The South Sudanese radio show run entirely by women for women

It airs on South Sudan’s Eye Radio, which broadcasts across the country. It was set up last summer, in conjunction with Oxfam International^[5]. 

“The radio is changing people’s minds. People are listening to the show and learning,” Ms Kiden tells The Independent from her office in Juba, where the show is based.  

Kiden grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda after fleeing South Sudan in 1995 during the country’s 20-year bloody war for independence with the north.

She was inspired by her mother, who fetched water for others in the camp to make money to keep her children fed and clothed. And so on returning to South Sudan in the early 2000s, Ms Kiden dedicated her life to fighting for women’s rights, including helping set up the radio show.

“Most of the women suffering from gender-based violence are located in the remote areas of the country. They don’t know they are even allowed to talk, that they can say no. It’s hard to get access to the areas but radio can often get there,” she adds.

Gender-based violence is an increasing problem in South Sudan^[6], which plunged back into civil war in 2013, after gaining independence from the north in 2011.

The UN has said rape was used as a weapon of war in the five-year conflict, which nominally ended in the autumn with a peace deal signed between President Salva Kiir Mayardit and rebels.

Women have been among the most affected by the violence. According to Unicef, 65 per cent of women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime, and approximately 51 per cent have suffered domestic violence.

Meanwhile, poverty, violence and hunger are behind a spike in child marriages^[7] as families are increasingly forced to promise their young daughters to grooms in exchange for food and cattle dowries or protection.

Although official statistics are not available, in areas like Nyal, in the north, Oxfam said new data it has gathered showed as much as 71 per cent of all girls were married underage, making it the second highest rate in the world after Niger. 

Women are traditionally expected to be the breadwinners, responsible for securing food and water for the family as well as being the chief parent and housekeeper, Ms Kiden explained.

But at the same time, they are rarely given the opportunity to express themselves, are often not permitted to go to school and do not  realise what their rights are, she added.

This is at the heart of Peace of her Mind, which does not pull any punches with its subject matters.

So far, they have tackled everything from child marriage and the dangers of early childbirth to domestic violence and rape.

The pilot was first aired last summer and the show started broadcasting every Friday in the autumn. It reaches communities from the south to the north of the country.

Its main host is veteran South Sudanese reporter Hellen Samuel known as “Mama Hellen” who said it was an important platform for women to learn their basic rights and open a conversation about taboo subjects in South Sudan.

Ms Kiden said the all-female team were surprised when at the launch of the show most of the callers were men.  

“I had one male caller defending child marriage. He was saying that by the time a woman was 20 she was too old and no one would marry her,” Ms Kiden explains.   

References

1. ^{^} South Sudan (www.independent.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Peace of Her Mind (eyeradio.org)
3. ^{^} child brides (www.independent.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Subscribe now (www.independent.co.uk)
5. ^{^} in conjunction with Oxfam International (www.facebook.com)
6. ^{^} an increasing problem in South Sudan (www.independent.co.uk)
7. ^{^} a spike in child marriages (www.independent.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Subscribe now (www.independent.co.uk)