Executive Summary:

In the month of March, 2016, a total of 18 radio shows were aired under the Sabawoon (the dawn) program. We collected 26 reports from our reporters from various parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). A total of 30 reports were aired on various programs. During the entire month we received 196 phone calls (live and post show) along with 207 SMS messages.

A total of 27 guests took part in the live program, 14 of which were females. We aired the voices of 53 women in different reports. Out of 18 radio shows, 11 focused on women’s issues.

One of our guests who appeared in Jwandey Jazbey (alive spirits), said, “Sabawoon as the name reveals, proved to be a tremendous dawn for me. After the show highlighted my achievements as a businesswoman, a listener of the show approached me from Dubai to help expand my business. My first contract with her is for Rs2 million. The show provided me a platform to market my business and to motivate people to believe in enterprising females.”

Highlighted Episodes:

Sabawoon is a CRSS flagship radio program aired from Peshawar for KP and FATA regions. It has been designed to inculcate respect for basic human rights, underscore the need for good governance, create awareness for democratic and governance reforms in democratic institutions and stress the need for improving women’s rights and participation in public spheres. It also creates avenues for the public to participate in policy discourse through formal or informal consultations. Brief descriptions of the Sabawoon programs aired in the month of March are given below:

One episode was focused on “Women’s role in the Decision and Policy Making Process”. It was aired under the theme Jwandai Jazbey (alive spirits). The guest included a PHD student and FATA Youth Organization Female Wing President Shumaila Javed. The main point of the discussion was that women are not only facing problems like domestic violence, harassment etc., but they are also deprived from their social and political rights. They are not even given the right to speak up in small family matters. One report about the first meeting of Women Assembly in Swat was added in the live show. In the report, members of the Women Assembly demanded that they must be given equal seats in Provincial and National Assemblies so that they can also take part in the democratic process.

Another show covered the female share in her father’s and husband’s property. It was the topic of the theme Da Ilam Ranra (light of knowledge). The guests were Dr. Nadia Mubarak, lecturer Biotechnology University of Peshawar (UoP), Advocate Amna Rafique and Advocate Laila Sher. The main point of the discussion was the female share in inheritance according to Islamic teachings. Due to our society and cultural norms a woman finds it hard to demand her legal share in the property. A report highlighting the issue was also aired.

Under the theme Da Semi Jaj (regional review), a show was focused on International Women’s Day. In the episode, the importance of women day was discussed. Several reports were aired during the show. One report focused on gender inequality that is still in our society and particularly in Pushtun culture. Another story highlighted the problems of Chak Hissara, a Union Council of Charsadda where there is no primary school for girls.

A program in March focused on the topic of women working in different fields of life. It was aired under the theme Jwandai Jazbey (alive spirits). Nousheen Orakzai, female rights activist and focal person of Takra Qabaile Khwende a project by Da Khwendo Kor participated in the show. The main point of the discussion was that the females of FATA are really talented and they can serve in any field, provided they need only an opportunity. One report from Bara Khyber Agency was aired in the show about the recent recruitment of Christian female in levies force.

Program Topics:

All 18 shows have been carried out on highlighting the role of women, socio-political, health and education related topics on contemporary issues of KP and FATA. The following is complete list of all topics with dates and web links.

Guests on Shows:

A total of 27 guests appeared on different episodes of the Sabawoon. The complete list is as under:

Field Reports: