Like many Cambodians, I’m noticing changes in the weather in my country. The temperature is getting hotter, floods and storms are happening more frequently, and our dry season is longer than ever before.

With 75% of the population living in rural areas and relying on farming or fishing to make a living, these weather changes are already having a big impact on people’s lives and livelihoods.

I helped conduct Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action’s newly-published research exploring how people across Cambodia are experiencing these weather changes, and whether or not they’re doing anything about them. The report outlines priority audiences, the challenges they are facing in responding to climate change, and tips for how media professionals can communicate climate issues to them more effectively.

We interviewed 1660 people across five regions of Cambodia, and conducted in-depth community discussions. Most people (85%) who we surveyed felt that the weather changes could be having an effect on their health. When I visited Anlong Raing community in the Tonle Sap region, for instance, many people told me they thought their children had been getting diarrhoea more often, and in some cases more serious diseases like Typhoid.

People also felt that weather changes were affecting their income (81%), and what’s more, we discovered that rather than take simple steps such as changing their farming methods, people were more likely to make big life changes in order to get by - 33% said they had changed their job as a result.

Transforming lives through TV

That’s where our brand new TV documentary series – Don’t Wait For Rain – comes in. Informed by our research, the show aims to improve knowledge of climate risks and encourage Cambodians to make easy and affordable changes to become more resilient to the changing climate.

We filmed in locations across Cambodia to showcase the real weather issues people are facing – from flash flooding in the mountainous area of Kampong Speu province to lower fishing yields in the Tonle Sap.

Providing role models to encourage action

For me, one of our most interesting findings is that there is often a social barrier to adapting to climate change. In our survey, 37% of respondents said that they weren’t responding to climate change due to being fearful of discussing actions with others, and 35% said that it didn’t fit with their religious beliefs or community culture.

This was an important insight which we reported to the TV production team. We knew that trust would be a key factor when helping people adapt to new techniques, and that audiences would need to see people they could relate to in the show adapting successfully to be encouraged to try it out for themselves.

That’s why in each episode we pair up an ‘impact’ community struggling to cope with the weather with local experts who have overcome climate challenges.

For example, in one episode, audiences see a female farmer called Ming Mao who lives in Central Cambodia. Ming Mao felt helpless when all of her crops were washed away by flood waters, an increasingly common risk in her region. We paired her with a local expert who teaches her how to build a raised vegetable garden to grow food above flood levels. When she’s revisited later in the episode after another flooding, Ming Mao’s new garden has remained completely untouched!

A more resilient future

My hope is that Don’t Wait For Rain proves to be a hit with our audiences and helps them to better cope with the weather challenges we’re currently facing, and will face in the future. I also hope that other media organisations will use our research findings to tailor their own communications, helping even more Cambodians to adapt.

At the very least, I believe the show will prompt awareness of these weather changes and lead to families and communities questioning what more they could do to prepare for further unpredictability. But of course, what I really want is for people to take action!

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Khuon Chandore is the former Research Manager for Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action Cambodia.

Our factual TV series Don’t Wait For Rain is on air nationally in Cambodia from late February until May 2019. The show is part of our Neighbours Together project, funded by Sida, which also includes outreach activities and social media.

To discover more about how people from other countries in Asia are experiencing climate change, check out our where you can find further data from our Climate Asia series.

One day Om rang to say that he had just returned from a shoot near Siachen (Kashmir border) where he met a soldier who had spent a laborious half an hour in the snow to crank up his oil generator to power his television so he could watch Jasoos Vijay and “his uncle” (Om and the actor who played Vijay resembled each other). The soldier couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw that the ‘uncle’ was right before him. Om said that since viewers craved to know whether he was related to “Jasoos Vijay”, he didn’t want to disappoint. So it was decided to feature Om within the drama itself as Vijay’s uncle. Again, all of this, Om happily did.

