Why girls matter: Working with radios to raise community awareness on girls’ education

Schools in Nepal have been closed since March 2020 to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic putting an estimated 4.5 million girls at risk of not completing their education, according to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics.

Experience tells us such crises lead to long-lasting impacts on gender equality and education with irrevocable consequences on the most marginalised girls. The risk of child labour, gender-based violence, early and forced marriage, and early and unintended adolescent pregnancy may increase, leading to many girls never returning to school.

To ensure that no one is left behind, the UNESCO-UNFPA-UN Women Joint Programme in Nepal has started a community radio advocacy programme to facilitate conversations and increase awareness on girls’ education.

To most people in rural Nepal, accessing information and services online is not easy. Practical issues from electricity supply to data accessibility as well as limited digital skills make it challenging for Information and Communication Technology or ICT-based services to be readily accessible. As a result, radio still remains the most popular medium of information where people easily tune in either through conventional radio sets or radio applications on their mobile phones.

Through radio dramas, Vox-pop (Voices of the people) and interviews, the show,  पढ्न देउ, अघि बढ्न देउ (Let us learn, Let us grow), identifies existing gender inequalities and harmful practices that perpetuate gender discrimination jeopardising girls’ access to and continuity of learning. The radio drama revolves around  Srijana, a girl aged 18 whose parents wish to marry her off to relieve the burden on the family due to the pandemic.

The radio show is being broadcasted for three months across 26 community radio stations in five districts of Nepal including Province 2 and Sudur Paschim (Far West) Province. These two provinces are home to some of the most marginalised communities of Nepal, where discriminatory cultural practices like Chhaupadi (a social practice of isolation during menstruation), early marriage and dowry are still prevalent. 

UNESCO is working with ACORAB, an association of community radio broadcasters in Nepal, to engage listeners in remote areas where access to online media remains a challenge. The weekly show is accompanied by public service announcements and radio jingles discusse harmful social practices that hinder girls’ learning, girls’ challenges during the pandemic and advocate for girls’ safe return to the classroom when schools reopen.

All episodes are live broadcasted through UNESCO Kathmandu’s Facebook page every Saturday morning from 6:30 to 7:00, and on Wednesdays in the local languages spoken in each of the five targeted districts.

The programme was first launched on the occasion of International Day of the Girl last year during an event, Speak Up and Lead. It brought together over 50 adolescent girls who led the radio shows with local government representatives.

Maya Kunwar, Deputy Chief of Chaurpati Rural Municipality of Achham district, stated that the discussions she had with girls during the launch event Speak Up and Lead allowed her to better understand the challenges that are specific to girls and how these affect their dropout and disruption in learning.

When the schools closed, we did not think about how this might lead to new challenges for girls. This interaction has helped us and the local government, to reflect on these issues and think about ways to support them with a focus on creating an enabling environment for their safe return to school.

Maya Kunwar, Deputy Chief of Chaurpati Rural Municipality of Achham district

This activity contributes to the work of the Global Education Coalition’s Gender Flagship and its Keeping girls in the picture campaign aiming to safeguard the education of every girl everywhere.