'Shakti': Radio as Inspiration

One of the presenters on Asmita’s weekly radio programme Shakti

The issue of marital rape was just one of the many gender issues discussed on the Nepalese women’s radio programme Shakti last year. Shakti, meaning ‘power’ is an initiative of Asmita Women’s Publishing House, Media and Resource Centre broadcasted weekly on what was the first independent community radio station in South Asia, Radio Sagarmatha FM

79% of women and 46% of men are illiterate in Nepal and so for the majority radio is the only means of obtaining information. In recent years, Nepal has witnessed the birth of a number of new radio stations in Kathmandu and other urban areas. These radio stations have attracted more attention than the national mainstream radio channel Radio Nepal. Following a study of the formats and trends of the programmes on these popular FM stations, Asmita concluded that they lack information on the issues and activities relevant to Nepalese women and so decided to produce a 45-minute radio magazine with the aim of raising awareness on gender issues, identifying solutions to the problems that Nepalese women experience and highlighting the different contributions that women make to Nepalese society with a particular focus on women’s activism at the local, national and international level.

Shakti regularly features women who are not usually invited to speak by mainstream media.

With the support of WACC, in 2002 Asmita produced 39 programmes. Each half-hour programme included a discussion on a particular gender issue, a feature on a current social issue from a gender perspective, health advice and general tips and a report on gender activism at either the national or international level. Shakti also regularly featured women who are rarely invited by other media to act as resource people on various topics with the aim of demonstrating that women are capable of sharing ideas and have a depth of knowledge on various social issues. Topics covered by the programme have ranged from an analysis of the constraints on women’s leadership to classical women dancers, adolescence to the role of women in peace management, and test-tube babies to the torture of women as witches.

Since the launch of Shakti, its audience has been steadily increasing – a testament to its success only strengthened by the fact that other FM radio producers have approached Asmita for advice and suggestions on how to produce radio magazines for women.
As the executive Editor of Asmita explains, "the radio programme Shakti is an effort to utilise the emerging popularity of FM radios in favour of women, and the response has been really encouraging. The programme has succeeded in highlighting the concerns of women and has played a significant role in raising awareness of such issues at the national level. It has also served to recognise women's broad contributions at both the personal and collective level. Some of the audience have clearly been inspired by the programme and have contacted the successful women guests on the programme as a first step to becoming active in the area of women’s rights”.