Sample Solution: Literature Review on Community Radio and Women’s Empowerment

A worked example of the kind of literature review our mentors help postgraduate development studies and media students build: a structured, fully referenced review of the research on community radio and rural women’s empowerment.

Module: Development Studies / Media  |  Format: Dissertation literature review chapter  |  Referencing: Harvard

Social status of rural women

According to Nirmala, 2015 The term ‘community radio’ has somewhat different meanings in different countries. It is considered to be third-tier broadcasting besides public and private radio broadcasting, which is managed, run and controlled by a community for the benefit of the community and is supposed to serve the interests and aspirations of the community. In the United Kingdom, the community radio is built around concepts of access and participation. In Latin American countries, the community radio, otherwise known as ‘the peoples’ radio’, became the voice of the poor and the voiceless, the landless peasants, the urban shack dwellers, the impoverished indigenous nations, and the trade unions In South Africa it is referred to as community or participatory broadcasting initiated and controlled by members of a community of interest, or geographical community, to express their concerns, needs and aspirations without outside interference, subject to the regulation of the Independent Broadcasting Authority Two philosophically distinct approaches to community radio can be identified, though the models are not necessarily mutually exclusive. One stresses service or community mindedness and a focus on what the station can do for the community. The other stresses involvement and participation by the listeners According to Sujith 2016, community radio is essentially. Community radio stations support community endeavours. These radio stations inform, guide, and entertain the people and provide a medium through which the most relevant educational local and developmental information is disseminated and aired. Radio is a convenient tool for information access. It is affordable, reaches rural areas and does not require special skills for operation. Therefore, community radio generally becomes a tool for disseminating information to poor, illiterate people who live deep in rural areas. It can reach out to many diverse communities with minimal requirements in terms of money, infrastructure and skills. Community empowerment is realised in this way because such radio stations involve community organisation, joint thinking and decision-making, all of which have great potential for empowering communities and building a democratic society (Centre for International Media Assistance).

Economic status of rural women

According to Singh and Pattanaik, 2012 The paid activities of women come under the definition of work force participation, whereas the unpaid activities of women are not considered as a measure of employment. However, it has been reported that the magnitude of paid women in rural areas has declined from 33.6 to 18.7 percent during the period 1992 – 1993 to 2011 – 2012. The maximum decline of 8.5 percent has been observed during 1993 – 1994 to 1999 – 2000, followed by 5.3 percent during 2004 – 2005 to 2011 – 2012. While comparing the magnitude of paid women in the urban areas with that of rural areas, it is found that the magnitude of paid women in the urban areas has also declined by 11.7 percent during 1992 – 1993 to 2011 – 2012. However, the number of unpaid women in both the rural and urban areas has increased significantly during the study period. It is interesting to note that the percentage of unpaid work among women is slightly higher in an urban area (82.1 percent) as compared to a rural area. According to Balan and Norman, 2012 Community radio stations have to self-generate funding for their own sustainability. These radio stations rely on volunteers, donors, church organisations, international development agencies, and some advertising for funding. It is noted that although hundreds of community radio applications have been processed in South Africa, few stations remain on air for long due to funding issues. This has resulted in several challenges such as monthly operational costs that have to be met, as well as incapability of maintaining equipment and working technologies. As a result, it is difficult to sustain employee salaries, ensure their retention and also keep up with research for content and programmes. The consequence of this is that community listeners suffer and migrate to other, better sustained radio stations such as national and international radio stations, which most likely do not meet their needs. There are several challenges that community radio stations encounter, which hinder their progress and sustainability. According to the Working Group Report for the Centre for International Media Assistance, challenges such as programming content, organisational development, equipment maintenance, and financial management are some of the challenges that could lead to the closure of the community radio station. The lack of adequate funding, insufficient numbers of trained personnel and the demonstration of poor leadership are some of the factors that have stunted a greater level of growth of community radio.
Services, information and programmes provided by community radios on women’s issue.
According to Sharma and Kashyap,2015 Programmes that feature women’s issues, although they are not designed specifically for women because they cover other topics of community interest. One such programme that deals with women’s issues. Features interviews and discussions on varied community projects and health issues involving women. It was established that many women listen to these programmes in order seek solutions for their family’s health and what is happening in the community. Among the topics covered during this programme are women in business projects, the role of women in churches and domestic violence. It also engages women in participatory debate. the programme that features women issues and a magazine show presented by women and focuses mainly on women’s issues. It also discusses spiritual and physical health related matters, as well as other social issues. It is a community driven show that profiles women in an around the community and beyond who do good things for themselves. According to Gatua.et al, 2010 The radio station sometimes organises slots with experts to inform and educate women regarding their issues. Undoubtedly, the broadcasting of programmes not directly related to women may also equip women with information on whom to contact and where to go for more information and assistance regarding their issues. Neither radio station has established information sessions and services for women. It is also significant to note that the programmes featuring women’s issues on both stations are broadcast during the day between 9am and 12pm. The interviewees at both radio stations were comfortable.

