In 2011 WCH has begun working with the BBC WST in Afghanistan. Programmes for both children and adults are now being planned which address four key child protection topics: harmful forms of child labour, early marriages, children in conflict with the law, and physical violence against children. These programmes are aimed to inform the public about these issues, change attitudes and behaviours, and inspire children to see how they can change things for themselves.

Radio drama
The BBC WST, known locally as AEP (Afghan Education Projects) has been broadcasting radio programmes in Afghanistan since 1994. AEP produces three episodes of the flagship New Home New Life radio drama in Dari and Pashto every week, reaching over 11 million regular listeners. New Home, New Life has proved to be an ideal medium for putting across messages on themes such as human rights, child development, poppy substitution, livestock and agricultural management, and basic health and hygiene. Weekly radio feature programmes, known locally as the Learning for Life series, provide reinforcement on the developmental issues arising from the drama.

High quality radio programmes
AEP also produces a wide range of programming for children and a number of different print outputs, and also has a dedicated website www.bbcnazer.com. In total 30 high quality programmes are created each week (15 in Dari and 15 in Pashto) and each programme is broadcast multiple times on the BBC airwaves, ensuring broad audience reach and optimum learning outcomes. Overall, for a country with low levels of education and infrastructure problems, AEP has phenomenal levels of recognition and use.

BBC and SDO
This project will enable BBC and SDO, another WCH partner, to work closely. SDO works with three youth associations in the province of Herat in Western Afghanistan. These associations will set up listening groups to discuss the BBC programmes and use their content in their own activities, as the youth also feel that these issues are very important for children and young people in their province. SDO will be able to follow up on the impact these programmes have, which will also help BBC to ensure that the programme content is as effective as possible.


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