Helen Keller International Promotes Education for Girls through Radio Campaigns in Mali

Bamako, Mali, September 12, 2006 – Helen Keller International (HKI) launched its second national radio campaign to promote the education of children, particularly young girls on September 12, 2006. The campaign is a collaborative effort with partners that include The National Minister of Education, PAM, UNICEF, USAID, UNESCO, URTEL, and Africare. The first program was broadcast in September 2005. This year, HKI invited twenty members of the press to come to the radio stations to help create a more professional and vivid broadcast. After the program, the presenters and producers from thirty radio stations attended a workshop to reinforce and strengthen their skills.

The launch ceremony was presided over by a representative from the National Minister of Education as well as members from the program partners. The Mali Government has pledged to follow the example of many other governments worldwide by subscribing to the United Nations Millennium Goal of Development concerning education for all. The radio campaign helps supports the Mali government’s educational objectives. At the ceremony, the program partners shared their education strategies for improving education in Mali, and provided invited journalists with materials they’d created for the 2006-2007 school year.

Mali is far behind in educating its population as compared to other countries. An assessment of levels of schooling, repeated grades, and drop-out and success rates shows a widening gap between Malian boys and girls, a problem that HKI’s campaign for girls’ education seeks to resolve. Statistics show that the access to education for girls is getting worse from year to year, which will result in an increase of the number of women who are illiterate.

Underlying the campaign is the belief that education is a right. The messages broadcast on the radios encourage parents to enroll both their sons and daughters in schools, and explain the role and responsibility of community leaders and teachers. Seventy radio stations air the campaign two to three times a day over a period of two months. The messages are being broadcast in the five primary languages of Mali – Bambara, Tamasheq, Sonrhai, Maure, and Sonimke – to reach the greatest possible audience.

“Girls and boys are all our children.  They have the same rights.  Let’s give them the same opportunities to succeed in life.  Enroll all of them in school from the age of six on!”