Too often, our right to information — to make informed decisions about our livelihood and to have a say in the systems that are meant to support us — is overlooked. This is especially true for women who don’t have the same access to information or the same opportunities to be heard and share their knowledge and experiences as men.
We know that respecting women’s right to information is essential to improving gender equality.
But how do we do that and do it successfully? How do we do it at scale, so that we can reach millions? And how do we do it in a way that is sustainable and involves women in every step of the process?
Drawing lessons from a five-year project that saw 1.5 million people in West Africa — including 500,000 women — try new gender-inclusive practices, Farm Radio International shared how to:
- Ensure women have a say in their own development, and are meaningfully involved from start to finish of a project
- Use creative solutions (dramas) to change viewpoints around sensitive topics
- Bridge the digital gender divide at a local level and use ICTs to boost women’s confidence and amplify their voices
- Work with and engage local partners at every level of the project — from design to implementation
- Build long-lasting information and communication platforms that serve rural communities beyond the lifetime of a project
Watch the recording from the March 29 event.
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About the project
The Scaling Her Voice on Air project aimed to share information about agriculture and nutrition in a way that met women’s needs, challenged social norms and talked meaningfully about gender equality. The project brought improved interactive radio services to Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Senegal, with two million regular listeners. The Government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada, supported the project with a grant of $5 million over the five years of the project.
Farm Radio International (FRI) is a Canadian non-profit organization specializing in ICT-enabled extension and communication for reaching rural and remote communities at scale in local languages in sub-Saharan Africa. FRI’s core expertise is collaborative, user-focused co-creation of quality information and advisory services, combining radio and mobile phones, other ICTs and face-to-face interaction.