A self-made man, Om blazed his own trail. He had very humble beginnings, but did not give up. He mastered his craft and made it to the top, both nationally and internationally. But once there, he never lost sight of his modest beginnings and his struggling days. He remained a man of simple needs, wearing cotton kurtas and a simple watch, a true son of the soil.

His outstanding talent, his quiet professionalism, his charisma, his deep baritone voice, and above all the human being that he was will be much missed.

I feel very lucky to have had him pass through my life, leaving behind wonderfully warm memories of his generous, kind and adventurous spirit.

We don’t receive any funding from the Ö÷²„“óŠć’s licence fee and depend on the generous support of donors. Help .

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In an election campaign dominated by personality politics, a national TV debate featuring key presidential contenders in the Zambian general election presented a rare opportunity for people to directly question candidates and hear about their plans for Zambia’s future.

In a large auditorium filled with hundreds of people, bright lights and watching cameras, Philip Sikainda, a gentleman in his sixties stood up and addressed the panel of presidential candidates.

"Zambia today has a lot of retirees languishing in poverty because of unpaid benefits, some of them die without receiving their benefits, what will you do if elected into government to [support their] plight?” he asked.

Held a week before Zambians went to the polls (11 August 2016), the debate provided a unique opportunity for people like Sikainda to question and hear from candidates, in yet another close presidential election race, just 18 months after the incumbent, Edgar Lungu won by less than 28,000 votes.

Newspaper headlines and radio shows have been dominated by personality politics in the election run-up. With little debate on real policies – the Zambian electorate were at risk of being denied the chance to make an informed decision about their vote.

The live television debate centred on key election themes such as jobs, the energy crisis, governance, the rule of law, the weakening economy and taxation. The show – produced by MUVI TV, Zambia’s only independent TV station – provided Zambians with an opportunity to hear each candidate’s vision of how they planned to turn around the fortunes of a country, considered to be one of the poorest in the world.

A live televised debate

In over 25 years of multi-party democratic history, Zambia has established a well-respected culture of smooth power transitions. Yet most of the country’s leaders have assumed public office without having to face the people in a live televised debate.

Since 2011, Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action has worked with local and national broadcast partners – including MUVI TV – to promote a new culture of live TV and radio debates through . This aims to help people discuss issues that matter to them and hold their leaders to account.

Social media buzz

A week before the debate, Hakainde Hichilema – the main opposition leader – took to Facebook and Twitter and challenged Edgar Lungu to accept the invitation to join the panel. The call was largely welcomed by many Zambians on social media who shared and retweeted the posting – but Lungu’s decision to decline appearing stood firm.

Unfazed, when the national TV debate was broadcast, MUVI TV producers ‘empty-chaired’ Lungu, leaving his podium place vacant on stage while the other main presidential contenders debated their policies.

Unlike some radio shows and public rallies where the candidates usually have latitude to speak unchallenged, the debate presented a chance for people to critically analyse statements from the contenders as the moderator kept reminding them of past declarations and challenging them to substantiate their claims.

A noticeable increase in ‘social media buzz’ since the last election presented an interesting and exciting build up to the debate. Many people joined the debate online through Facebook and Twitter, live tweeting punch lines from candidates, their wide-ranging views being reported and amplified by TV and radio partners.

The live show offered a unique opportunity for Zambians to make up their minds about candidates in a moderated environment – and marked another step forward for Zambia’s democracy.

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Being the presenter of the programme, my excitement knew no bounds. I was keen to hear from the all-female audience; their stories of struggle, success, resilience and empowerment. I was confident about our purpose for the day – a celebration of lives of 100 Nepali women from different social spheres and religions – inspiring other women to bring about positive change in our society.

The programme was scheduled for noon in a hall at the president’s residence. Gathered there were established female professionals, actors, pilots, doctors, army personnel and police officials – many of them the first in their field – intermingling with activists, retired civil servants, and schoolgirls. I felt hugely privileged to be amongst them and to be able to share and learn from their experiences.

