC, through the UNIFEM PACIFIC Rural Women’s Leadership project in the Solomon Islands, will be working with their women’s media counterpart in Honiara, Vois Blong Mere Solomons from April 4 – 12, to document women’s participation in the Solomon Islands elections.
Please contact Sharon Bhagwan Rolls on 679 3307207 / 9244871 for more information.
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