Samajhdari: A Radio Program to look at the intersection between Violence against Women and HIV

About the Radio Program Samajhdari:
Samajhdari ( Mutual Understanding); a thirty minutes radio program produced and presented by Equal Access Nepal under the financial support of UN Trust Fund and technical support of UNIFEM, basically deals with the issues and inter-linkage of VAW and HIV. This program aims at maintaining a mutual understanding between husband and wife, and among other members within the family by making them feel easy to talk and discuss freely on the issues of VAW and HIV. Apart from the above mentioned primary target audience, the program also includes migrants and their spouses, sex workers, survivors of violence, and PLWHA who are at a greater risk of twin pandemics; VAW and HIV.

This interactive radio program incorporating voices and opinions from around the country on the issues related to VAW and HIV in Nepal. Each week the program will feature experts, people living with HIV, survivors of violence, sex workers and a range of other special guests debating some of the key issues and dilemmas facing women survivors of violence and those living with HIV. Through true life profiles, phone-ins and stories from our field based community reporters across Nepal, this lively program will prompt people to rethink their views and ideas around VAW and HIV calling for collective action to end these twin pandemics and the stigma that surround them. Listening to the program, the audience can identify and analyze the interrelationship between HIV and VAW through the recorded voices that are sent by 12 female community reporters from six outreach districts of Nepal. Equal Access Nepal works in partnership with Rural Women's Development and Unity Centre (RUWDUC) in Dadeldhura, AAWAJ in Surkhet, Women's Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in Dang, Samjhauta Nepal in Mahottari, Makwanpur Mahila Samuha in Makwanpur, and Mahila Aatmanirbharta Kendra in Sindhupalchwok to mobilize the community level activities along with collecting local voices through the community reporters. Moreover, there are sixty listening sites, ten in each district consisting of 20-25 listeners in each group to listen to the radio program "Samajhdari" and lead a group discussion weekly. Through this community discussion, the program encourages the listeners to take collective actions against VAW and HIV.

At present, the program is weekly broadcast through Equal Access's World Space Satellite Beam 1, CARR 80, BC 1307, Radio Nepal Network and through 16 different other local FM stations throughout the country.

Equal Access Nepal on the Issues of Women's Right
Most of the radio programs in the country prioritize radio contents that are related to the issues of women. Before this particular program, Equal Access Nepal had produced and broadcast radio series that were related to women's right, women empowerment, and equal participation. These kinds of programs include "Sangsangai", the fifteen episodic programs, which focused on the vital issues of women's right. Similarly, "Sundai Feridain", a radio program that included women community reporters of GWP from Nepalgung, Dang, Makwanpur, Chitwan, who were active in the fields of HIV and women empowerment. Equal Access Nepal has also produced the radio program centered on a meaningful participation of women in Constitution Assembly.