Farm Radio 2023 Liz Hughes Award is Radio Évangile Albarka, a Togolese Christian radio station in the town of Sokodé, a town 350 km from the Togolese capital, Lomé.
The Liz Hughes Award recognizes excellent radio programs that serve women listeners. Winning radio programs explore and advance gender equality, such as sharing women’s opinions and experiences, addressing topics that are important to women, or underlining the role of men in gender equality. The award is presented to the station who presents the best program happen, including the station managers, presenters, producers, hosts, and technicians, among others.
In recognition of their excellent work, the winning broadcast team receives $1,000 CAD (US$759.65) prize and a certificate.
A lively, energetic and confident young woman Elisabeth Koudjoukalo Hilim is one member of the production team for one of Radio Évangile Albarka’s programs, Égalité des genres et équilibre social (Gender equality and social balance). The program is the 2023 winner of the Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio.
The program is a 45-minute broadcast on every Friday from 8:00 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., to help improve the conditions and position of rural women by changing negative norms and beliefs about gender.
Broadcasting from Sokodé, the station’s challenge is to give voice to women in an environment that carries the weight of traditional gender norms.
During Farm Radio International’s event celebrating World Radio Day, Elisabeth expressed her joy at receiving the award and talked about the reasons the station aired the award-winning program.
“Nowadays, women are marginalized. Society expects that women adhere to certain norms and beliefs. Our program is based on rural women. Women have a lot of knowledge, but they are afraid of men,” she said, adding that Gender equality and social balance uses the power of radio to find solutions.
To illustrate this, Elisabeth recounted a story about the president of a women’s association in the city of Sokodé. She said, “During field interviews, I was in a village, and I met a lady who is considered the leader of a village group. When I was talking to her, she was very articulate. And I said to her, ‘Madam, I would like to invite you to the studio during the next program to sensitize other women and share the difficulties that rural women are experiencing.’ Right away, she said ‘no.’”
But Elisabeth didn’t stop with that refusal. As a broadcaster who wants to give women a voice, she convinced her to participate in the program. According to Elisabeth, today, this woman is a resource person who is highly appreciated by the audience for the quality of her work.
Radio Baoulé in Mali and Radio Mikayi of Kenya were named runner-ups to the grand prize winner.
Radio Baoulé, a dynamic radio station in Bamako is tackling a particularly sensitive issue: sexual and reproductive health. Their show, Keneya Blon (Health Corridor), is aimed to draw the attention of listeners and health personnel to the issues surrounding sexually transmitted diseases that affect both women and men, such as gonorrhea. It is part of the “HÉRÈ – Women’s Well-Being in Mali” initiative, which aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health and well-being of women and girls and to strengthen the prevention of and response to gender-based violence in Sikasso, Ségou, Mopti and the district of Bamako in Mali.
Also in Kenya, at Radio Mikayi, “Chak achaka” a segment on the Duond Mikayi program, a show dedicated to women’s empowerment and gender equality, the host, Cynthia Ouma encourages her listeners to start positive moves that could help them, however little it is
The program was a runner-up for Farm Radio International’s 2023 Liz Hughes Award for Her Farm Radio.