Rural women and access to information

According to Nirmala, 2015 Community radio is a third-tier broadcasting along with public and private radio broadcasting. Community radio is managed, run, controlled and owned by a community for the benefit of the community and serves the needs, interests and aspirations of a community. CR (Community Radio) gives marginalized communities where their voice is not heard an opportunity to express their views where in the mainstream media these voices are not provided any space or time. Voluntary organizations, civic groups, NGOs, Women’s groups/organizations, etc. are now entering into broadcasting to share, express, empower, give voice, to many communities to benefit them with the broadcast. In community radio the public are voluntarily participating and producing programme for themselves for their own benefit Women make up half of India’s population, yet their standing is changing. We cannot deny the fact that they are still discriminated against, ostracized, and mistreated in the world because of their gender. According to Iyer and Vats,2018 Women play a larger part in a country’s development process, and this can only happen if women are given more opportunities and are included in all stages of development. Empowerment is a phase of transition from one of imposed helplessness to one of power. Woman empowerment is a process that allows a powerless woman to gain independence, confidence, and control over her life. Having power is being able to engage and contribute meaningfully and creatively in the process of social development. It empowers them to speak up against oppression, injustice, exploitation, abuse, and violence.
The main problems of Indian women to deprive socio-economic status.
According to Chandi, 2020 The women have left the secured domain of their home and are now in the battle field of life, fully armored with their talent. Now, there is no arena which remained unconquered by Indian women. Female activists also united over issues as female infanticide, gender bias, women’s health, women’s safety and women’s literacy. Some notable positive changes which took place during this period. Lack of education. Lack of power. Poor Health. Maternal Mortality. Mistreatment. Overworked. Dowry. Female infanticide/feticide. Crimes against women. According to UNICEF’s ” State of the World Children-2009” report, 47% of Indian’ s women aged 20-24 were married before the legal age of 18, rising to 56% in rural areas. The report also showed that 40% of the world’s child marriages occur in India. In 2011, Government stated India was missing three million girls and there are now 48 less girls per 1000 boys. The gap between the two gender is a direct response to the gender bias within India. According to Kumar,2013 Men and Women in India have unequal health and education rights. Male education and health are made more of a priority. So, women’s death rates are increasing. A 1997 report claimed that each year at least 5,000 women in India die due to dowry. In 2011, the National Crime Records Bureau reported 8,618 dowry deaths. According to Renuka Chowdhary, former Union Minister of women and Child Development, around 70% of women in India are victims of domestic violence.

Women’s empowerment

According to Suresh, 2014 Despite the numerous challenges to equity in the ICT arena, many social actors have exploited ICTs as tools for social transformation and gender equality. Women artisans are directly accessing global markets through e-commerce initiatives and are using the Internet to support their activities with market and production information. E-governance programme have been initiated using ICTs for delivering government services; in some cases, with an explicit strategy to ensure these services reach women and others who face barriers to access. Health educators have used the radio to communicate information related to women’s sexual and reproductive health. Email, online newsletters and List Serves have enabled women to communicate on a global scale, resulting in increased collaboration to push the agenda of gender equality. According to Shirazi,2012 New technologies do offer remarkable advantages in terms of ease of communication, unprecedented possibilities for interaction, and efficiency in information storage and retrieval, however, they are not universally available. New initiatives have been most effective where they go beyond issues of access and infrastructure to consider the larger social context and power relations. In today’s developing environment usage of Information Technology has become a day-to-day activity which has exposed women to the new technologies, and hence are not difficult to be trained on them. It is observed that women in general have good concentration power owing to their nature of work, and hence are easily trained to acquire any new skills. As the women at lower strata are constrained to the homes, if we can get the technology to the women at home we will be sure to succeed in empowering them. NGO’s and Government departments have to plan training programs, to provide the required skills and establish groups for the follow up action.

Impact on women’s work

According to Suresh, 2014 Information and communication technologies are both enabling as well as a contributing factors to globalization. Information and communication technologies made global financial markets possible. Examining the issue of the impact of information technology on women’s work in the context of globalization underlines the differences in the issues of information technology and women’s work between developed and developing countries. In developed countries, most of the literature on the impact of information technology on gender and work deals with the association of men with technology and power. According to Joseph,2013 In developing countries, women are looking at the issue not only in terms of gender relations with the men in their society, but also at Western dominance over innovation and as the source of technology. Some argue that the new technologies are not appropriate for women because they are imported. According to Shetty and Hans,2015 this position seems to be head-in-the-sand. Information technology is no more foreign than air travel or electricity. The technologies are there and will not be displaced. It is more appropriate and effective for women to devise ways of dealing with them to improve the situation of women than to reject them for being foreign. As with globalization generally, the impact of information technology on women’s work through globalization has been most evident in Asia first, then in Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa is effectively absent from this process.

