Women Talk Peace

The Women Talk Peace radio productions use varied formats including features, dramas and short plugs to communicate information about UNSCR 1325, as well as other international conventions and legal mechanisms relevant to women in conflict situations. The first radio productions focus on women, peace and security issues in Africa and Asia and the Pacific region and specific issues in certain countries in those regions. The productions in Africa address issues of reconstruction in Liberia as well as the complexities of the armed conflict in Northern Uganda. The African productions are available in Luganda, Swahili, Kpelle, Bassa, French, and English. The productions in Asia and the Pacific speak to the armed conflict in Southern Philippines but also reflect the nature and extent of conflict in Aceh, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Papua New Guinea. The Asia and Pacific productions are available in Filipino and English. The radio productions are being aired by a number of community and public radio stations in Africa and Asia and the Pacific.

In partnership with the Uganda Media Women's Association, Radio Apac, and a number of local women's groups and community radio in Uganda, IWTC is now (as of January 2008) producing a radio soap opera focusing on the issue of sexual and gender-based violence. Part of the production process involved a "writeshop" and focus group discussions during which local women's groups and people from Atana Village in Apac district in Northern Uganda participated in the development of the script, and in the field-testing of messages. The radio soap, which will be produced in Luo, Luganda, and English, was scheduled to be launched on International Women's Day (March 8) 2008. New programmes under the Women Talk Peace series are also being produced in Sierra Leone - again, in partnership with a number of local women's organisations and NGOs. The programmes in Sierra Leone will address issues confronted by women and men in rebuilding the country, including post-conflict violence. They will be produced in Krio, Mende, and Temne and will likewise be launched on March 8 2008.

The Women Talk Peace series is part of the IWTC's efforts to develop a core group of broadcasters, print journalists and other media practitioners who are informed about SCR 1325, in order to ensure a sustained flow of information about the resolution, other legal mechanisms and how they can be used to protect and promote women’s rights. In 2007, IWTC plans to produce new local language radio programmes in Burundi, Sierra Leone, and in Timor Leste. The new productions will draw attention to women’s involvement in countries that are undergoing reconstruction. In addition, the productions aim to facilitate more dialogue and women’s participation in the work of the Peace Building Commission in Burundi and Sierra Leone. The radio programmes that have been produced previously will be further promoted and distributed to a larger audience.

Women, Conflict, Peacebuilding.

The IWTC is an international non-governmental organisation committed to empowering people and building communities through communication, information, education, and organising support services to women's organisations and community groups in low-income countries. Women Talk Peace is part of the IWTC's strategy that sees access to information and the ability to communicate as a basic part of women's empowerment, women's ability to redefine development paradigms, women's participation in the public policy arena and the building of democratic societies.

Audio and scripts can be downloaded from the Women Talk Peace page of the IWTC website.