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Nepal starts Asian broadcasts with HIV/AIDS and development programming
[from UNDP's Newsfront - 30 June 2003]
Nepal starts Asian broadcasts with HIV/AIDS and development
programming
Monday, 30 June 2003: Satellite digital radio broadcasts are
reaching rural communities in Nepal with locally-produced programmes
imparting valuable information on HIV/AIDS and gender issues through
a new initiative by UNDP and several partners.
One programme, a drama set in a Nepalese village, and the other, in
magazine format, features a variety of educational themes. Shows on
early childhood development and micro-finance are being developed.
Nepal is the first country to start the broadcasts on the Equal
Access Asia Development Channel, a regional initiative, with India,
Laos and another Asian country to follow. UNDP and Equal Access, a
civil society organization based in San Francisco, California, are
implementing the 18-month pilot project.
The broadcasts, which began in April, reach more than 10,000 people
directly through satellite receivers in 390 rural communities in 14
districts and about nine million people via rebroadcasts by Radio
Nepal and local FM stations. The project is expanding to 51 districts
in collaboration with the UN Population Fund and UNDP Nepal.
The communities were selected for low literacy rates, high population
mobility and other indications of vulnerability to the spread of
HIV/AIDS and a need for information on development issues.
"This initiative will surely help to bridge the digital divide in
terms of delivering important information to poor and marginalized
communities," said Dr. Bal Krishna Subedi, director of the Nepal
Centre for AIDS and Sexually-Transmitted Disease Control.
"The broadcasts deal with risky behaviour related to HIV/AIDS and
other vital community issues such as poverty, violence against women,
micro-finance, reproductive health and early childhood development ,"
noted Ronni Goldfarb, Executive Director of Equal Access.
According to Dr. B.D. Chataut, chief policy planning specialist with
the Ministry of Health, teamwork among the public and private sectors
and national and international NGOs in the global campaign against
HIV/AIDS is an interesting aspect of the project.
Access to information is the key to empowerment, and empowerment
leads people to make informed choices to improve their conditions,
said Henning Karcher, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative. "Information and communications technology is a major
gateway to information and knowledge, and this project is using its
power to reach local communities," he noted.
Other project partners include UNICEF, the UNDP Nepal country
programme, CARE Nepal, the Early Childhood Development Division of
the World Bank, the Ford Foundation and the US Agency for
International Development (USAID).
Their support will allow expanded service to communities, testing of
multi-media materials, increased partnerships with local radio
stations, greater use of solar power and enhanced assessment and
evaluation. Specialized multimedia content, being developed, will be
piloted to complement the audio programmes with funding from USAID.
Community-based sites equipped with computers and solar power will
download this programming beginning this summer.
