Background
Despite having a resilient, resourceful people, overpopulation, lack of arable
land and the extended conflict's impact on tourism and the economy conspire to
limit economic opportunities for Nepal. Many Nepalese live on $1 per day or
less and have limited skills to sustain themselves or their families. The
majority of Nepal's population lacks access to the internet, telephones or
electricity. There are also high levels of print illiteracy. This means that
the existing oral tradition, which communities have utilized for thousands of
years, remains a dominant form of communication.
Equal Access broadcasts over 4 hours of social development programs
daily via our Nepali language satellite radio service, Our Land, Our Path
(Aphnai Mato, Aphnai Bato) that reaches over 20 million people via 30
local radio stations and Radio Nepal, as well as over 1800 listening clubs, 800
of which are in isolated, rural communities. Our in-house studio produces over
mulitiple radio series that empower listeners with critically needed
information about early childhood development, youth issues, sustainable
livelihoods, women's empowerment, education, HIV/AIDS prevention, reproductive
health, safe migration and peacebuilding. A recent survey by AC Nielsen
indicates that an aggregate audience of 9million Nepalese (over 30% of the
population) listens to our programs on a weekly basis.
Moreover, Equal Access manages a multi-sectoral, leadership
training and support system for community radio producers and reporters, NGO
outreach workers, educators and other community-based leaders. Cascading
trainings of trainers allow Equal Access to build the capacity of large numbers
of rural Nepalese to advocate for change at their local level. Together,
hundreds of trained facilitators lead their communities in discussions around
the radio shows and catalyze collective action to improve their lives. Trained
community reporters collect local voices to include on each radio series,
creating a true dialogue among the people of Nepal.
"Chatting With My Best Friend"- Youth Life Skills Program
More than 1000 self-formed youth listening clubs and millions of young people
tune in each week to "Chatting with My Best Friend" (Saathi Sanga Manka Kura),
our youth chat radio show produced in partnership with UNICEF, that engages
listeners in discussions with the hosts-the best friends-about how to negotiate
relationships, continue their education, explore career opportunities and
protect themselves from HIV. The thousands of letters received each month
include questions for the chat show hosts to answer on-air, and accounts of how
the show has inspired clubs to undertake local activities simply by following
the suggestions on the radio show-one group built a 2 km road connecting their
town to the main road. Recently, a new focus on the impact of the conflict by
"Chatting." includes stories about widows or prisoners, as well as information
about mine risk education, improvised explosive devices, small arms and coping
with disabilities, displacement or migration due to the conflict. As Nepal
undergoes substantial political transition, "Chatting" is the trusted voice of
hope for youth during this critical period. The Chatting With My Best Friend
program is funded by UNICEF and the Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation.
If you would like to donate to this program, please click here.
"Changing Our Worlds: Beautiful, Peaceful, Diverse Land"-
Human Rights/Peacebuilding Program
Building off the success of the UNIFEM funded "Changing Our Worlds": Violence
against Women/Human Rights Program implemented in 2006, Equal Access has
continued developing human rights radio programming and complementary
leadership trainings- recognizing this as a key moment in Nepal's history, a
time when human rights issues can be brought to the forefront of Nepalese
society as fledgling democratic institutions garner strength.
After nearly 10 years of conflict that has killed over 12,000
people, the successful people's movement (janaandolan) throughout Nepal
in the Spring of 2006, which forced the King to abdicate power, demonstrates
the profound desire for peace amongst the people of Nepal. Despite attempts at
discouraging the protests through imprisonment, brute force and firing on
unarmed protesters, men and women of all ages, from both urban areas and rural
districts, and from all castes and professions, paved the way for a new
constitution through an elected constituent assembly and created an opportunity
for peace. Although the rural population views the recent political changes in
a very positive light, the underlying conditions of poverty and inequality that
led to the civil war continue.
With the support of USAID, Nepal and the Joan Kroc Institute for
Peace, "Changing Our Worlds: Beautiful, Peaceful, Diverse Land" combined
community interviews and an innovative radio drama with critical engaging
leadership training to create a forum for discussions of human rights and
peacebuilding as well as a broad understanding of various non-violent resources
available to people to address the then escalating conflict.
Inspiring Nepal to Support Peace Initiatives & Reconciliation
Education (INSPIRE)- Youth Reconciliation Program
INSPIRE weaves critical issues faced by Nepalese youth during the current peace
process into a number of EA's current radio programs. By adapting and expanding
the innovative combined radio and leadership training projects mentioned above,
and by creating a youth livelihood program, "New Opportunities" to slow and
reverse the disillusionment of Nepali youth with their own opportunities and
the prospect for peace, INSPIRE gives a clear voice to the concerns and hopes
of rural youth searching for a path to improve their lives.
In order to mobilize and give voice to the experiences, desires and
frustrations of rural Nepal youth, INSPIRE is creating a network of trained
rural youth leaders to initiate and lead reconciliation activities supported
inspiring themes in Equal Access' radio series. Together, these interventions
engage rural youth in the critical process of reshaping and rebuilding their
conflict-affected country.
