Young Women’s Voices

Generation Next Radio

Partner: femLINKPACIFIC
Country:Fiji
femLINKpacific’s innovative community radio initiative ‘fem’TALK 89.2FM’ has been operating since 2003 empowering young women broadcasters and opening the space for Fiji women’s voices to be heard on key policy decisions. The ‘Generation Next’ team, consisting of 10 young women volunteers, coordinate fem’TALK 89.2FM’s Women’s Weekend Broadcasts (WWB). These broadcasts are a key source of information for women about women’s rights and the promotion of women in decision making, links between urban and rural issues, peace building activities as well as national and local government policy. Fem’TALK 89.2FM also provides young women with skills and confidence to engage in national level debates as interviewers, producers and broadcasters of the WWB.

Taking on the key lessons learned from the past two years of operation, in 2008-2009 femLINKpacific will further support the Generation Next volunteer radio broadcasting team of ten young women, including two women with disabilities and two in-school volunteers, to enhance their skills, experience and confidence in radio production and broadcasting. During 08-09, femLINKpacific will strengthen the content of Women’s Weekend Broadcasts (WWB), increasing rural women’s representation, introducing radio dramas and building greater links to issues raised by civil society. In addition, audience participation, the internet and mainstream media will be drawn upon to broaden and deepen the impact and reach of the WWB.

femLINKpacific has also strengthened its own community media centre operations by relocating to a new premises. Not only will this new office be the centre for national and regional media initiatives (including the AUSAID funded regional media network on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325)) but will also be a permanent and secure site to enable femLINKpacific to expand the women’s weekend broadcast hours from Friday afternoon from 3 to 7pm continuing on weekends from 730am to 6pm on weekends, including public holidays.

“This is a chance for me to talk about our rural issues, here in Suva, especially the high cost of living and education costs, that people like my family living at the Ba HART settlement are facing.”

- Sulueti Waqa, volunteer in femLINKPACIFIC’s program

Project Objectives

• To utilise the suitcase radio as a critical bridge between communities, giving voice to women, serving as a channel of information and communication for the marginalized and thereby assisting in the increasing awareness of the feminization of poverty
• To continue to offer a safe space for women and young women to discuss and contribute solutions to Fiji post conflict transformation
• By engaging communities in radio content production, provide women and their communities with the opportunity to articulate their stories as well as highlight community-based poverty eradication solutions which will be channelled to policy makers in the capital city
• Increase recognition of the role of community radio as a recognized component for inclusive communication and strengthening democratic and peace building processes in society
• Mainstream community broadcast content through femLINKpacific‘s membership of the World Association of Community Radio as well as by enhancing audio content on femLINKpacific’s website www.femlinkpacific.org.fj
• Strengthen young women volunteers capability of staging “Women’s Weekend Radio broadcasts”

This project is funded by IWDA supporters and through the ANCP matched giving program.

femLINKpacific’s website: http://www.femlinkpacific.org.fj/

-last updated 25/02/09

Tags: femLink, Fiji, Leadership and Participation, Social Inclusion

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 25th, 2008 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Fiji, Projects. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.