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 Issue 7: Spring/Summer 2004
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DOT-COM HOME https://dot-com-alliance.org/index.htm
Contact Us https://dot-com-alliance.org/contact.htm |
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Digital Satellite Radio Helps Overcome Rural Isolation How do we provide health and human rights information to the poorest and most isolated areas? How do we overcome illiteracy, poor infrastructure, and poverty in order to give people the information they need to make life choices? Information and communications technology (ICT) offers a solution - digital satellite radio.HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Mobilization in Rural Nepal Every day, tens of thousands of Nepalese tune into the radio drama, Khura Khasra Mitha, (Let's Talk Straight) to be entertained by the stories of life in the village of Sundapur centered on the elder woman, Thuldidi. This program, part of Equal Access' Digital Broadcast Initiative, delivers more than entertainment - the characters discuss critical issues such as HIV/AIDS and women's empowerment. These discussions continue after the broadcast in hundreds of village community groups organized under this Initiative. Rural Nepal is especially difficult to reach with information, due to its isolation, low literacy rates, and poor infrastructure. Radio programming, using digital satellite technology and solar power, can be the most effective way to get messages out to these communities. Digital Broadcast Initiative The Digital Broadcast Initiative (DBI) of Equal Access and the UN Development Program (UNDP) combines a cost-effective digital satellite technology solution, innovative local content creation, and culturally appropriate community outreach as synergistic vehicles for intervention and education. USAID/ANE is supporting this cutting edge program through a 2002 dot-GOV grant to the UN Foundation. Since the April 2003 launch of the pilot project, the following institutions have joined as partners: USAID, Ford Foundation, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, World Bank Early Childhood Division, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The Nepal Ministry of Health and the National HIV/AIDS Coordinator has endorsed the DBI in Nepal. WorldSpace Satellite System Delivers Radio Programming in Isolated Communities The WorldSpace satellite system leapfrogs current technologies with a digital direct signal received by a handheld, portable radio receiver. The receiver delivers crystal clear audio (uninterrupted by weather), including multi-media graphics and text if linked to a computer. Robust and inexpensive, this receiver system has enormous implications for the delivery of readily usable development information of critical importance. First Voice International, formerly known as WorldSpace Foundation, is a Resource Partner of the DOT-COM Alliance. Mass Distribution throughout Nepal The current audience includes more than 400 community-based discussion groups in 52 districts of Nepal. It is estimated that the direct audience is as high as 110,000 people. The current radio programming explores HIV/AIDS, Women's Empowerment, Human Rights and Early Childhood Development. Additionally, ten community radio stations rebroadcast the shows to an estimated audience of nine million. Engaging Nepalese Communities to Make Informed Choices These activities engage Nepalese communities in their health, livelihoods and human rights challenges, allowing community members to make informed choices. Discussion groups and formal feedback processes allow these communities input into the programs Listeners also send in thousands of letters. In the short time that the project has been operating, there is already documentation and anecdotal evidence of increased knowledge, attitude and behavior change in some communities. Changes such as:
UNICEF and the Nepal Ministry of Education are also negotiating with Equal Access to place a radio receiver in every school. Family Health International has also requested Equal Access participation in a cross-border initiative, reaching at risk Nepalese migrant and sex workers in Mumbai via satellite. Internews was awarded the dot-GOV Leader Award No. GDG-A-00-01-00009-00 on 21 September, 2001. |
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