| RESSOURCE / RESOURCE - RESOURCE / BIBLIOGRAPHY |
|
RESSOURCE / RESOURCE - RESOURCE / BIBLIOGRAPHY |
| Auteur / Author : | Rosita Ericsson | ONLINE |
| Titre / Title : | I am a child but I have my rights too! Radio Campaign in West Africa. Final Evaluation Report For Plan Region of West Africa | |
| Collection / Series : | ||
| Editeur / Publisher : | Plan | EN |
| Année / Year : | 2005 | Nbr. Pages : 100 pages / 4 Mb Taille / Size | ||
| URL : | http://www.plan-international.org/pdfs/waro-evaluation.pdf | |||
| Evaluation / Book review. | ||||
| “I’m a child but I have my rights too!” is an awareness campaign on the rights of the child, which has been broadcasted since 1999 on radio stations in Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Senegal, Togo. The campaign focuses on the application of children’s rights within the day-to-day lives of young people in West Africa. Through the use of 29, five-minutes, stories the radio campaign promotes child rights’ issues such as health, good environment, education and gender equity. Children have active roles at all stages of the implementation of the project. The campaign is initiated and coordinated by Plan’s West Africa Regional Office (WARO). It is produced and implemented by the participating country offices in collaboration with national and local broadcasters, authorities and NGO partners. The radio spots have been produced in more than 20 different languages. The objectives of the project are to contribute to increase the level of awareness and understanding of the rights of the child, among children and their guardians, and to support Plan’s specialized programs and increase awareness about Plan. This document is the final report of the regional evaluation of the project. It was done through a combination of field research and a desk study in September-November 2004. At that stage most countries had successfully implemented the two phases of the radio project. Only Guinea-Bissau was still broadcasting phase II, while Burkina Faso did extra broadcasts in additional languages. “I’m a child but I have my rights too!” has grown to become much more than a radio campaign. Theatre and school activities are integral parts of the project and could continue for many years to come. The campaign project greatly exceeded ist planned outputs and original scope. Hundreds of children have been involved in the production and broadcast of the show and many thousands have participated in its contests and public recordings. This evaluations shows that the stories are well adapted and appreciated by children and adults. Storytelling and educational drama have proved to be effective and popular ways to raise awareness of children’s rights in the project countries. The identification factor is high and children can relate the stories directly to their own lives. The messages give children courage to seek support from adults and to look for solutions to their problems. They gain knowledge, which they also pass on to others by discussing what they have heard with their families and friends. Hearing other young people talk on the radio encourages and motivates children to participate themselves or in other ways make their voices heard. The evaluation shows that the impact of the project is particularly strong when it is implemented directly in the communities and involves young people directly through mobile radio stations, listening clubs or as an integrated part of Plan’s advocacy work. The campaign has contributed to breaking taboos surrounding excision and to raise the awareness about issues such as girls’ education, discrimination of disabled children and illtreatment of step-children. There is a strong demand from children and adults to continue the broadcasts and repeat the messages from the radio campaign. This project has reached its objectives and should be seen as an encouraging experience to draw on in the development of new media initiatives, by Plan and by any other organization. (Excerpt from the summary) |
|