As the president attentively listened and answered the participants’ questions, I felt as though the conversations were happening between friends and sisters, not with a head of state. At times the president mentioned how similar her stories were to theirs. Acknowledging the struggles a labourer had faced when she’d lost her husband, Bidhya shared how she too is a single widowed woman and understood the hardships one goes through when raising kids alone.

I was impressed by the breadth of discussion. Topics ranged from the moving story of a rape survivor to the powerful account of a women from the Chepang community (an indigenous Nepali tribe) – and how, against the odds, she’d managed to complete a bachelor’s degree and find a job to support her family.

My dream is to become the prime minister

I was particularly delighted to see a schoolgirl stand up and say, “My dream is to become the prime minister of our country. How can I go about achieving this dream?” Her query and the zeal with which she spoke gave a very positive portrayal of the aspirations of a younger generation.

As the debate concluded, Bidhya Bhandari promised that she would work as an active advisor for the government in uplifting the lives of women in Nepal. Her call for all the women was that, to tackle inequality between men and women in Nepal, women shouldn’t look to pull men back, but work four times harder to catch-up with them.

I don’t know if the president will ever be my mitini, but that day I felt all 100 women in the room were my mitinis – related by similar aspirations of freedom, equality, dignity and determination, to live the lives we want to live.

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A strong debate

Locating filming at a site so engrained in Afghanistan’s culture had a powerful impact on both the panel and the audience and facilitated a strong debate on an issue which might have sounded more theoretical and abstract anywhere else.

People in the audience, young and old, female and male, educated or otherwise, enthusiastically engaged with the debate – on a subject brought to life by the luminous tomb of the founder of their country in the background.

“Look, I can’t speak if I sit, is it ok if I stand up?” asked an elderly man who had travelled over 450km to be in the audience.

“I’m so happy to be at the tomb of [Ahmad Shah]… every ethnic group, including the Hindus sitting [behind me] are sons of Afghanistan, this is our home and Afghanistan is ours” he said passionately.

Another audience member, talked about his indifference to tribal divisions, saying, “Turkman, Pashtun and Tajik are all from one nation... when we travel outside the country, we are all known as Afghans. No one calls us Tajik or Pashtun. We want to be called Afghan.”

Is Afghanistan a united nation?

The central focus of the debate was simple:

‘Ahmad Shah Durrani laid the foundation of modern Afghanistan in 1747 but, nearly three centuries later, is Afghanistan a united nation?’

It’s an important question for Afghanistan. Although the country has made much progress over the past decade – it remains a fragile state divided on the lines of language, religion, ethnicity and tribe. By providing a platform for debate, Open Jirga provided a rare opportunity for dialogue on ‘identity’, in an environment which has become increasingly strained in the face of increased conflict and uncertainty.

The next morning, I happened to fly back to Kabul on the same plane as a number of audience members. They were from various ethnic, regional and linguistic backgrounds and had flown in to take part in the discussion as strangers.

Now, post-broadcast, amidst lively discussion and laughter as the debate continued, they looked like old friends.

The subject of national identity is a tricky subject in Afghanistan, but by addressing the topic, Open Jirga is providing an important role in encouraging unity between different groups of people through powerful, but peaceful discussion.

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Red carpet, flashing cameras and glamorously dressed people – no, it’s not the Oscars, but the launch of the second series of Love9, a hugely popular TV show addressing sexual and reproductive health issues for young Cambodians through discussion and drama. To welcome the new series, I joined four members of the Love9 cast at one of the biggest cinemas in Phnom Penh for its first screening.

A few months into the series and we’re as popular as ever. Aired on MyTV and CTN, the most popular TV channels in Cambodia, the programme reaches millions of people each week.

In the new series – which includes a 30 minute drama and a 15 minute discussion with presenters and sexual health experts – we follow the lives of characters as they navigate the highs and lows of their relationships and deal with common issues surrounding sexual health such as contraceptives, multiple sexual partners, sexual orientation and consent.

