The WASH Radio Campaign
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) promotes radio campaigns to carry water supply, sanitation and hygiene messages to a broader audience. A WASH Radio Campaign especially aims at supporting and accelerating the advocacy and communication efforts of National WASH Coalitions. It creates new ways for the dissemination and discussion of WASH issues by innovative programming (discussion panels, community debates, drama, documentaries, Public Service Announcements, jingles etc.) and the involvement of public figures, government officials, civil society activists and other actors.
Voices that place emphasis on water supply, sanitation and hygiene can get heard and attract the interest of millions of listeners in Ethiopia, Colombia and the Philippines:
WASH Ethiopia Movement Radio Campaign
The WASH Ethiopia Movement in collaboration with WaterAid Ethiopia, RiPPLE (Research-inspired Policy and Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile Region) and Radio Fana initiated a year-long radio programme on the issues of water, sanitation and hygiene. Radio Fana, the first national commercial radio station in Ethiopia, transmits the programme in Amharic language once a week for 40 minutes since August 2008. The station operates on SW (6110 and 7210 kHz), MW (1080 kHz) and FM 98.1 MHz which cover the whole nation and some parts of neighbouring countries.
The radio campaign intends to mobilize the society to place sanitation, hygiene and water supply on the public agenda. Some specific objectives are:
- to raise awareness of how water and sanitation impact on disease and poverty;
- to encourage and motivate the people to be active proponents of change rather than passive recipients;
- to boost the community to use and manage local resources for improved sanitation;
- to influence government's water and sanitation policies;
- to strengthen the public private partnership and support the national effort to improve the sector performance.
Topics such as "Water, Sanitation and Health", "Appropriate Disposal of Human Wastes" and "Successful Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Programmes" were discussed within community conversations. Furthermore, the radio campaign broadcasted drama series on water scarcity, telephone conversations with higher officials about hand washing, and engaged role models to advertise best practices of e.g. ecological or school sanitation.
WASH Colombia Radio Campaign
The WASH Coalition Colombia, led by the Cinara Institute at Universidad del Valle, has developed a radio programme that not only brings water, sanitation and hygiene issues to the forefront, but also provides listeners with information and instruments to improve their situation at home.
From March to July 2009 a sixty minutes educational radio show is aired on Saturdays by Univalle Stereo at FM 105.3 MHz
- to sensitize and raise awareness of the need to change people's behaviour with regard to water resources and the environment;
- to inform about the most relevant current topics and concepts in the WASH sector;
- to create a platform that reinforces and streamlines the execution of various WASH projects in Colombia;
- to raise debates among the different stakeholders about issues in the WASH sector;
- to encourage WASH projects following a socially accountable approach that involves the participation of the various stakeholders.
The programme is a forum of experts led by a moderator. It addresses topics such as "Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools", "Efficient Use of Water", "Relationship between Water, Health and Poverty", while also making references to local examples and cases. Listen to some broadcasts in Spanish:
2 de mayo de 2009: Problemas frequentes en los nacimientos de agua, microcuencas y el impacto sobre el abastecimiento de agua. Escuche [Spanish]
9 de mayo de 2009: Cual es el valor del agua? Dos invitados economistas. Escuche [Spanish]
16 de mayo de 2009: La prestación de los servicios de agua en la zona rural. Escuche [Spanish]
23 de mayo de 2009: La historia del abastecimiento del agua, recorrido por el mundo y por la historia de Cali. Escuche [Spanish]
WASH Philippines Radio Campaign
The WASH Philippines Coalition teamed up with the Silliman University Office of Information and Publications (SU OIP) which produces the Silliman on Air radio programme on weekdays. The broadcast reaches Visayas and Mindanao provinces over DYSR-FM 95.1 MHz. Brief WASH messages are aired from February to July 2009
- to disseminate relevant information on environmental sanitation, personal and home hygiene, food safety and the prevention of water-related diseases;
- to report on efforts and success stories of communities to inspire other communities;
- to call for political commitment of local governments for WASH through enabling policies, work plans, mobilization of resources and local institutions.
You can listen to some broadcasts aiming to catch attention and arouse public interest in WASH topics:
3 February 2009: In the Philippines, two out of three water sources are bacteriologically contaminated due to inadequate sanitation facilities. Listen [English] [Cebuano]
10 February 2009: The cost of inadequate water supply and sanitation is considerable. Listen [English] [Cebuano]
18 February 2009: Separate sanitation facilities for girls in schools increase their school attendance. Listen [English] [Cebuano]