Our radio series, "New Nepal", conveys the positive transformation
of the peace process and equips Nepalese youth with appropriate language to
discuss, understand and be part of the current conflict transformation process
taking hold in their country. "New Nepal" features stories of people who
successfully sought peace and reconciliation in their communities,
internationally and within Nepal. With a better understanding of how other
communities cope with similar transitions, rural Nepalese, especially youth,
will not despair of benefiting from the rewards of a painfully slow
reconciliation process. Combined with Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation
Leadership Training for youth, the INSPIRE Initiative motivates rural
communities in a post-conflict transition to participate in and generate their
own positive vision for the future. The INSPIRE Initiative is supported by
USAID, The UN Democracy Fund and The Compton Foundation.
"New Opportunities"-Youth Livelihoods Program
As a component of INSPIRE Initiative (described above) and complementary to the
well known and wildly popular "Chatting With My Best Friend" youth life skills
radio program, Equal Access' new cutting edge radio program, "New
Opportunities", provides youth with tools they need to find and pursue economic
and educational opportunities. Although distance learning education does not
replace face-to-face trainings, especially for something as complex as job
skills acquisition, a radio series can help young women and men understand how
to identify, prepare for, participate in and benefit from locally available job
skills training programs or more importantly, how to seize opportunities
without the need for a new training. With special segments on opportunities and
success stories from each region and district, youth listeners learn to
understand the principles of micro-collectives or how to start small businesses
such as market gardens, ginger farms or roadside stands. While helping
listeners learn and retain skills from their training programs, this new series
also focuses on how to finish an education, search for work, apply for jobs and
migrate safely, as well as offer some basic English skills training.
"Learning While Playing": Early Childhood Development Program
"Learning While Playing" (Kheldai Sikdai) and "Welcome to School" (School
Ma Swagat) support the psycho-social and health needs of children
deeply affected by the conflict by addressing the low awareness level among
parents and educators about the importance of early childhood development. By
increasing participation in schools and addressing the profound lack of trained
teachers, this combination of radio programs with hands-on training increases
enrollment rates and reduces drop-out rates amongst children age 3-6. The
innovative curriculum for "Learning While Playing" was developed by Seto
Gurans, a Nepalese NGO with early childhood development experience. "Learning
While Playing" is supported by the Banyan Tree Foundation and ICON Consultants.
Safe Migration Radio and Outreach Program - Mumbai, India: Our Cross
Border Program between Nepal and India
To increase awareness and knowledge of sexually transmitted infections among
high-risk Nepali migrants in Mumbai, At Home and Abroad (Desh Pardesh), our
Safe Migration Initiative produced in partnership with Family Health
International, reduces HIV transmission by encouraging Nepali migrants to
attend health clinics to hear the adventures of Narendra - a young Nepali
migrant to India. As the only place to hear Nepali language satellite
broadcasts in a foreign city, migrants travel over two hours to come to the
health clinics/youth drop-in centers to gain emotional support from listening
to "postcards" recordings from villages near their homes in western Nepal and
through discussions with trained facilitators after each broadcast. This Safe
Migration Initiative reported an increase in youth migrants seeking medical
advice at the drop-in centers because of their interest in coming to listen to
the weekly broadcasts of At Home and Abroad. Listeners were less inhibited to
talk about sexuality and AIDS, and increased their use of condoms. The Safe
Migration Radio and Outreach Program is supported by Family Health
International (FHI) and USAID. For additional projects in India please see the
India Programs page.
"Changing Our Worlds"- Violence against Women Human Rights Program
After almost a decade of conflict, a strong desire for peace amongst Nepalese,
is seldom publicly voiced in rural areas, or, if voiced, is not considered a
basis for action. Voices of women, even those directly involved as combatants
in the conflict, are repressed and never heard. A similar dynamic exists for
key human rights issues, such as dowry violence and lack of access to education
for women and girls about their sexual and reproductive rights. For human
rights efforts to be successful it is important to engage women and hear their
stories; to provide them with information and equip them with skills; to
empower them to define their own paths to liberty and equality. The "Changing
Our Worlds" project is an innovative approach that combines broadcast and
narrow cast communication methodologies and trains local women to be rural
reporters. It aims to create the space for women to speak against violence,
both personal and communal, via radio and community discussion groups - a
combination that has the power of reach and depth impact. This program plays a
vital role in bringing women together to catalyze change in their local
communities. Radio is an ideal medium to reach women as lack of education or
literacy do not prevent listening and even the most under-served can access
radio in public places. The "Changing Our Worlds" Program is supported by
UNIFEM.
Digital Broadcast Initiative - Nepal
Equal Access, in conjunction with the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the UN Foundation (UNF) and the UN Fund for International Partnerships
(UNFIP), has designed a comprehensive initiative to provide critical
information on a range of development issues to the people of Nepal - the
Digital Broadcast Initiative (DBI). The DBI is not the work of a single
organization; it is a broad partnership of a large range of groups working
towards a single goal: providing vital development information to underserved
communities in an effective way. The DBI has served as the foundation of Equal
Access' activities in Nepal and is implemented in coordination with local and
internationally-based partners. A broad-based initiative, the DBI provides a
range of programming and community outreach activities addressing issues such
as: Health & HIV/AIDS Awareness/Education;
Women's Empowerment & Reproductive Health;
Youth Issues; Migration;
Human Rights & Peacebuilding; Early
Childhood Development; and Current and
Cultural Affairs.
We also acknowledge the continuing support of the DBI from the
Government of Nepal and in particular the Ministries of Finance, Health and
Communications.
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