An explosive argument

In a recent episode focused on violence against women, the main character Vandy, while socialising with her friends, is asked by her drunk husband to have sex. Angry and embarrassed, Vandy refuses – leading to an explosive argument between the couple. In the morning, Vandy’s husband realises his mistake and desperately works to apologise and repair their relationship. In the discussion part of the programme, a gender expert explored why domestic violence happens and its emotional, mental and physical consequences.

While writing and directing for , young people are constantly in the forefront of my mind. The programme aims to help young people to be brave when talking about sensitive topics such as love and sex with their families and friends. In particular, many young girls can be shy when talking about sex with their loved ones. We hope to break this barrier by educating young people in entertaining ways about sexual and reproductive health and rights so they can confidently make healthier and better choices in their lives.

Sex on TV

It’s heartening to see how far we’ve come since the first series. When we first started, some people were surprised to see a program about sex on TV. They felt that talking about it might encourage more young people to have sex.

The popularity of the programme as space for discussion has proved them wrong. We receive hundreds of comments on social media each week from people sharing their views on topics raised in the programme – and telling us what they’ve learned.

As one audience member said on Facebook: “I really like the performance of the Love9 actors and actresses. Even though I’m young, the program helps educate me to understand sexual and reproductive health more clearly.”

I hope audiences will continue to enjoy the new series. As a result of the programme, more people will have better knowledge about their sexual and reproductive health and rights – and be able to discuss these issues more easily with their family and peers.

Love9 airs on MyTV every Friday at 7pm with a repeat broadcast on Saturday at 5pm. The project is funded by USAID and UNFPA.

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For me, as a Karachi-ite, born and bred, the invitation to be a trainer on The Bigger Picture: Media, Representation and Inclusion in Pakistan, was irresistible. Here was my chance to revisit my former hometown, not for personal reasons as I often do, but as a writer hoping to engage in stimulating conversations with like-minded scriptwriters and talkshow teams from Pakistan.

When I migrated from Pakistan to London decades ago, I went from being part of a “Pakistani” majority to being seen as a member of a minority group. First, I became a “British Asian”, then a “British Pakistani” and now I’m described as a member of the “BME” (black and minority ethnic) community. Consequently, I have some understanding of the problems caused by labels.

In many countries, unless the media is sensitive to representing minorities, their perspective is often ignored or oversimplified. That strikes me as true of television in Pakistan today. Unlike the Pakistan of my memory where religious minorities seemed to be celebrated in the media (I’m thinking of Pakistani Christians such as the popular singers “The Benjamin Sisters” and the towering politician Chief Justice Alvin Cornelius or Parsis like the renowned journalist Ardeshir Cowasjee) - today’s media seems curiously devoid of personalities from our minority communities.

Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action’s plan to deliver a two-pronged programme designed to address the lack of religious minority representation in Pakistan’s media seemed timely and wise. One strand of the workshops was for television drama writers while the other targeted producers and talk show hosts. Both categories of programming are significantly influential even if their audiences differ widely. An online iLearn training module specially designed by Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action to induct entrants into the course, complete with a forum and face-to-face learning, supported the participants.

Developing skills

The objective of the scriptwriting workshops was to develop the skills of experienced writers to create nuanced and entertaining drama that seamlessly incorporates characters from religious minority groups in Pakistan and includes stories of discrimination and conflict in a sensitive and non-inflammatory manner.

The talk show strand aimed to develop the skills and confidence of producers and presenters in order for them to introduce balanced content on their shows. This is essential to help the media present issues affecting religious minorities in a spirit of tolerance and inclusion - and with due regard to the risks involved for journalists and contributors, which can include threats and even violent attack from extremists.

Each workshop employed a combination of instruction and creative play to help participants uncover new approaches to TV. There were debates and discussion, analysis of clips of TV content from overseas, writing exercises designed to polish their craft and practical group work and brainstorming to develop new ideas for innovative and inclusive programmes.

Fortunately, almost all the major broadcasters in Pakistan: HUM, Geo, SAMAA, AJ, Dawn and PTV nominated high-profile and emerging TV hosts, producers, writers, editors and content managers for this course. They included a mixture of young and experienced writers and TV script department professionals who wanted to broaden their interest and stimulate their writing.

