Radio Kaya and Radio Ranet in Kwale county, Kenya, have committed to run weekly segments on family planning as a contribution to improving the lives of the people of Kwale. As of October, segments have begun airing, triggering stories across multiple platforms.
Radio Ranet’s station manager, Mr. Hamisi Mwachai, committed to assigning a specific reporter to cover family planning-related issues and have the stories aired during prime time for the next three months.
At Radio Kaya, programs controller Mr. Victor Ongwena, pledged to dedicate a 5-7 minutes news segment featuring stories that link family planning and sustainable development goals, starting in October for the next three months.
The station leads also proposed that up-to-date information on family planning in the county would be regularly availed to reporters. Advance Family Planning (AFP) local partner Jhpiego Kenya will provide the necessary support to improve journalists’ storytelling. They will highlight following up with decision makers on actions needed to ensure family planning matters are attended to appropriately and effectively.
The commitment was a result of a SMART facilitation amongst Jhpiego AFP and the Kwale technical working group, which includes local journalists. As laid out by the work plan they developed, the Jhpiego AFP team met with Kwale county’s first lady, Mrs. Christine Mvurya, and senior health officials to discuss ways of engaging the media so as to sensitize and encourage them to tell family planning stories.
The commitment was made September 7-8, 2016 during a meeting comprised of the stations’ heads, local journalists, Kwale county health officials, and Jhpiego AFP.
Afterwards, Jhpiego AFP hosted a media visit to the county of Kwale where local and national media, including new media such as online platform representatives, shared Kenyan family planning news, reports, stories and best practices to inspire action and accountability on family planning.
The commitment from the radio stations is one of AFP’s first wins from media advocacy. As part of the 2016 supplemental grant award, Advance Family Planning received funds to implement new media advocacy efforts in Kenya and Tanzania. These efforts will involve using mass media (newspapers, TV, radio, blogs, and opinion-editorials) to complement each country’s existing advocacy strategy to advance policy changes.
Listen to the radio segments (Kiswahili):
View the news segments and articles:
- Discussing #TeenMumsofKwale on Kenya NTV – Oct, 2016 (English) (Kiswahili)
- News article on contraceptive use amongst local teens on Daily Nation – Sept 26, 2016
- Discussing cultural beliefs in the way of family planning on Press Pass, Kenya NTV – Oct 4, 2016