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Elles Parlent, Elles Écoutent (She Speaks, She Listens)

Country

Chad, Sudan

Region

Africa

Programme Summary

Produced by Internews Network's Humanitarian Information Service, this radio programme is part of a mass communication effort designed to reach Sudanese refugees in Chad and in Sudan. "Elles Parlent, Elles Écoutent" (She Speaks, She Listens) intends to help women refugees who have survived the genocide in Darfur and who have become traumatised by the events they witnessed. The first programmes in the series aim to highlight services that are available to women in an effort to promote psychological healing and offer support to women refugees.

Communication Strategies

In order to produce the programmes the Internews Network used teams of Chadian female reporters who spoke with the refugees in the camps about their grief and trauma and researched the mental health services available to these women. They interviewed psychologists and trauma experts working in the camps, and produced two 20-minute radio programmes - one in local Arabic, the other in French - exploring the options available to those dealing with grief and trauma.

More episodes of "Elles Parlent, Elles Écoutent" are planned, and are expected to cover issues such as the following: the role of men in sensitisation campaigns for gender-based violence; services available to teen mothers (some of whom are raising children resulting from rape or forced marriage); and how to address the risks and fears around collecting firewood (when girls and women leave the camps to collect wood for their cooking fires, they are, according to Internews, sometimes threatened, injured, and/or raped).

"Elles Parlent, Elles Écoutent" is aired on Internews' network of community radio stations.

Development Issues

Women, Health, Conflict.

Key Points

According to relief workers, some of the women experience sadness so profound that grief turns to aggression, which causes them to be isolated from their community. The programme organisers say that some families in the refugee camps leave the traumatised women tied up in their tents because of their unpredictable and sometimes violent behaviour.

Following the broadcast of the radio programmes, camp workers reported that they had seen dramatic changes as women chose to stay active and connect with others.

Partners

Internews Network's Humanitarian Information Service; the United States (US) State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; the US Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Office of Transition Initiatives; and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Contact

Internews Chad

c/o Association pour le Developpement des Medias Communautaires (ADMC)

Abéché
Chad
Tel: 235 29 5852

Source

Internews Flash, November 2006; and Internews website on June 3 2008.


Placed on the Soul Beat Africa site February 08 2007
Last Updated June 11 2008

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