Laughter and tears

As in the UK, scriptwriters in Pakistan walk a tightrope between chasing ratings in a highly commercialised sector and achieving their own creative objectives. For them, learning how to approach issues of diversity, how to polish their writing and how to pitch and sell scripts and new storylines that might include unusual characters from religious minorities became an exciting quest. It released, at various points, laughter and tears, energy and originality and a willingness to engage with the hidden diversity in their midst.

The Bigger Picture: Media, Representation and Inclusion in Pakistan is funded by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

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It’s been a significant few months for the “Any Questions” style TV and Radio show Sema Kenya. As Senior Production Manager Jackie Christie explains in her , after three years and over 80 episodes later, the team behind the show is handing over production to the Kenyan state broadcaster, KBC. For those of us working in Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action’s , this presents an opportunity to reflect the programme’s impact.

Researchers in London and Nairobi have been working since the creation of Sema Kenya not only to ensure that it remained relevant and appealing to audiences, but also to assess the programme’s impact on governance in Kenya.

Sema Kenya has had a clear purpose from its inception: to create a national conversation on democratic processes in Kenya, supporting accountability and increasing people’s knowledge of key governance issues, focusing on matters our audiences have said are most important to them, including unemployment, security, education and the high cost of living.

Our  suggests that, through its locally driven programming and a format based on constructive moderated discussion, Sema Kenya was able to make a distinct contribution at election time. This was delivered by presenting a diversity of topics, views and dialogue at a time when a majority of Kenyan media maintained a narrow election focus aimed at “keeping the peace” by avoiding sensitive issues such as ethnicity and land - key topics perceived to have contributed to the post-election violence in 2008.

Improving knowledge

Our findings show media can have a constructive and meaningful role even in challenging contexts. However there were other key questions we wanted to answer, such as the extent to which Sema Kenya contributed to increasing audiences’ knowledge on key governance issues. The same study, which included a nationally representative survey of the population aged 15 and above, showed that the vast majority (93%) who listened or watched the programme regularly (at least every other week) thought that Sema Kenya improved their understanding of key governance issues. But we wanted to go further to determine if the increase in knowledge was associated with the programme or with, for example, an already existing interest in politics amongst those audiences or level of education.

To be able to answer this question, we created a scale of knowledge based on four main governance themes that the programme tackled: unemployment, security, implications of the new constitution and implementation of the devolution. We looked at whether people who watched or listened to the programme regularly were also showing higher levels of knowledge, even when taking into account their gender, level of education, purchasing power, interest in politics or group membership amongst other factors.

Our analysis showed that regular exposure to Sema Kenya was indeed associated with an increase in knowledge of governance, while controlling for other factors. This is an important finding because it shows Sema Kenya had successfully achieved its key objective of encouraging dialogue and improving knowledge on the democratic processes affecting Kenyans, a feat especially significant in the context of constitutional changes in the way Kenya was governed from 2010.

What about accountability?

The evidence so far suggests that Sema Kenya has contributed to facilitating a national conversation about the key issues affecting Kenyans and to improving knowledge on key governance issues. But what about accountability?

The majority (94%) of Sema Kenya’s regular audiences agree that the programme has played a role in holding government to account. Our findings so far suggest that it has done so by empowering audiences to ask questions and by putting leaders’ answers and promises on the record. Jackie Christie’s latest provides vivid and inspiring examples of the contribution of the show on accountability.

While we know the show’s impact on our regular audiences, how did the programme influence leaders? In Sema Kenya’s third season, the research team were busy interviewing decision-makers, government officials and local influencers. Getting access to these people isn’t an easy task but we wanted to better understand whether and how the programme may have played a role in driving demand for accountability, improving responsiveness, the transparency in decision-making and, ultimately, the service delivery to improve people’s lives.

