Increasing Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights through Media Development

Journalists for Human Rights

Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) services for women and girls remains a major challenge in Mali. The economic crisis and escalating conflict have negatively impacted the ability of public services to provide SRH services. This tense situation has also led to an increase in Gender-Based Violence and has limited women’s ability to engage in economic activities in some areas.  

Media plays a significant role in shaping public opinion on important societal issues. A vibrant, objective, and impact-driven media can help address women’s rights issues by amplifying women’s voices and shining a light on social barriers to empowerment. Malian media inadvertently contribute to the marginalization of women by perpetuating harmful gender stereotypes and traditional norms, in addition to providing little airtime for issues that affect women and girls such as Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR). 

With support from the Fund for Innovation and Transformation, Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), in partnership with WILDAF, La Maison de la Presse, and La Coalition OSC-PF, tested an innovative approach titled “Promoting Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health in Mali through Media and CSO Development”. With the goal of increasing access to SRH services for Bamako residents, JHR leveraged a 3-prong approach to train, network and coordinate media, government officials and CSOs to advocate for SRHR.

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Approach 1: Capacity building of media and CSOs to advocate for SRHR, while addressing structural issues that impede the ability to effectively influence public discourse.

One of the main barriers to women and girls’ use of SRH services is access to information. Prior to the start of the innovation, local media outlets rarely covered issues related to SRHR while local CSOs lacked the skills to effectively create visibility on SRH services, leading to an information vacuum.

JHR increased the capacity of CSOs to craft media relations strategies and implement strategic communication plans to create awareness on SRHR, and shape public policies and the public’s attitude on SRHR. Concurrently, JHR reinforced the capacity of the media to effectively cover issues related to SRHR in a gender-sensitive manner with a focus on the training of women journalists and women CSO representatives to ensure that their voices were centered in the public discourse on SRHR.

 “I have been working in the journalism profession since 2014, but the FIT project has been a place for me to learn about sexual and reproductive health rights. This, thanks to training and support from experts and project partners. Thus, through the support of JHR’s mentors and resource persons, we were able to produce quality articles (varied and enriching content) on SRHR themes.

What’s better, after a year of production, I was able to familiarize myself with the legal instruments signed by Mali in terms of SRHR, know their evolution with "the Layidumètre" which is a tool for monitoring the commitments made by the state on SRHR. Also useful was the possibility of establishing a lasting relationship with members of civil society involved in the project, who are also potential sources in the processing of information.”

Alimatou Djénépo, a JHR trained journalist from L'Annonceur (An all-female media outlet).

Additionally, provisions were made for marginalized groups such as women, people with disabilities and displaced peoples to access SRH services at night for those who feared being seen during the day. Youth participation and people with disabilities were integrated into the SRH awareness strategy, which helped improve the project’s reach at the national level.

Approach 2- Targeted use of communication channels as an effective tool for informing and influencing social norms as well as initiating behavioral changes.

To influence social norms and attitudes towards access to SRHR, 80 gender sensitive stories were produced which focused on a wide range of SRHR related topics such as gender-based violence, female genital mutilation, and family planning. Through media coverage produced by women, focusing on women, or featuring women, the project helped amplify women's voices and increase gender-sensitive media coverage on SRHR issues. By featuring women as subject-matter experts and knowledge holders in both on-air forums and stories, the project helped combat harmful gender stereotypes that were prevalent within the media sector, and that reinforced gender equality.

Approach 3: Building strong cross-sector networks between media and CSOs.

Civil society and the media play a key oversight role in ensuring public accountability for human rights and good governance. A strong relationship between CSOs and the media is important for the promotion of SRHR. CSOs are often a repository for reliable and up-to-date data on SRHR issues.  As such, JHR increased CSO collaboration with the media to increase visibility on SRHR issues affecting targeted communities. 

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“We are a network of determined young people and volunteers from several civil society organizations and associations working in the field of sexual and reproductive health for adolescents and young people. For more than 10 years, it was the first time that we worked with the media for the implementation of a project.

We participated in all stages of the project from start to finish. Beyond our interventions on radio sets, the project allowed us to strengthen our relations with various radios and media; before that, we were limited to promoting our activities on social networks. We participated in interviews with media engaged in the project and provided information for articles in the written press, Web TV and video spots. The project showed us that it was easier to reach our target through media.”

-  Boubacar Diarra, National President of the Network of Youth Ambassadors for FP Mali.JHR estimated that 158 reports would have reached 7 million people.

JHR recognized that it takes time to improve access to SRH services and that awareness is foundational to encouraging behavior change. Overall, 30,255 people were reported to have accessed SRH services via mobile clinics. JHR found that upskilling and strengthening the relationship between CSOs and the media allowed for greater visibility on gender inequality and SRHR, contributing towards the normalization of the topic. Journalists and media outlets that were trained and engaged by the project have continued producing quality reports, which indicates the sustainability of the innovative approach.

Of note, the innovation testing results have been well received by various parties, including ONSAR, the government institution in charge of SRHR in Mali. During a JHR-organized ceremony to recognize the various groups that had participated in the FIT testing project, the local government confirmed that they would finance the training of an additional 300 journalists based on the FIT project's approach.

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