Interview with Adama Dawaki, Managing Editor of \u201cLe Niger sur Kalangou\u201d, Studio Kalangou, Niger
by C\u00e9line Kohlprath, Head of Communication and External Relations.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Studio Kalangou is a daily radio news program based in Niger. It is broadcasted in five languages by 52 partner radio stations, reaching almost 80% of the country\u2019s population. Since the Nigerien coup d\u2019\u00e9tat of July 26, 2023, Studio Kalangou\u2019s team of 50 journalists and correspondents has continued the program\u2019s core mission of providing reliable information on a wide range of topics to the country\u2019s citizens. Adama Dawaki, Managing Editor of the \u201cLe Niger sur Kalangou\u201d radio program, explains why it\u2019s vital that women are involved from the earliest stages of the peace process and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How big a seat do women currently have at the negotiation table following the coup?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sorry to say that women have been left out of both the internal discussions within Niger and the international diplomatic negotiations being conducted in Africa by ECOWAS members and outside the continent. This is a great shame and must be redressed. Women need to be able to contribute to the political dialogue from the very start of the crisis, and not just be involved at a later stage during the negotiations. After all, women are affected the most when it comes to issues relating to human security. They\u2019re in charge of running the household and looking after children and play a central role in managing the crises affecting their community or re-establishing dialogue. Experience shows that involving women in peace talks results in a more durable, sustainable peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What obstacles do female journalists face when it comes to covering political or security-related topics?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n More and more female journalists are joining editorial teams across the country, but we\u2019re still under-represented. The old hierarchies and stereotypes refuse to go away, unfortunately. Very few female journalists cover political or security-related issues. Some editorial teams will instantly question a female journalist\u2019s ability as soon as she brings up any topic relating to politics or security, and limit women to covering social issues. So there\u2019s still a long way to go, but the situation isn\u2019t impossible. Personally, I\u2019ve always wanted to get out and talk to people, communities, and politicians to help enhance the impact of my work. I’ve built up an interesting list of contacts during my career. I\u2019ve worked for Studio Kalangou for seven years now, and I’m currently working, with other female colleagues, on managing our national cross-topic news magazine called \u2018Le Niger sur Kalangou’. We\u2019re also working together with our male colleagues to try to give women a voice in debates and forums. Sadly, it’s not always easy to find female guests. That said, women engage in civic participation to a greater extent than men in our country. During our elections, the majority of votes are cast by women. It is our duty to give them a voice and to ensure they\u2019re heard more \u2013 and taken more seriously \u2013 in our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Would political outcomes be different if women were listened to more often?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s difficult to say. What\u2019s certain is that women have unique access to conflict resolution within their communities, which they can utilize to influence public decision-makers. Ignoring women\u2019s voices on safety issues can have drastic consequences. I come from the Tillab\u00e9ry region, for example. It\u2019s where the borders of Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso meet, and for the last decade, the region has suffered from inter-community fighting and a deteriorating security situation due to the presence of unidentified armed groups. Farmers can no longer access their fields, and the population is going hungry as a result. Almost 100,000 people have fled the region to date. A situation like this just isn\u2019t sustainable, and that\u2019s something that women there have been saying for a long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Interview with Adama Dawaki, Managing Editor of \u201cLe Niger sur Kalangou\u201d, Studio Kalangou, Nigerby C\u00e9line Kohlprath, Head of Communication and External Relations. Studio Kalangou is a daily radio news program based in Niger. It is broadcasted in five languages by 52 partner radio stations, reaching almost 80% of the country\u2019s population. Since the Nigerien coup … Coup in Niger \u2013 the importance of women participation for peace & security<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"issue":[208],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00e0 propos","author_link":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/author\/apropos\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/FA182WB-600x331.png","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Reports<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Reports<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on September 7, 2023","modified":"Updated on September 7, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on September 7, 2023 7:42 am","modified":"Updated on September 7, 2023 8:29 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2432"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2601,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions\/2601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2432"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koff.swisspeace.ch\/apropos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=2432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}