Visit the Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action website for more  or to keep up to date with the latest findings from Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action’s Research and Learning Team.

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I first met Joseph Warungu in 2012 when he handed me a report he had written on the media environment in Kenya and the possibility of a programme themed on governance. None of us knew then that not only would he become the familiar face and host of the (Kenya Speaks) TV show, but that we would still be on air three years later.

It will be a bittersweet moment for all the team when we record the final show with Joseph and our most recent host, Bonnie Musambi in January. As we say “Kwaheri” (“goodbye” in Swahili) for the last time, I want to take a moment to reflect on what Sema Kenya has achieved.

We were on the road for the first two seasons of Sema Kenya. Our entire production entourage would pack its bags and head deep into the towns, cities and counties of Kenya. Advance teams of audience producers would already be on the ground speaking to local people about their issues and recruiting them to participate in the ‘studio’ audience. As many as 140 people would patiently gather in soaring temperatures to ask questions of their leaders or sometimes just to listen to their account of their performance.

Bucking the trend

Sema Kenya played a particularly important role during the 2013 elections. The programme bucked the trend of mainstream media, who steered clear of sensitive topics and were accused of having abdicated their watchdog responsibility. By contrast, we continued to provide a platform for dialogue, discussing issues such as land, ethnic tensions and internally displaced persons.

In our final season we have based ourselves at our partner station KBC, the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation, and brought audiences from around the country to the capital, Nairobi. The audiences have been smaller but more representative and I am happy to report that Kenyans from all 47 counties have participated in the show.

Audience participation in Sema Kenya has been one of the highlights for me. For example, the lady from Kajiado who quoted the constitution verbatim as she berated parliamentarians on their lack of public consultation, is a perfect example of how ordinary people have used the opportunity the programme offers to speak truth to power.

Our research tells us how motivating and inspiring this can be. A member of a focus group explained: “When you watch, it kind of inspires you to want to be like this other person…it makes you ask yourself, if this person is participating, why am I not participating? Because most of the time people don’t participate because they feel the political process is for the elite.”

Holding leaders to account

Supporting accountability is something we talk a lot about at Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action. For me this means insisting that elected officials and leaders are held responsible for their actions by the communities they serve. Politicians take the show seriously and now it's rare to have pull-outs or no-shows. Being asked by our Senior Producer John Byron Ohaga to come to the Sema Kenya shoot in Nairobi seems to inspire confidence and respect in politicians too used to giving the media the runaround. It has been hugely satisfying to see senior figures and decision makers, MPs, governors and senators sit before people who have probably only ever seen them on television.

Our final show will have no panel and be hosted jointly by our two presenters, reflecting on the trials and tribulations of hosting the show and airing some of the programme highlights. I asked our Editor Odhiambo Joseph what his own personal highlights have been during his tenure. He reminded me of a show where we discussed the menace of corruption in the police force. During the programme we had aired undercover filming showing traffic police taking bribes. It’s a familiar scenario to most drivers unlucky enough to be stopped at a roadblock in Kenya. As well as some penetrating and relentless questioning from Joseph Warungu keen to force the then-inspector general of police to accept responsibility for corruption in the force, he insisted that he go on record to promise the live audience that they would not be victimised or punished for speaking freely during the programme. People put their trust in us and the show became a safe space for them to air their issues.

Taking a bow

Over 80 episodes later, it is fitting we take a bow and hand over the reins to KBC to make the show their own. What is clear to me is that the appetite for dialogue, debate and discussion around issues which affect the lives of ordinary people in Kenya continues to grow.

“Kwaheri” Ö÷²„“óŠć Sema Kenya. “Karibu” (“welcome” in Swahili) KBC Sema Kenya?

Watch this space.

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is right around the corner, so I'd like to look at the situation of young people in Cambodia and the impact we could have if we all could just find out a way to get involved.

Throughout my life in Cambodia, never once did I realise that my country has the youngest population in Southeast Asia, with about 66% of the population of 14 million under 30.

