RAISING PROFILE OF WOMEN IN MEDIA Oct 2005 - Mar 2007

Meri Awaz Suno [Hear My Voice]
	The Internews-supported independent radio program, Meri Awaz Suno, has been, since it was launched in August 2003, immensely popular with a diverse national audience unaccustomed to hearing such high-quality radio programs. Meri Awaz Suno is unique because it is produced exclusively by women, on women’s issues.
	Based in Islamabad, the Meri Awaz Suno team produces two 15-minute programs each week. The show includes field-based feature reports, interviews, panel discussions, documentaries, and views from the street. These programs are offered free of charge to FM stations around the country reaching a potential audience of tens of millions. Internews is actively seeking new broadcasters in other cities to expand the reach of this remarkable program. The journalists of Meri Awaz Suno travel to both rural and urban areas of Pakistan collecting interviews and stories for their program. Topics previously unheard of on Pakistani radio are vigorously debated on Meri Awaz Suno, such as sexual harassment in the workplace, child labor, HIV/AIDS, family planning, prostitution, and women in politics. Most reporters working on Meri Awaz Suno had little experience working in radio journalism prior to joining the team. Now they are leaders – the first women in Pakistan to work as independent radio journalists. They are multi-skilled, able to work as researchers, reporters, presenters and editors. To date, they have produced over 100 radio programs. Under the current project, the Meri Awaz Suno team will produce at least 100 fifteen-minute programs for distribution to the nation’s FM stations. This program will continue to address health, economic, political, cultural, and social issues, with a focus on women, yet will also be of interest to a general audience.
	Hawa Aur Doonya [Women and the World]
	Internews has been supporting, since August 2004, the production of this pioneering Pashto-language women’s radio program based at Peshawar University Broadcast Academy built by Internews. Hawa Aur Doonya is a weekly 15-minute program with a format similar to the Urdu-language Meri Awaz Suno women’s program being produced with Internews assistance since 2003 and played on FM stations across Pakistan. Designed to raise the profile of women in Pashto media, a total of 30 Hawa Aur Doonya programs were produced in 2004-05 and under the current project at least 72 will be produced by end March 2007. As the title suggests, the program looks at gender issues in the traditional Pashtun province of North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. The program has covered stories about women and sport, the controversial rape laws, problems faced by women using public transport, arranged marriages and child labor, etc.
	Top
	Output
	100 fifteen-minute Meri Awaz Suno radio programs on women’s issues produced 72 fifteen-minute Hawa Aur Doonya radio programs on women’s issues produced At least 25 hours of Meri Awaz Suno and 18 hours of Hawa Aur Doonya news and information on issues from women’s point of view produced (total 43 hours of programming by women radio journalists)
	Anticipated Outcomes
	Female audiences across Pakistan gain access to information Profile of women in media continues to grow Program raises awareness about substantive issues affecting women and children
	Background
	Internews is implementing a $1.3m media development program funded by DRL and spread over October 2005-March-2007 (18 months) across Pakistan to train journalists to cover critical human rights, rule of law, and election issues facing the country through practical training, support for innovative TV and radio programming, and a legal resource center to provide expert advice and small grants. The project will also expand the capacity of independent media in Pakistan through expert advice and advocacy in media law and regulation, and monitoring of freedom of expression issues by Internews and its local broadcast and university partners. Proposed activities will accomplish the following: Help Pakistan 's most courageous broadcaster – Geo TV – to create Pakistan 's first-ever TV program focused on rule of law, human rights, and legal education; Train journalists in legal and political reporting to improve journalistic coverage and public knowledge on political and legal issues, with a focus on coverage of elections, courts, and the legislative process; Train journalists at nongovernmental radio stations in human rights, rule of law issues, investigative journalism, and supporting local programming on those topics; Support the women's production studio and program, Meri Awaz Suno (Hear My Voice), to produce radio programming on socio-economic and women's issues; Train journalists and journalism students from Tribal Areas to produce radio news programs, together with Peshawar University ; Create a resource center that supports rule of law reporting with expertise and small grants, and serves as a monitor and source of expertise on media rights and media development. The project supports the following DRL goals in Pakistan : 1) Build capacity of independent media through a focus on investigative journalism; 2) Promote rule of law through support for human rights and legal aid activities and clinics with civil society organizations, including media, political parties, and rights organizations; and 3) Strengthen freedom of expression by monitoring media freedoms and their violations. source : www.internews.org.pk