The Drum Beat 261 - Adolescent Women
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This issue of The Drum Beat explores action, thinking, and resources that highlight the use of communication to support the social development of girls between the ages of 11 and 21 around the world.
Please send information on other communication initiatives, evaluations, events and resources related to adolescent women to Deborah Heimann, dheimann@comminit.com
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1.Girls Go Global - Global
This participatory project aims to "provide a contemporary and edgy representation of global feminism(s) that is easily accessible for young women and those new to feminism(s)". Women and girls created representations of global feminist popular culture and submitted them online. Their poetry, essays, photos, art, images, and multimedia depictions of feminism are to be published in printed format and possibly exhibited. Organisers anticipate that the collection will include empowering images from women of various ages, cultures, and backgrounds.
Contact Suzette Mitchell suzette@girlsgoglobal.org
2.Tostan (Breakthrough) - Senegal
In an effort to end Female Genital Cutting (FGC), Tostan deploys teachers throughout Senegal to conduct 30-month "Village Empowerment Programmes." Stories, theatre, poetry, proverbs, song, and dialogue are tools for enhancing young women's life skills and reducing their poverty. Rather than directing participants to abandon FGC, teachers explore and encourage alternative rites - in one, girls receive family life education in seclusion and then are recognised as adults in a public ceremony.
Contact Sarah Lantz sarahelantz@hotmail.com
3.Breaking the Silence - Caribbean
This free out-of-school workshop series is based on the idea that knowledge is power. The combination of media arts and HIV/AIDS prevention education is meant to help teenage girls in the Caribbean overcome poverty, develop autonomy, fight for their rights, and take action to support the well-being of their families and neighbours. Participants learn how to become peer leaders and to create their own HIV-prevention video, which is broadcast on television and circulated in schools.
Contact Fiona Otway fiona@breakingthesilence.info OR info@breakingthesilence.info
4.3R Television Programme - Malaysia
3R - Respect, Relax, Respond - is a magasine-style television programme produced by and for young women in Malaysia. Broadcasts provide information about the rights of young women, with a focus on dating and sexuality, sex education, harassment, self-esteem, women in the army, and women on plantations. 3 young women host the bi-weekly, half-hour programmes; they interview peers who struggle with various challenges. For example, the "Inter-racial Friendships" episode explores stereotypes through personal profiles. 3R bases its work on viewer input and community participation, using workshops, online chats, and outreach activities.
Contact Lina Tan or Brenda Danker red_comm@tm.net.my
5.Aboriginal Youth Network (AYN) - Canada
This website was designed by and for Canadian aboriginal youth seeking an online community. AYN was initially created to house an interactive web module on solvent abuse (inhaling glue or gasoline). One of the young women administering that module was inspired to expand the website. She worked with peers across Canada to create an online community where young aboriginal women and men can connect with each other, access information, and exchange ideas, values, and traditions.
Contact Kathy Walker kathy-walker@nechi.com OR siteadmin@ayn.ca
6.National Partnership Support to Combat the Transmission of HIV/AIDS Among Adolescent Girls - Lesotho
This United Nations project aims to secure the rights to health and education of adolescent girls in Lesotho in order to reduce HIV/AIDS among this group by 5%. Strategies include expanding and enhancing youth-friendly corners in district health facilities and community centres; improving the quality of information and counselling services to help prevent unwanted and unsafe sex; building the capacity of district and national counterparts to offer life skills training and basic education for in- and out-of-school girls; supporting the enactment of relevant policies; and providing opportunities for young women's self-employment.
Contact Rose Wambura tim.rwabuhemba@undp.org
7.Young Women and Leadership Program - Global
The Association for Women's Rights in Development is working to enable young women to build leadership skills and articulate their priorities and concerns. An advisory group of 8 young women from around the world guides the programme's vision and strategies, which draw on both technology (such as an e-based Mentorship Program) and face-to-face encounters. Goals include: 1) facilitating dialogue among young women activists 2) recognising existing efforts by sharing activists' experiences and analysis, as well as supporting new analysis 3) getting young women involved in gender equity movements and building their capacity to do so, and 4) fostering intergenerational dialogue.
Contact awid@awid.org
8.Friendly PEERsuasion - United States
Girls Inc. developed this community-based after-school programme to help girls acquire knowledge, skills, and support systems to avoid substance abuse. Designed for girls ages 11-14 across the USA, the model of prevention includes a combination of adult leadership and peer reinforcement to instill the capacity and confidence to identify and respond critically to messages that encourage drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse. Girls are given the reasons and resources to resist, rather than facts and figures about the substances themselves.
Contact Sarah Riester sriester@girls-inc.org
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PULSE POLL
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Economic Adviser Jeffrey Sachs says that "African countries should refuse to repay their foreign debts."
[BBC News July 6 2004 - click here for the article]
Do you agree or disagree?
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9.Foregrounding Women's Voices: An Interview with Urvashi Butalia
by Laxmi Murthy
Urvashi Butalia, co-founder of India's publishing house Kali for Women, has moved on to set up Zubaan Books. Butalia defines feminist publishing as having a progressive political agenda, focusing on books written about women, and "reflecting the debates within the women's movement". At Zubaan, Butalia will "publish books about women that will be read not only by committed academics and activists, but by a general reader", particularly a young woman.
10.Why We're So Nice: We're Wired to Cooperate
by Natalie Angier
"Studying neural activity in young women who were playing a classic laboratory game called the Prisoner's Dilemma, in which participants can select from a number of greedy or cooperative strategies as they pursue financial gain, researchers found that when the women chose mutualism over 'me-ism,' the mental circuitry normally associated with reward-seeking behavior swelled to life. And the longer the women engaged in a cooperative strategy, the more strongly flowed the blood to the pathways of pleasure."
11.World AIDS Campaign 2004: Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS
Published by UNAIDS, this paper introduces the 2004 World AIDS Campaign theme: "Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS", providing an overview to guide those planning a campaign. It describes how the theme was selected and suggests partners, messages, and sub-themes.
12. The Adverse Health and Social Outcomes of Sexual Coercion: Experiences of Young Women in Developing Countries
"Studies in diverse settings in Africa, Asia and Latin America reveal that forced sexual initiation and experiences are not uncommon....Moreover, a number of these women suffer repeated episodes of sexual violence and a considerable number also report incidents of childhood abuse. Many young victims of abuse fear disclosure as they feel they may be blamed for provoking the incident or stigmatized for having experienced it, and suffer such incidents in silence. Presentations at a meeting held in New Delhi in September 2003...suggest an association between early experiences of sexual violence and a range of adverse physical and mental health and social outcomes."
13.Act Now! A Resource Guide for Young Women on HIV/AIDS
UNIFEM and The Association for Women's Rights in Development created this resource based on a Feb-March 2002 online discussion for young women. The booklet offers an overview of the e-discussions, profiles young women's HIV/AIDS leadership, and describes activities for young women who want to start campaigns to raise awareness and decrease stigma in their communities.
14.Adolescents, Unwanted Pregnancy and Abortion: Policies, Counseling and Clinical Care
by Maria de Bruyn & Sarah Packer
Intended for policymakers and providers of health care and counseling services, this paper provides guidelines for preventing unwanted pregnancies and offering abortion-related care tailored to adolescent women's needs. One focus is adolescent reproductive rights as outlined in international and national laws in selected countries.
LINKS
15. Dr. Kiran Mehndiratta's Clinic
16. INTACT Network: International Network to Analyze, Communicate and Transform the Campaign Against FGC/FGM/FC
17. Partnership Against Violence and Harassment of Girls
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This issue was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.
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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.
Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com
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