Capacity building of Women

According to Suresh, 2014 Several organizations are building the capacities of girls and women to make ICTs accessible and useful to them. At one level, girls and women are being provided general training in ICTs for ICT-related jobs; at another, women in business, women entrepreneurs and women in the professions, are systematically being supported for skill enhancement, career growth and greater work efficiency. In the Deccan Development Society, in South India, socially disadvantaged women have used radio and video to document and disseminate traditional farming practices, to reach policy-makers, and to archive their community-based development work. Such development activities in fact have deeper meanings; they reflect the recording by women of their own history and reclamation of their knowledge. According to Adeni 2016 The usage of ICT is prevalent in several villages across world. In Warana Project, in a VSAT-and-RF-based computer-communication network, a highly user-friendly information system in Marathi was developed. This was used for marketing of agriculture produce with a number of online features for selling the produce of the 70 villages to wholesale outlets in Pune and other cities and towns in Maharashtra. Information is updated daily with the help of the villagers themselves. Internet thus provides suitable opportunities to men and women.

Project started for village women

According to Patil,2014 The history of community radio in India is the account of struggle by human right activists, grass roots level community-based organizations and communication media scholars with the help of few international development agencies like UNESCO, World Bank and AMARC. The community radio movement in India was ushered in with high hopes and expectations in the mid-90s’, soon after the Supreme Court of India ruled in its judgment of February 1995 that “airwaves are public property”. One of the most central features of community media is community radio reporters who come from outside mainstream media organizations they are the grassroots media producers typically have little or no training or professional qualifications as journalists; they write and report from their position as common citizens, as members of communities or as activists, as supporters of their community.
According to Kazakos, Asasthana and Balam, 2016, various project has been launched by Indian government for community radio for women development some of them are following.
Gyandoot: is a project started in Madhya Pradesh to fund rural networked cyber kiosks through panchayats. The project was started in Dhar district, to offer villages multiple services through internet-based project. Through this project, information is available about rural life and agricultural projects. The internet gives information which was earlier available through middlemen. Information is available about education and employment opportunities. Complaints can be lodged on the internet which is of great help to men and women.
M.S. Swaminathan: research project in Pondicherry in Embalam district has led to creation of information villages. Ten villages are connected by a hybrid wired and wireless network, consisting of PCs, telephones, VHF duplex radio devices, and email connectivity through dial-up telephone lines that facilitates both voice and data transfer. This has enabled villagers to obtain the information that they need and use this information to make improvements. Local volunteers gather the information, feed it into an Intranet, and provide access through nodes in different villages. There is Value addition to raw information, use of the local language (Tamil), multimedia (to facilitate illiterate users), and participation by local people. Most of the operators and volunteers, providing primary information, are women more than 50%, thus giving them status and influence.
Smile: (Savitri Marketing Institution for Ladies Empowerment) is a voluntary organisation in Pune. This project has increased literacy level of underprivileged women through the usage of ICT. Internet has also helped them market their various products like soft toys, candles, bags, utility items, etc. Through Internet, there is greater awareness and exposure and market reach for the products.
SEWA: (Self Employed Women’s Association), uses ICT for women empowerment. The main goal of SEWA is to promote local income generating opportunities among women. The Self-employed Women’s Association SEWA, with 200,000 membership is spread over 800 villages in Gujarat. It uses an interactive satellite communication and Internet-based training programme to develop a cadre of barefoot managers among the poor women workers, focusing on women in panchayats, forests, water conservation and so on. Through ICT,training is provided on issues as disaster management, leadership building, health and education, child development etc.
Dairy Information Services Kiosk: (DISK) is a project which uses Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the dairy sector in Gujarat. ICT enables the creation of cost-effective solutions that strengthen the exchange of useful information between farmers and the union. ICT facilitates dairy farmers with timely messages and education to manage their milch cattle and enhance the production of quality milk. It is also assisting dairy unions in effectively scheduling and organizing the veterinary, artificial insemination, cattle feed and other related services. Usage of ICT goes a long way in empowering men and women.
Aamagaon Soochna Kendra: (My village’s information centre) is a project started by Government of Orissa by setting up 73 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) kiosks in the rural areas of 12 districts of Orissa. These kiosks are run by Women SHGs/ Panchayats/ NGOs / CBOs / Youth Clubs and managed by the Community IT volunteers paid through user charges collected and managed by the local hosts. Under a partnership with Mission Shakti, women SHG members are being trained on computer fundamentals and Internet basics at the IT Kiosks on payment of an affordable fee. Access to IT training goes a long way in empowerment of women.
The transformation in the life style of the women volunteers of Rural Communities of Community Radio Station.

