[afro-nets] UmNyango Project Media Release

["Anil Naidoo" <anil@indiba-africa.org.za>]

For Immediate Release

RURAL WOMEN PRODUCE RADIO PROGRAMMES ON HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST THEM

Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa ? 14 September 2007

Rural women in KwaZulu Natal will soon be producing their own radio
programmes on human rights issues affecting them. This is an initiative of
the UmNyango Project, which is currently using SMS technology for rural
women and men in KwaZulu Natal to access information to and report
incidences of violence against women and children, as well as violations of
women?s right to land. There are currently 160 people using this facility,
with the overwhelming number being women users.

The need for the UmNyango Project was confirmed in a survey of 5 rural
communities in KwaZulu Natal, carried out by the Project earlier this year.
It was found that there is an 80% IsiZulu literacy level; 83% of respondents
owned mobile phones and 80% are able to send and retrieve basic text
messages. The network coverage is also healthy and reliable in the target
communities; 84% used the pre-paid method of accessing airtime; 76% used
their mobile phones to make voice calls to follow-up on social-welfare,
water and sanitation, and electricity applications, as well as to enquire
about income generating opportunities. The SMS facility was mostly used for
personal purposes. Rural based communities do not use the SMS facility to
access information on development initiatives, government services nor on
human rights, as these facilities do not exist. However, they would welcome
any initiative that could allow them this opportunity.

99% would like to receive SMS headlines from Pambazuka News (an award wining
weekly electronic newsletter on social justice in Africa, produced by Fahamu
and accessed via Email and the Internet (www.pambazuka.org). Similarly, 99%
would like to access Pambazuka News and other radio programmes on human
rights issues via community and commercial radio stations or as ?podcasts?
which could be ?broadcast? at the community advice offices.

30% had witnessed domestic violence in varying degrees of incidence. Most
incidences were not reported and all respondents were of the opinion that
the UmNyango Project could ameliorate the incidence of domestic violence
through the dissemination of information and allowing individuals to report
these and to seek appropriate support. Of all the respondents interviewed,
none indicated that they were actual victims of domestic violence. We feel
that this is not a true reflection of the reality and that respondents
deliberately denied being victims, as they were embarrassed and/or fearful
of intimidation, especially seeing that the interviews were conducted in the
respondents? households.  Due to financial constraints, we were unable to
invite respondents to a neutral venue to conduct the interviews.

33% of respondents (all women) reported that they had been excluded from
accessing and/or the control of land due to them.  Respondents felt that the
UmNyango Project could assist in this lack of access through awareness
raising via the SMS gateway, radio programmes and also through education and
training.

54% reported that they do not participate in governance in their communities
due to the inaccessibility of relevant information, inaccessible local
councillors and the cost of telephonic communications. In addition, civil
society organisations were either weak or non-existent and therefore
community members lack the skills for advocacy, lobbying and campaigning.

54% had experienced conflict in their communities particularly around stock
theft, land and politics and 86% felt that the UmNyango Project provides a
good opportunity for conflict resolution.

During 20-26 August, a core group of women from the Rural Women?s Movement
(www.rwm.org.za) and a male representative from the Centre for Public
Participation (www.cpp.org.za), were trained on radio programme production
by Community Media for Development (www.cmfd.org). They produced 8 magazine
programmes covering issues of evictions on farms, evictions of widows from
their marital homes, women?s inheritance rights and the impact of HIV/AIDS,
sexual violence against girl children, forced/arranged marriages, young
women and employment and grandmothers and orphans. The programmes have been
made available to local radio stations, as well as being distributed over
the internet as ?podcasts?.  These may be downloaded by anyone with access
to the Internet. Please direct your browser to
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/broadcasts/podcasts.php and to
http://www.cmfd.org/cmfdprojects/ruralwomen.html. We encourage individuals
and organisations working with vulnerable women and children to make use of
the radio programmes for awareness raising.

The training of the women from the Rural Women?s Movement on radio programme
production, was made possible through a grant to Fahamu (www.fahamu.org)
from the New Field Foundation (a supporting organisation of the Tides
Foundation) (www.newfieldfound.org).

Dr. Firoze Manji, Director of Fahamu said: ?The ability of women to
conceptualise, develop and produce their own radio programmes is vital.
These are the pioneers of citizen journalism in Africa. The voices and
experiences of rural women can now be heard without editorial interference
and interpretation. We plan to extend this initiative to Kenya and Sierra
Leone in the next few months, and further afield in the coming year.?

The women will now begin training other women on radio programme production
and we are hopeful that we will continue to hear more reports by rural women
about their plight.

Anil Naidoo, Managing Director of Indiba-Africa and UmNyango Project Team
Leader said:

?The UmNyango Project is innovating simple, accessible and reliable ways to
promote and protect the human rights of rural women in KwaZulu Natal. The
Project is shaped and driven by their needs. This is the first instance we
know of in South Africa, where rural women are using an SMS facility to
easily access human rights information and to report human rights violations
against them. All they need is a mobile phone. We have a network of partners
that act on these reports. At a policy level, we are encouraged by a request
from the eThekwini (Durban) Municipality to discuss how they may set-up an
SMS facility for their rural Area Based Management and Development
Programme. Now with the training on radio production, the women will have a
powerful tool to directly interface with the rest of the world and thereby
expose human rights violations in their communities that are very rarely
reported on. In the next phase of the UmNyango Project, we hope to train
rural women journalists who will file media reports along with photo and
video clips using their cell phones. We will begin fundraising for this from
October 2007. An American company, ReCellular has already donated 50 cell
phones for this. We are hopeful that in the long term, these innovations
will allow rural women and men, greater and more equitable participation in
government, poverty alleviation and in the creation of a sustainable culture
of human rights in South Africa. We have just launched an SMS competition
for the participants of the UmNyango Project. The 5 best judged SMS?s
received suggesting possible community driven solutions to domestic violence
will each win a re-furbished cell phone. We hope this will assist in the
sensitisation and prevention of violence against women ?

The UmNyango Project is funded by the Dutch International Humanist Institute
for Cooperation with Developing Countries (http://www.hivos.nl/english), the
South Africa Development Fund (http://www.sadevelopmentfund.org), Clickatell
(http://www.clickatell.com) and ReCellular (http://www.recellular.com). The
UmNyango Project partners are Centre for Public Participation
(www.cpp.org.za), Community Law and Rural Development Centre, Domestic
Violence Assistance Project, Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), Indiba-Africa
Development Alliance (www.indiba-africa.org.za), Participatory Development
Initiative (www.pdi.org.za) and Rural Women's Development (www.rwm.org.za)

# # #

For further details contact:

Anil Naidoo, Managing Director
Indiba-Africa Development Alliance (IADA)
Indiba-Africa House
433 Clark Road
Durban, 4001
South Africa
Tel.: +27-(0)31-2011494
Mobile: +27-(0)825795431
Fax.: SA National: 0866518233
Fax.: International: +27-841970033
anil@indiba-africa.org.za
www.indiba-africa.org.za

Dr Firoze Manji
Director, Fahamu - Networks for Social Justice (http://www.fahamu.org/)
Editor, Pambazuka News (http://www.pambazuka.org/)
2nd Floor, 51 CORNMARKET STREET, OXFORD OX1 3HA
Cellphone: +44 (0) 77 86 62 86 86
Tel: +44-(0)1865-727006
Fax: +44-(0)1865-727909