Media Advocacy
HDI Media Programmes :
Human Development Initiatives appreciates the vital role the media plays in public education and enlightenment of these salient issues that affect children, adolescents and women. It is with this in mind therefore that HDI has over the years worked in collaboration with various media organizations. Our work with the media includes:
• Collaboration with the Broadcast and Print Media:
HDI primarily carries out awareness of salient issues such as Reproductive Health and Rights, Child Labour, Empowerment of Widows and so on by sponsoring television and radio programmes, granting newspaper, television and radio interviews as well as participating in society-developing discussions. 'Thrash It Out' is a television programme we sponsored. It served as a forum where secondary school students engaged in inter-school debates on issues affecting their reproductive rights. We also sponsored 'Lets Face It' a 15 minutes talk segment on YouthMag, an edutainment programme targeted at youths. Presently, we are working on a motivational/enlightenment programme for adolescents and widows called 'Silver Lining'. It is a thirty-minutes programme that focuses on various issues that affect adolescents and widows. We have also granted interviews and participated in discussions on different radio and television stations in Lagos, Oyo, Osun and Ondo States.
HDI presently also has an on-going collaboration with various television and radio stations as well as newspaper houses across the South-Western parts of Nigeria.
• Media Awareness/Sensitization Workshops:
From time to time, we organize awareness programmes and sensitization workshops for journalists and other media persons. In time past HDI organized a workshop for women journalists drawn from the print and electronic media across the country. Topics discussed include the socio-economic implications of harmful traditional practices against women and girls and the role of the media in attitudinal and behavioural change. Communication support design strategies as used in countries like Botswana were also highlighted for adoption in the Nigerian media. Another workshop for members of the press was organized by HDI to enhance the role played by the press on reproductive rights issues. This workshop helped to uncover factors hindering effective reporting of reproductive rights issues in both print and electronic media and also to develop workable strategies for effective partnership especially between the Press and NGOs in Nigeria. Media lunches and so on are also organized by the organization to enable gentlemen of the press meet and discuss with Reproductive Health and Rights advocates in a relaxed atmosphere.
• Mentoring of Students in Nigerian Universities Studying Mass Communication:
Recently we began to mentor university students studying Mass Communication in order to encourage them to develop an interest in reporting Reproductive Health and Rights issues which are presently being under-reported in Nigeria. We involve these youths in our sensitization and motivational workshops. The maiden workshop was the Reproductive Health and Rights Workshop for Mass Communication students of the University of Lagos, Lagos Nigeria. We are presently making preparations to extend our mentoring programme to students in other institutions within Nigeria.
• Repro-Mat:
This is HDI's newsletter which is produced twice a year. It focuses on Reproductive Health and Rights matters and every man, woman, boy or girl will find something of interest to read in Repro-Mat. To submit an article that may be published in the newsletter, please send it to:
The Editor, Repro-Mat,
Human Development Initiatives,
2 Iwaya Road, Onike,
P.O Box 1642, Sabo,
Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Email: repromat@hdinigeria.org
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