Women's rights through the medium of community radio in Burkina Faso/Participative communication for the promotion of women's rights

Virginie EBNER student laureate
virginie_ebner@yahoo.fr

°1983 Belgium Licentiate in Information and Communication, 2005

This study deals with a delicate subject, that of teaching women's rights. The reality of these rights varies depending on the society involved and the traditions and the laws of the country. Many women can neither read nor write, they have little knowledge of their rights and very few have the possibility of demanding them.
Radio communication seems the most appropriate way to reach most women during their daily activities. Without prejudice, taboo or value judgments the study explores the reality of local traditions, and it assesses the proposed solutions taking into account the opinion of the local population, who are the first to benefit from them. The conclusions take into account the social, political, economic and other constraints, which are examined with the help of those who benefit from the solutions. This participative approach seems the most suitable for any development initiative.
The study is original in its kind, it tackles a subject that has as yet been little explored, uses an approach that seems to respond, in an appropriate way, to a vital problem in most African societies, i.e. the promotion of the rights of women. These play an important role in development but remain absent from the decision-making process, mainly through ignorance.
 

report: Prof. Ch. Ntampaka, Faculty of Law, Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix, Namur, Belgium