DMI: Working with our radio partners to address taboos

We at DMI want to use this month’s update to tell you a bit about our radio partners. Without their dedication and skill, many of our programmes would not be possible.

We have recently done some exciting work to further strengthen the capacities of our radio partners in Burkina Faso and Mozambique.

In Burkina Faso, where DMI is running an RCT on Family Planning, we have recently launched a new long-format show to stimulate debate and tackle taboos about sexual and reproductive health. For this programme, we trained over 50 presenters, actors, technicians and producers in a two-week hands-on session.

As of the first of November, all eight of the radio stations participating in the trial are on air. Initial pilots of our long-format programme were so popular that radio stations were unable to take all the incoming calls, and had to put in additional phone lines to respond to the demand. We saw a strong interest in the programme, particularly among men who are often difficult to engage through traditional community-mobilization activities. This shows that there is a big appetite for talking about relationships and contraception in Burkina Faso – a predominantly rural country where over one third of women (31%) have an unmet need for family planning.

Read more here about how we worked with these partner stations to deliver the programme and what we have done to make sure that the call-in show also addresses subjects that are otherwise taboo.

In Mozambique, we are partnering with the World Food Programme to build the capacity of community radio stations to campaign on improved nutrition behaviours. Instead of running a series of theoretical workshops, DMI decided to train the team on-the-job through producing and implementing an actual campaign and accompanying this with hands-on training. In this process, DMI will guide partners on how to use its proven Saturation+ methodology for changing behaviours: creating entertaining stories, testing them with relevant audiences, monitoring campaigns, and broadcasting them at high intensity. Read more about our first workshop here.

Our project in Mozambique is made possible thanks to contributions from the European Union (EU).