Role of Radio in Improving Livelihoods

According to Nangooba, 2020 Development media theory applies very well to the study especially in this new era of development communication where social media has been used extensively by a number of media houses and companies to get insights into what users or listeners think about their products and services. Nevertheless, an increasingly important requirement has been expressed by enterprises to go past the listening mode and actively engage with the users’ conversations in real time, and directly on the various Social Media platforms. Towards this pursuit, enterprises have started to set-up their websites on popular social media channels such as, Facebook, YouTube and twitter, called ‘brand pages’. Brand pages help enterprises capture relevant discussions among listeners and provide an opportunity to engage with them for instant feedback. According to Baird and Parasnis,2011 confirmed that the speed at which social media is being adopted by consumers of information is high. Since the models of development communication are closely related to the human approaches to development, the study also explored the livelihood improvement approach. According to the Othman.et al,2020 the livelihood improvement approach is a technique that was developed to improve the lives of people in rural Japan before the nation entered its period of high economic growth. The farming sector in Japan had the same sorts of problems that many developing countries face today in areas such as daily living, sanitation and health. Under this approach, the problems that needed to be solved were identified, and the rural residents took possession of the activities to devise and implement solutions. An important characteristic of the livelihood improvement approach is its way of solving issues not by introducing foreign systems and technologies, but by skilfully using the limited resources available to improve people’s live. The livelihood improvement approach applies to the study because it was employed to solve rural and social development issues that are similar to those faced by Ugandans today. Chambers and Conway proposed the following composite definition of a sustainable rural livelihood, which is applied most commonly at the household level: A livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets (stores, resources, claims and access) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable if it can cope with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation. It should also contribute net benefits to other livelihoods at the local and global levels, in the short and long term.

Increased participation of Rural women

According to Iyer and Vats, 2018 The communication and information need of every society is different. “Every nation needs to define development for it and find its own strategy”. India being a pluralistic society needs an entirely different communication approach. With change in every region, tradition, culture, and group, a different communication needs and strategy is required. It is not just a nation’s growth in terms of power, trade and economy but there is more to development. A society is said to be developed when its people are informed, aware and are empowered. They have their unique cultural and indigenous identity. Many non-governmental organizations and media-activist groups struggled and campaigned for setting up local radio broadcasting services to help and address the issues of their community and serve their needs, interests and aspirations. the government announced the Community Radio Policy and all these voluntary groups joined together to constitute Community Radio Forum (CRF) of the country to support and promote the setting up of Community Radio stations in India. According to Bandelli,2012 The term empowerment alludes to a scope of exercises from singular self-declaration to aggregate obstruction, dissent and preparation that test essential power relation. For people and gatherings where class, position, ethnicity and sexual orientation decide their entrance to assets and power, their strengthening starts when they not just perceive the fundamental powers that persecute them but the actions to change the overall power connections. Empowerment, in this manner, is a procedure went for altering the nature and course of foundational powers, which underestimated women and other hindered segment in a given setting. Empowerment is a procedure by which the weak gets more noteworthy authority over the conditions of their lives. It is currently central assumption in political and social, instructive, social, sexual, individual and administrative talks. Strengthening is connected with redistribution of intensity. Strengthening has both individual and social viewpoints. According to Rahman and Hossain,2017 At individual level it is noteworthy change in the mental self-view and mental set and at the network level it is aggregate battle for positive social change. “Convinced that the full and complete development of a country, the welfare of the world and the cause of peace require the maximum participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields”. Strengthening actually implies making somebody great, encouraging the feeble to achieve quality, to build one’s confidence, to assist somebody with being self-assured/fearless, to empower somebody to go up against treachery and persecution and to help somebody to battle for her rights. ‘Enabling ladies really implies fortifying them to go up against family, network, station, religion and conventional powers man centric powers and predispositions working inside society. This showdown guarantees their full support in each part of social and national improvement. Strengthening is where ladies, independently and all in all, end up mindful of how control relations work in their lives. With this mindfulness they increase self-assurance and quality to challenge sexual orientation imbalances at the family unit, network, national, provincial, and universal levels. In India ladies involve half of its aggregate populace. According to Balan & Norman, 2012. With the approach of 21st Century and its advancement in different logical and innovative time the status of lady is additionally changing at a quick pace yet we can’t overlook the plain presence of an existence where lady are separated, underestimated and abused as a result of different sex partition issues. Ladies are imperative HR in enhancing the personal satisfaction. The nation’s inclusive improvement depends extraordinarily on the incorporation of women in its advancement procedure. They have been the transmitters of culture in all social orders. The status of ladies in a general public is a genuine file of its social, social, religious and profound level. Strengthening is basically a change from a place of implemented feebleness to one of intensity. It advances ladies’ characteristic qualities and positive mental self-portrait. Picking up control implies gaining capacity and chance to partake and contribute in the social improvement process innovatively and genuinely. The procedure of strengthening empowers them to create in them self-poise. It empowers them to raise voice and battle against treachery, misuse, mishandle and viciousness done to them. Getting a charge out of an intense job in the general public makes a lady enabled.