Despite the huge youth population, the level of civic engagement of young people here in Cambodia is really low. Most young people – and most of my friends – have very little knowledge of simple civic facts, such as what the parliament or the local government is, and they have little experience of participating in life outside home and school.

They either don't have access to that kind of information or they just don’t care. In the end it all comes down to the fact that we don’t think it's important enough.

On the contrary, youth participation is extremely important, especially in a country with as many young people as ours. Let's say 66% of the Cambodian population don't go out there and get involved in their community and make something of themselves – where would we be five years from now?

Those 8.5 million young people are our country's main human resource. In a few years, we'll become the leaders and the brains of Cambodia.

The next step is to get this message across to all of Cambodia's young people. And that is where our project called Loy9 comes in.

I am a presenter on Loy9 which combines a TV magazine show, a radio phone-in program, online content and live events where we go to meet young people in different provinces and get them involved.

In Loy9 we cover topics such as the simple ways youth can participate in their community and what the local government is and what it does. In the months ahead we are going to talk about the idea of democracy and the role of the Cambodian parliament.

The first series of the TV show was a big success and had about 2.5 million viewers per week. We are now in production for the second series. With the popularity of the campaign still increasing, we are able to reach more people and spread the word regarding the significance of civic engagement.

And this weekend Loy9's radio and online teams will be featuring guest speakers and bloggers from the International Youth Day organisers in Phnom Penh to encourage young people to participate.

I believe I share the same dream as all of our Loy9 teams here. We hope that by the end of this project we can take a stroll down the street and ask any young person about basic civic facts or how they participate in public life and they will make us proud.

That is the kind of future for Cambodia that we envision and we are working hard to achieve. Come on, guys, let's go out there and start getting involved. Happy International Youth Day!

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Elsewhere on Ö÷²„“óŠć Media Action: 

If you watch the Ö÷²„“óŠć Janala video above, you'll see that its star, Piyal, learns to ride a bike because of his determination.

This characteristic is shared by a great many people in Bangladesh who are learning English any way they can.

1st March, 2012, was a big day for the Ö÷²„“óŠć Janala Project in Bangladesh as we launched Ö÷²„“óŠć Janala Amar Engreji (ā€˜My English Courseā€™). Whatā€™s new and special about the course is that students can study whenever they want, as often as they want. It is available on mobiles, web and WAP. Itā€™s also published four times per week in a leading daily newspaper, and the syllabus is what underpins our latest TV series ā€“ Mojay Mojay Shekha 2 ā€“ a fun, formatted game show.

In terms of size and scale, the project is bigger than anything Iā€™ve ever worked on before and reaches many more millions of people than an average Ö÷²„“óŠć One prime-time show. In fact our TV audiences can reach up to around 20 million viewers.

Ö÷²„“óŠć Janala is already four years old, but over those years weā€™ve learned a lot ā€“ our audiences told us that they wanted a structured course which progressed through different levels and offered a reward at the end. In response we developed a progressive, step by step syllabus with topic reports and a course report when they finish. They also told us that they wanted the learning to be relevant and meaningful to them ā€“ so we tested the content on all our platforms many times to ensure the level of language and cultural appropriateness. It has involved many hours of work and the efforts of many people in the team.

We have always sought to be innovative and creative and Iā€™m delighted that the whole teamā€™s efforts have been recognised recently at several major awards ceremonies ā€“ including winning the eAsia award for the Best Open and Distance learning, and the World Innovation Summit for Education Award in recognition of innovative practices.

Amar Engreji was launched with a TV, radio and print advertising campaign across a wide range of TV channels and newspaper outlets. Already over half a million people have called the mobile line alone, and we know that people are staying longer than ever before on the web content, on average around 18 minutes. It is early days but the indications are very good.

With a project this size, so many people are involved, and without the hard work of everyone in the team, Ö÷²„“óŠć Janala would not be the incredible, inspiring project that it is, a huge thank you from me to everyone. Thereā€™s another five years to goā€¦ so do watch this space!

Ģż