USAID/OTI Sudan Hot Topics December 2006
Radio Programming Addresses Violence Against Women in Eastern Chad
The overarching goal of the USAID/OTI Sudan program is to strengthen Sudanese confidence and capacity to address the causes and consequences of political marginalization, violence, and instability that has consumed the country for nearly 50 years.
Working within the context of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the OTI Sudan program focuses on promoting the emergence of responsive and effective civil authorities; peaceful dialogue within and among communities; fostering the emergence of an active civil society; increasing the availability of independent information; and protecting vulnerable populations from grave human rights violations and related abuses.
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| Radio Absoun journalism trainee interviews a Darfuri refugee in Iriba, Eastern Chad. |
Displaced women living in the camps of Darfur and Eastern Chad often face serious health problems due to complications during childbirth. Marrying young, many women have their first children during adolescence. Their knowledge of reproductive health is limited, and their bodies, often small and malnourished, are not always ready for motherhood. For the child, the situation can result in developmental disabilities, and for the mother it can lead to debilitating, long-term health problems, such as fistula and incontinence. In some cases complications are made worse because many women are reluctant to seek outside medical assistance, preferring to give birth at home with a traditional birth attendant.
The Chadian and Darfuri refugee journalists at the Radio Absoun in Iriba, Eastern Chad, which is funded by USAID through U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's Initiative to Combat Violence Against Women, recognized the extent of the problem and addressed it in the Zaghawa, French, and Arabic languages in its weekly radio show, "To Your Health." The show, which broadcasts into three refugee camps and surrounding communities, featured an interview with a Chadian doctor on the medical consequences of complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Within a few months, health professionals working with Médecins sans Frontières noted a marked increase in the number of refugee women coming to camp clinics for prenatal counseling and to give birth. They also saw fewer complications-and healthier women and healthier babies in the camps.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: : Victoria Rames, Program Manager, Tel: (202) 712-4899, vrames@usaid.gov
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