Employment empowerment of women

According to Brien,2019 The innovative framework outlined here offers a way to examine women’s exclusion, not in a piecemeal way, but in an overarching approach, where a bird’s eye view of women’s gendered position within community radio can be constructed. The framework can potentially be used to examine cases of gender inequality in other places and contexts. The framework also opens up the possibility for comparison across sites. The framework can be more theoretically honed and refined and further research is needed to understand how each of the dimensions of the framework interact to reinforce women’s exclusion from community radio. Understanding women’s exclusion from community radio is important because its failure to incorporate women at all levels of participation means that is failing to truly achieve its potential as an alternative mode of communication to mainstream media. Community radio’s remit explicitly calls for the inclusion of the voiceless, and therefore should explicitly target participation from women, who are underrepresented in mainstream radio. This participation should be in evidence at all levels of community radio, in its structures of ownership, in its control and financing, women’s participation should be a dimension of community radio’s visions and aims, which are to provide news and information relevant to the needs of community members, to engaging them in public discussion and to contribute to their social and political empowerment. If community radio is “ideally audience-controlled, autonomous and concerned with challenging power”. how can it ever achieve these goals if women FEMINIST MEDIA STUDIES 799 remain systematically excluded from community radio? As Mitchell puts it “Feminist production should be about the politicisation of culture in resistance to patriarchal oppression” the population of this framework with evidence from Ireland shows that there is indeed much scope for a feminist intervention towards greater gender equality in community radio at all levels of participation.

Psychological Empowerment

According to Kashyap and Sharma,2013 Out of the two components under Metal fitness head, “Awareness about tips to avoid mental Tension” was found to be the component with minimum percentage (19.9 per cent) of respondents were aware about this issue. Thus, this component was selected for community radio programme production. Information needs assessments of audience become important in context of development of community radio programmes for women empowerment. Researchers have revealed that need assessment is essential for the effectiveness of the media. Community Radio being a community media for developmental purpose need special emphasis on listeners profile and need assessment. On the whole, it can be concluded that the rural women want information on these eight topics viz; Methods of purifying water, weaning food (Purak Aahar) Immunization, Awareness of HIV/ AIDS, Government Programmes in Uttarakhand, Government programmes for providing loan to micro enterprise, SHGs, Tips to avoid mental tension. The needs of rural women are identified in three areas of empowerment. Community radio managers should design, develop and disseminate information through community radio programmes to empower the rural women. Therefore, it seems apparent and essential that the need assessment of the listeners emerge as a critical component to be analyzed before conceptualizing the community Radio programmes for enhance effectiveness according to the community Radio objectives.

Social Empowerment

According to Sharma and Kashyap,2013 Out of the seven components under Food and Nutrition head “Methods of purifying water” was found to be the component with minimum respondents (19.2 per cent) were aware. Thus, this component was selected from this head for community radio programme production. Out of the four components under Child development head, “Weaning Food” and “Immunization” were found to be the components with minimum percentage (18.5 per cent and 16.2 per cent) of respondents who were aware. Thus, these components were selected from this head for community radio programme production. Out of the three components under “Sanitation and Hygiene” head, majority of respondents were aware about the (a) Disposal of Garbage (93.3 per cent) (b) Effect of Hygiene on health (97.5 per cent) (c) Control of Household Pest (79.5 per cent). Thus no component was selected from this head for community radio programme production. Out of the two components under Family Planning head, “HIV/AIDS” was found to be the component with minimum percentage (19 per cent) of respondents were aware about this disease. Thus, this component was selected from this head for community radio programme production. Out of the three components under Education head, majority of respondents were aware about the (a) Girl Education (83.9 per cent) (b) Value Education (76.6 per cent) (3) Educational Programmes (Sarve Siksha Abhiyan) (81.5 per cent). Thus, no component was selected from this head for community radio programme production. Under Government Programmes in Uttarakhand head, “Government Programmes for welfare of women in Uttarakhand” was found to be the component with minimum percentage (17.1 per cent) of the respondents were aware about this issue. Thus, this component was selected from this head for community radio programme production.
The major issues that hinder the women empowerment in society.

