Entrants's Name: Henry Kabwe
Country: Zambia
Field: Orphans and Vulnerable Children throughout Zambia
Innovation - idea: Linking children and people living with HIV/AIDS to free schools and ARV treatment respectively through radio, especially community radio stations.
Innovation - why it is pioneering: The Media Network on Orphans and Vulnerable Children is the first network of journalists in southern Africa to concentrate on children's issues and the impact of HIV/AIDS on them and their relatives. Through empowering families and caregivers in this initiative,children are assured of a better future by imformative kind of discussions and linkage points given in radio stations. At community level, radio stations are playing their rightful role.
Strategy - how it achieves impact: Discussants and people that are vulnerable are invited to radio stations to discuss the bad situations and testimonies of the vulnerability and then solutions are given by the people helping out.
Strategy - growth plans: The Network does the programmes after sensitisation workshops in urban and rural Zambia for local journalists to learn the format of presentation and make sure there is audience feedback and participation.Thank you letters and renditions are found in follow up workshops. Localjournalists,already employed run the programmes.
Impact to date: When such information spread out,other provinces, the three remaining ones have been phoning the Network to extend its work to them. Since it's only in seven out of nine provinces, only funds are a limiting factor but work going round had made even the mainstream media to write something on and make children speak for themselves.
Future impact: Government, Members of Parliament, Chiefs, Community leaders,Media practitioners and the general public would have reached a level where they respect children's rights and look at them with respect. Ensuring that supporting people with HIV/AIDS is also with a purpose of preserving children's lives.
Sustainability - resource base: The Network is run by volunteers comprising media, government and NGO workers. It works with UNICEF - publ;ication of magazine and radio programmes - Chilren in Need Network and the USAID. Members are the major supporters as they continue to gather child related information on children with or without donor support.
Major challenge for the field: To get more journalists trained as most of them are still writing unethically, making sure that people in rural areas get some winding radios to have access to their community radio programmes, Some radio stations strategically placed to reach more people are quite expensive and the lack of logistics to conduct workshops in the three remaining provinces.
Contact Information:
Name: Henry Kabwe
Country: Zambia
Website: N/A
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