With our Observers in Dakar (3/3): mobile youth radio

Published on: 06/25/2022 – 01:54 In Dakar, three of our Observers mobilize on a daily basis for young people, through their activism in education, ecology or employment. In this “Direct line” specially dedicated to the Senegalese capital, they tell us how they act for their city. Their initiatives, in addition to raising awareness of fundamental issues, open up job opportunities for young people. Last part: Mandiaye Pety Badji, host of the radio program “Parole aux jeunes”. It is a program well known to young Senegalese: since 2011, the talk show “Parole aux jeunes” reviews all the subjects concerning those who will make the Senegal of tomorrow. The goal: to use a medium accessible to all to free speech and raise awareness among as many people as possible. Mandiaye Pety Badji explains: We use digital a lot to measure the desire to talk about a subject. Depending on the lifts, we can start a campaign on a dedicated theme. There, we are going to start a marathon of programs on the mental health of young people, because in Senegal, we have an upsurge in violence among young people. Originally, it was a “mobile radio”: our Observer and his team goes to young people somewhere in Senegal, takes out the microphones and the mobile recording studio, and the debate is launched. The exchanges are filmed and broadcast live on social networks. What is recorded is then broadcast on dozens of community radio stations across the country. The show’s success has also earned it a niche on Vibe Radio, one of the main private radio stations in Senegal. A multi-media deployment that maximizes the distribution and success of the program.”It is with the children that we must act”In our report, coincidentally, our Observer produces a program… on another of our Dakar Observers, Abdou Touré, instigator du Quartier vert challenge, and has become the environment referent for young people in his district. Mandiaye Pety Badji explains: It is also a program that promotes everything that young people in Senegal do, and Abdou is someone who has succeeded in making many people aware of the importance of the environment. He does it with children, he has understood that to plant something lasting, it is with children that we must act. New deal support for the emergence of clubs of young girls leaders in the Kolda region. On the model of what is done in other West African countries, particularly in Guinea, these associations are made up of adolescent girls who raise awareness about forced marriage and fight against female circumcision. In particular, they offer families in rural areas the opportunity to sign a moral contract, called the “New Deal”: the girls undertake not to become pregnant before marriage, the parents undertake not to marry them off early. One way to give these girls the opportunity to go to university and take the social ladder. Our full report: With our Observers in Dakar, mobilized for young people These girls have benefited from several follow-up programs, in particular for talk about excision: “We want girls to be in front, that it’s girls who have been circumcised who speak, with medical and religious arguments at the same time. If they take up the fight at their age, they won’t excise not later”, explains Mandiaye Pety Badji. One of the girls from Kolda, now a student in Dakar, adds: “We continue to make programs with ‘Parole aux jeunes’, to pass on information to our peers, because through the radios, we can reach a maximum population.””It gives visibility to these young people who have not asked for funds, have not called anyone, but are getting involved”Sexuality, in the broad sense, occupies a prominent place in “Parole aux jeunes “, which wants to break taboos and ignores accusations of perversion from religious associations. The program also follows the economic growth of a booming country, but where unemployment remains high among young people. This summer, “Parole aux jeunes” is launching a campaign “The land does not lie”: We want to show young people who are involved in agriculture, because for us, it is a fundamental lever for the development of a country, and a way to get a job. We are going to launch a call for applications in our programs to say: “Do you know a young person who is involved in agriculture, vote for him, we are going to follow him, make programs on him with the radio-mobile, make a program with his community who will tell what he does.” It gives visibility to these young people who have not asked for funds, have not called anyone, but are getting involved. Bocar Sene, an agricultural engineer, is one of those put forward. He straightened out a farm near Thiès, and made young people from the area work there when they weren’t in class. For “Parole aux jeunes”, the hope is also to encourage vocations by showing what is possible.