Social Norms

According to Chaudhry. Et al,2012 Family, society and ultimately the whole of mankind is treated by society on an ethical basis. Differentiation in sex is neither a credit nor a drawback for the sexes. Therefore, when we talk about status of woman. it should not lead us to think that it has no specific guidelines, limitations, responsibilities and obligations for society. What makes one valuable and respectable in the society, the Creator of mankind and the universe, is neither one’s prosperity, position, intelligence, physical strength nor beauty, but only one’s consciousness and awareness. However, since in the Western culture and in cultures influenced by it, there exists a disparity between men and women there is more need for stating society position on important issues in a clear way. The rights of women, including the rights of education, decision making, freedom of opinion, choice of spouse, economic freedom, and social role. An empowered woman would be one who is self-confident, who critically analyses her environment, and who exercises control over decisions that affect her life.

Economic flexibility

According to Duflo,2012 There is a bi-directional relationship between economic development and women’s empowerment defined as improving the ability of women to access the constituents of development – in particular health, education, earning opportunities, rights, and political participation. In one direction, development alone can play a major role in driving down inequality between men and women; in the other direction, continuing discrimination against women can, as Amartya Sen has forcefully argued, hinder development. Empowerment can, in other words, accelerate development. Policy makers and social scientists have tended to focus on one or the other of these two relationships. Those focusing on the first have argued that gender equality improves when poverty declines. They argue that policymakers should therefore focus on creating the conditions for economic growth and prosperity, while seeking, of course, to maintain a level playing field for both genders, but without adopting specific strategies targeted at improving the condition of women. In contrast, many emphasize the second relationship, from empowerment to development. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, for example, has argued that achieving gender equality is a “prerequisite” to achieving the other Millennium Development Goals (MDG), including eliminating poverty, reducing infant mortality, achieving universal education, and eliminating the gender gap in education by 2015. In its report, “Engendering Development,” the World Bank calls for policies to address gender imbalance in “rights, resources, and voice,” and recommends that institutional structures be overhauled to promote equality, and that specific measures, such as girls’ scholarships and quotas for women in parliament, be adopted. These measures are justified, according to the report, not only because they promote equity, but also because they are necessary to accelerate development. Interestingly, the 2012 World Development Report adopts a much more nuanced message. While it emphasizes the “business case” for women empowerment, it mainly takes it as given that the equality between women and men is a desirable goal in itself, and policies should aim to achieve that goal.
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Need for women security and safety

According to Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013 The importance of the non-economic dimensions of women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship has recently been put forward, stressing how entrepreneurship empowers women by providing a platform to participate in socio-political activities that would not have been available to them otherwise. Furthermore, women entrepreneurs’ perceptions of their empowerment have also been examined. According to Datta and Gailey, 2012, It is found that across developed and developing contexts, women report the positive impact entrepreneurship has brought to their lives in the form of economic security, self-identity, challenging gender inequalities and patriarchal norms the ability to make decisions in contributing to the household and to mobilise themselves as a collective. depart from these approaches by suggesting a reconceptualization of entrepreneurial activity – ‘entrepreneur Ing as emancipation’ – where the doing of entrepreneurship is viewed through an emancipatory lens and seen as “change creation through removal of constraints”. According to Jennings et al., 2016 articulate seeking autonomy as one of the main drivers for becoming self-employed and a goal of emancipation, defined as breaking free from the authority of another and removing perceived constraints in a variety of environments – economic, socio-cultural and institutional. The psychological benefits gained by emancipatory entrepreneurial endeavours are also supported elsewhere. Entrepreneurs who depart further from the constraints of their environments also tend to be more satisfied with various aspects of their lives.

Lack of Decision-making power in family

According to ogato,2013 inadequate assessment of women’s roles and responsibilities particularly in the rural community and their access to and ownership of resources. Although the document mentions women’s role in decision making, it lacks a focused analysis of the serious implication of the absence of women from the arenas of decision making, the policy document fails to show the link between women’s low status and their poor health. The section on harmful customs and practices should have been examined through a rights-based approach. Both the Women’s Affairs Office (WAO) and the women’s Affairs Departments (WADs) suffer from lack of capacity, mainly human resource; The Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Programme (SDPRP) document in general was found to be gender neutral and has not addressed the gender differentials in the indicators used; the absence of sex-disaggregated socio-economic data and the inability of the government to use such data in policies. In the summary of poverty, gender has not been considered as a factor. Many of the development goals, policies, strategies or targets of poverty reduction did not incorporate gender issues in developing countries.

