Gender and Development

GMS: Radio Dramas as HIV/AIDS Prevention Messages

A Young Jingpo woman from a small southwestern Yunnan village in People's Republic of China contracts HIV/AIDS after receiving a blood transfusion. She purchased blood on the black market for an operation. She finds comfort after telling her family and friends that she has been infected with HIV/AIDS.

14-year-old Lahu girl and her friend from Northern Thailand decide to leave their remote village for a promised well-paid job in town. The two teenagers soon find out the promises made by the two recruitment agents are lies. They enter into the dangerous underworld of human trafficking. Their dreams are shattered. Their lives turned up-side-down with no future in sight.

A field researcher interviews a Krueng villager and his son. Photo by Vuthy Huot, UNESCO/Cambodia, 2006

Both stories touch upon the risks of HIV/AIDS, and the vulnerabilities associated with human trafficking and IV drug use among young men and women from ethnic groups. These tales are presented in radio dramas, produced under the ADB's technical assistance ICT and HIV/AIDS Preventive Education in the Cross-Border Areas of the Greater Mekong Subregion in 2005.

Women and girls from ethnic groups living in remote border areas are more vulnerable to exploitation and often at greater risk of HIV transmission. With lower levels of literacy, limited access to knowledge and information, minimal economic resources and imbalanced gender relations, they are more susceptible to falling victim to HIV/AIDS transmission, and human trafficking.

Developing communication messages for any population group experiencing rapid economic and social change is a challenge. It requires awareness, resources and specialized expertise. Adapting HIV/AIDS prevention and control messages for small ethnic groups in cross-border areas is tricky. Many of the ethnic languages are regional dialects. The diversity of ethnic cultures and the plethora of customs and traditions require special expertise and sensitive approaches.

Vuthy Huot, UNESCO/Cambodia, holds a recofding session with Krueng Villagers in Cambodia. Photo by Recording Photo: Vuthy Huot, UNESCO/Cambodia, 2006

Radio dramas in ethnic languages in low-resource settings are developed using methodology that was first developed by UNESCO and subsequently refined with ADB support. Information is first collected through community-based research, group discussions and personal interviews. Individuals and communities share their experiences and stories with the TA country-teams on HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, drug abuse, impoverishment and other topics.

These stories are then transformed into dramas in the minority language. The content is complemented with music, songs and other cultural nuances.

The GMS regional technical assistance (RETA) HIV/AIDS Vulnerability and Risk Reduction among Ethnic Minority Groups is supported by the Poverty Reduction Cooperation Fund and implemented in partnership, with UNESCO. It is assisting governments in the GMS to strengthen their capacity to more effectively communicate HIV/AIDS prevention messages among ethnic groups living in cross-border areas. The RETA builds on a previous TA to develop and broadcast radio dramas in Cambodia, Thailand, Yunnan Province (PRC), and Lao PDR. It includes pilot broadcasting of radio dramas in low resource settings of Cambodia.

For more information, contact Anupma Jain, SESS. To listen to a feature segment on Radio Australia on the TA, go to: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/programs/s1872008.htm* or visit: http://www.adb.org/Documents/PRF/REG/RETA6247.asp or http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=4162*

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