BBC Media Action
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Hear Me Too: a drama to tackle violence against Rohingya women in Cox’s Bazar
Sarah Bradshaw, Training Manager, BBC Academy International
For International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, hear from Sarah Bradshaw, Training Manager for BBC Academy International and experienced radio producer/director, who helped our teams in Bangladesh to develop a new radio drama to change attitudes towards gender-based violence.
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How can media help? Research from six humanitarian crises.
Nicola Bailey
Research manager
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To coincide with World Humanitarian Day, BBC Media Action has launched a new humanitarian microsite, which uses data from six of its humanitarian evaluations to build evidence on how media can help people affected by crises. This blog originally appeared on Evidence Aid.
BBC Media Action has been broadcasting ‘Lifeline’ programmes to support communities affected by humanitarian crises since 2001.
Research is central to how BBC Media Action works. Understanding the needs and priorities of the audience is crucial for developing good media content, and rigorous research helps us understand programmes’ impact. This dedication to audience research, even in crisis situations, was one of the things that really struck me when I started working at BBC Media Action four years ago.
In 2015, the organisation decided to pull together data from four humanitarian project evaluations, to understand what role media can play for audiences affected by crises across the world. This…
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Balancing an unbalanced media scene in Libya
Ali Sharif
Senior Content Producer, El Kul
As the Global Conference for Media Freedom opens in London, Ali Sharif from our North Africa team talks about the importance of our project El Kul (For Everyone) in bridging societal divides in Libya.
There are so many challenges in Libya – eight years after the revolution, the conflict continues. Now temperatures are soaring, power cuts can last up to 13 hours a day, access to water is challenging, and forest fires are causing pollution. People are struggling to survive, and the mood is very negative.
The majority of media outlets here are polarised, and journalists may face arrest or kidnap for what they write. With El Kul, we have been working to fill that gap and to provide balance in a very unbalanced media scene. Over the years, our work has included journalist training and mentoring; however the environment now is unpredictable, and simply getting from one part of the country to another is difficult and can be dangerous.
Watch the following short film to learn more about El Kul:
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Against all odds: female voices breaking the mould in Afghanistan
Mukhtar Yadgar
Project Officer, Afghanistan
Participants of a women’s networking meeting organised under the Her Rights, Her Voice Project
"When a woman or girl wants to work in society, especially to be a journalist and to appear on TV or radio, they have to be strong to cope with family and society to overcome lots of challenges and barriers.” – Mahboba, a local reporter speaking at a networking event in Balkh province, Afghanistan, in March 2019.
Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a journalist. According to Reporters Without Borders, last year was the deadliest year for Afghan media since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, with 15 journalists and media workers killed – 9 in a single day – in a series of bombings.
The situation is even direr for women wishing to pursue a career in journalism.
The first additional hurdle is education: women and girls in Afghanistan are among the most marginalised in the world, with only a third of girls attending school and fewer than a quarter of Afghan women able to read and write.
If a woman is lucky enough to gain an education, she then faces…
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World Press Freedom Day 2019: Our youth delegates take Addis Ababa by storm!
Becca Cole
Publicist
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Bwale Mutanuka and Kefa Hussein at WPFD2019
For 20 years, BBC Media Action has been supporting media freedom and providing training and mentoring to journalists in developing countries to produce free, independent journalism that provides space for constructive public debate.
For the recent UNESCO World Press Freedom Day conference (WPFD2019) in Ethiopia, we sponsored two youth delegates – Bwale Mutanuka from Zambia and Kefa Hussein from…
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“Climate change is about people”: TV to encourage action in Cambodia
Khuon Chandore
Former Research Manager, BBC Media Action Cambodia
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Tonle Sap, Cambodia (Photo: Ridan Sun)
Like many Cambodians, I’m noticing changes in the weather in my country. The temperature is getting hotter, floods and storms are happening more frequently, and our dry season is longer than ever before.
With 75% of the population living in rural areas and relying on farming or fishing to make a living, these weather changes are already having a big impact on people’s lives and livelihoods.
I…
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To the polls: Radio changes the story for people with disabilities in Nigeria
Michael Ashofor
Producer, BBC Media Action Nigeria
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On World Radio Day, discover how we’re using radio in Nigeria to help people with disabilities get their voices heard in the country’s general elections.
Michael interviewing members of a disability rights group in Nigeria for Talk Your Own
“He (the driver) declined saying he didn’t want to take a wheelchair and I discovered that about five or six taxis were not going to take me… I waited for about two hours… it's the kind of thing that an average person with disability…
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Hear Me Too: a drama to tackle violence against Rohingya women in Cox’s Bazar
Sarah Bradshaw
Training Manager, BBC Academy International
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For International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we hear first-hand from Sarah Bradshaw, Training Manager for BBC Academy International and experienced radio producer/director. Sarah worked with our teams in Bangladesh to develop a new radio drama to change attitudes towards gender-based violence.
Rohingya women in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
Sarah:
The first thing I hear in the refugee camp is, “Rohingya women can do…
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With Her: breaking barriers to education for girls in South Sudan
Samuel Komakech
Community Mobilisation Manager
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On International Day of the Girl, find out how a radio programme helped a schoolgirl in South Sudan avoid early marriage and return to school by changing the attitude of her grandfather.
The ongoing conflict in South Sudan has increased dangers for girls attending school in recent years and social norms play a significant role in the prevalence for boys over girls to attend (and remain) in education. Girls are usually expected to be responsible for the household chores, which affects their time for studying when they are at school, and early marriage is commonplace.
Mary was 16 when she… -
Information is aid: empowering Rohingya women in Cox’s Bazar
Mukta Roy
Humanitarian Officer, BBC Media Action Bangladesh
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On the first anniversary of the Rohingya crisis, one of our humanitarian workers on the ground in Bangladesh tells how a radio programme helped a mother keep her baby son healthy.
“I have learnt lots of new things from the radio programme, especially when the doctor advised about different health issues and encouraged me to visit nearer health care centres along with my husband when my children got sick.” Saiyada, Kutupalong camp, Bangladesh.
For the last seven months I’ve been working in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, as part of BBC Media Action’s response to the Rohingya crisis. We help…
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Making young dreams a reality in Cambodia
Monika Mey
Content Researcher, BBC Media Action Cambodia
As the world marks Youth Skills Day, we take a look at how a reality TV show empowered young people in Cambodia to secure themselves a better future. Around 300,000 young Cambodians enter the labour market every year, but they are often vulnerable to low wages, long working hours and/or hazardous working conditions. Many young people lack the soft skills and confidence they need to succeed, so “Dream Station” – which reached over 1.2 million viewers at its peak – aimed to inspire them.
“After my father’s death, my dream was buried. I didn’t tell anyone about it; I didn’t think it was possible…