Inadequate Nutrition

According to Ross.et al, 2015When looking at the effect of income decile groups on women’s health status, the results indicate a significant positive effect. As income increases, a woman’s health status increases. The results also indicate that income has the largest impact on women’s health status. These findings are consistent with existing literature. An increase in a woman’s income implies that she has the financial ability to purchase more nutritious foods for herself and her family and/or pay for the healthcare services that she or her family needs. discovered that women living in a dual headed household allocated the additional income they received from a cash transfer program to expenditures on improved nutrition, child well-being, and small livestock animals – activities that are within their domain of responsibilities. This finding supports the belief that women are active in caring for and investing in child and household well-being. The foregoing research and the current study’s findings validates the development and implementation of numerous income-generating initiatives in developing countries, and particularly in northern Ghana, which focus on shifting individuals and households from lower to higher income decile groups.

Disparity in Education

According to Akinbi,2015 Research studies have pointed to inequality in access to education in favour of the male records that the literacy rate for Nigerian girls and women stood at 47% while male was 53%, yet the female forms the larger proportion of the population. UNESCO data revealed that girls’ enrolment was lower in the North with Bauchi 39%, Kastina 27% and Sokoto 15%. This low enrolment of girls in formal education is a pointer to the fact that majority of Nigerian women live in a state of extreme deprivation in spite of their important position in national development. Though the Federal Government of Nigeria launched universal basic education programme in 1999 and the programme became compulsory for all children of school age as from 28th of May 2004, yet, there seems to be no concrete efforts of government to ensure equal access for girls’ enrolment, retention and completion of basic education. This invariably has robbed most Nigerian women of the opportunity to contribute maximally to national development. It is no longer a matter of debate that females constitute more than fifty percent (50%) of the world’s active population. It was noted at Dakar, in 2000 that some 113 million children, 60% of whom are girls, have no access to primary school. Although African women have been making immense contributions to national development, they still face a number of inequitable difficulties that limit their potentials in promoting personal and collective development.
The impact of community radio in raising awareness among women of rural community.
Role of radio in empowering women and spreading awareness.
According to Dahal,2013 Although they attract many women as volunteers, community radio stations often reflect the gender stereotyping of mainstream radio in staff and volunteer roles. This comes in contrast to the publicly stated aims and charters that support equal opportunities in these radios. The patriarchy in Nepali society is conspicuous and so strong that a senior female radio producer was forced to quit her job recently from a community radio station. A senior producer Kabita Sharma unexpectedly encountered difficulties and restrictions in her work, that too in the organisation she worked from its founding days. Kabita says that she was discriminated and expelled from the job on the basis of her gender. Immediately after the exit, she took it both as a challenge and determination to setup a radio, where only women are allowed to work. Radio Jagran 90.3 FM is a community radio station at Butwal in western Nepal that publicly portrays an image of egalitarian media working for the marginalised communities – mainly for the Dalits. Its mission statement reads, “to be instrumental in mobilising Nepali society in the abolishment of existing regional, racial, linguistic, religious, class, caste, and gender-based discrimination”. But for Kabita and others working on women issues in the radio, the ground reality was completely different. They found that within a pronounced egalitarian approach lies a deep-rooted patriarchy, which is averse to women’s advancement and progress. The conspicuous patriarchy was so pervasive that the female producer found no other way than to establish a counter-hegemonic media to continue with the cause she was promoting – to empower the women through community radio by advocating their rights. The consequences brought about a situation such that her removal became instrumental in establishing an all-women community radio station in the same town.

