JEDDAH, 28 February 2005 — Young Arab women are getting a chance to air their views — literally — over the BBC Arabic Service.
The “My Life” project by the BBC World Service Trust enables young women in the Arab world to develop their own media portfolios, or audiovisual stories, while exploring their aspirations for the future.
The producers held creative media and storytelling workshops in four countries — Egypt, Syria, Yemen and last week in Saudi Arabia in partnership with Effat College.
Eight girls from Effat College participated in the project, which spanned four days. The project is funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. In addition to local on-ground partners at each country, the trust worked in partnership with BBC Arabic Service and the support of UNICEF.
The girls who participated in the project — Rozana, Lama, Rotana, Asia, Baian, Asma, Abbie and Hasnaa — spoke of it as a wonderful experience.
BBC Arabic Service is already featuring the stories of the girls from Egypt, Syria and Yemen on its website and will add the Saudi girls’ stories in March. The BBC News as well as BBC Arabic Radio also might feature the stories.
The theme of the project is “Where I Am Now and Where I Want to Be by 2015.” The objective is to encourage young women from the Arab world to voice their dreams and empower their voices.
“The BBC Arabic Service is one of our most important language services. There are 40 other language services besides English,” said Kari Blackburn, deputy head of BBC Africa and Middle East Region. “In our strategy meetings, we talked about how to offer change as the media world changed,” she said.
The service plans to offer round-the-clock broadcasting of news, current events, five hours of Cairo-based live broadcasting and major programs of modernization with more live reporting from the field — especially by female reporters. “In May, we will have a daily magazine program, sports and talking points programs,” she added.
The audience for BBC Arabic Radio has increased in the last few years with Sudan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria accounting for 80 percent of the audience. However, in Saudi Arabia, the audience has fallen to the thousands because of competition and lack of radio signal. Online website users make up 11 percent of the audience in the Kingdom.
Stephen King, director of BBC World Service Trust, an international charity started in 1999 to promote development through innovative media use, spoke about trust projects. “The programs and structure focuses on community development such as health, education and governance, and on media development,” he said.
They already have begun working in 30 countries. In Iraq, the trust has a project called Al-Mirbad, a three-month training program in broadcasting.
The “My Life” project, using simple creative tools, features the storyboard of Arab girls, showcased at In-Country Media Events, such as the one at Effat College, where young women aged 17-27 articulate their views and communicate them to decisionmakers, opinion leaders and civil society.
The in-country events culminate in a regional event scheduled for April in Egypt. The website, using creative drawings, pictures, audio-files and text, also will feature a “Have Your Say” column providing users with an opportunity to comment on the stories and debate.