Health awareness

According to Hopkins and Hlongoane, 2019 Communication strategies that disseminate information to intended target audiences are vital. Communication strategy is designed to help one to communicate effectively and meet core organisational or personal objectives. Communication strategies should be established before engaging or designing a particular community radio programme. If that is not done, the community radio programme may encounter some limitations to reach its audience and disseminate the intended message(s) to its anticipated target audience. recommend that this be achieved by doing a situation analysis, which will provide an overview of the current, previous and existing situation. In addition, further argue that the radio presenters have to understand the whole range of publics with whom they have to communicate. Each target audience will have a different communication requirement, although the information given to each must not conflict. community radio programmers, before engaging in health-related programmes, have to conduct research. According to Siddharthar,2014 to achieve an effective education programme, the broadcasters have to understand the audience’s perceptions, knowledge and attitudes regarding HIV/AIDS. Otherwise, the audience will regard the education and advice irrelevant. In addition, for the format of the programme to be effective, key broadcasters have to 34 understand the current situation so as to respond to the audience’s needs and preferences. However, for education and awareness to be accomplished, there has to be a clear key message(s) about that which one wants to accomplish through one`s community radio programme. If people are well informed, they will be able to make informed decisions regarding HIV/AIDS. Hence it is vital to give people information regarding HIV/AIDS. For instance, the emphasis of the message should be that it deals with educating people about cause and prevention, and about being aware of the effects on one’s health. Then issues such as non-discrimination, the use of condoms, support and care of infected persons, behavioural change, and affordable options regarding treatment. According to Skimmer, et al., 2016 In order for the message to be transmitted effectively, there has to be clear target audiences. If the broadcaster has clarity about the audience, it will assist in eliminating communication noise, which is brought about by psychological, physical or environmental issues Having studied these prospective audiences in advance, will assist the broadcaster to be actively aware of the environment in which the radio station is operating. This is vital because publics exist within those grounds and it is not possible to understand people fully unless there is clear knowledge and understanding of the social, technological, economic, political and cultural issues and factors that influence them and drive their lives.

Social Development Benefits of Community Radios

According to Biraro, 2015 To play a role in social development, community radios assist the society in solving problems related to corruption, disasters, conflicts, and health Community radios can expose corruption in both the government and corporate sector. Corruption distorts socio-economic development by engendering wrong choices and by encouraging competition in bribery rather than in the quality and price of goods and services. Media can play an important public accountability role by monitoring and investigating the actions of those who are granted public trust and who may be tempted to abuse their office for private gain. This means that community radios in investigative role can critically research about the use of power granted to private and public leaders. Since people care about their reputation, media attention can provide strong incentives for changing behaviour, therefore reputational penalties and rewards can be powerful in ensuring accountability toward constituents. Community radios coverage of corruption might also contribute to shape public hostility towards corrupt behaviour that might result in public pressure to reform policies and laws that otherwise create the conditions for corrupt behavior.

Conflicts Resolutions

According to Biraro,2015 Community radios often play a key role in today’s conflict. They may improve the responsiveness of authorities by making the government more transparent and answerable to the public. This, in turn, reduces chances of social, ethnic and religious conflict. The media constitute a space in which the conflicts of a society can be articulated and are inevitably themselves actors in that conflict. Moreover, as supplemented by the same source, the combatants in a conflict will usually relate to each other either on the battlefield or through the way they are represented in the media. According to Asemah,2013 community radios can be instrument of any point of view and it can also intervene in the conflict itself. For instance, in Bangladesh where media has become freer and stronger with the democratization of the economy, the media greatly supported non-governmental organizations to wage campaigns against religious extremism. Community radios programmes can reach people in different areas, even with different languages more easily. This way people can be addressed directly and their own personal experiences and lives can be incorporated much better, than with foreign media. According to the same author, local media, especially community radio may convey peace messages to passing fighters and refugees alike.

Child Birth awareness

According to Hlatywayo.et al, 2017 Dietary diversity is considered to be a key indicator for assessing the access, utilization, and quality of diet of individuals or household. Though high-quality diet can protect against anaemia, some eating patterns or habits may predispose individuals to a higher risk for developing anaemia. For example, high fibre diets can inhibit the absorption of iron; low fat diets can equally inhibit iron absorption since fat is needed for iron absorption, high tea, and coffee consumption but without vitamin C intake it also inhibits iron absorption. Individual dietary diversity scores have been shown to indicate adequate nutrient intake and it can be used as a proxy indicator for measuring nutrient adequacy among pregnant females. This notwithstanding women’s dietary behaviours and intake during pregnancy are strongly influenced by different cultural practices, myths, and taboos. The aetiology of anaemia in pregnancy does not seem to be the same in every geographical area and season. Whereas, in Malawi, iron deficiency was an important contributor to anaemia in pregnancy, the iron deficiency did not appear to be a major risk factor for anaemia among pregnant women in the Agogo district of Ghana. Additionally, diet is only one of the protective factors against anaemia and dietary diversity may not be the most pressing constraint. According to Jain.et al,2017 The apparent lack of association in the present study may also be due to the fact that there was very little variation with respect to dietary diversity among the study participants. Low maternal educational level significantly predicted anaemia in this study. Women who had higher education level were less likely to be anaemic, perhaps because better educated mothers were more likely to adopt healthier feeding habits. This could also be explained partly by the fact that women with lower educational level may find it difficult securing better jobs and therefore have less economic power. Education may also enable women to make independent decisions that allow them to have greater access to household resources that are important to nutritional status. Our results further give support to the call to invest in girl child education as a way to promoting the general wellbeing of future mothers.

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