An organisation based in Islamabad, Pakistan is using radio as a medium for increasing the visibility of women issues and including womens voices in policy making on water issues in their country. The Uks Foundation, together with Panos South Asia, has created a series of 15-minute programmes that document the experiences of women in relation to water management and access in their communities.
The programme is titled Pan ki kahani, aurat ki zubani (Water stories from women) and uses a mixed format of interviews, features, and discussions to highlight rural womens experiences in relation to water supply access. The series shows how water policy and management affects women on matters such as gender roles, mobility, migration, health, hygiene, and employment. Women recount how they risk losing their pregnancy because they have to carry water containers every day for their families, or how they get beaten by their husbands for not bringing bathwater.

Water is very important to women but they do not have the voice needed to influence water policies, said Tasneem Ahmar, Director of the Uks Foundation and Executive Producer of the Uks Radio Project.

Much of their sufferings can be attributed to water and its availability.

Ahmar adds, Lack of adequate water, limited or hazardous access, and poor water quality affect their mental, emotional, physical and reproductive health. Uks hopes that the radio programmes would stimulate public debate on the matter, and that other issues like it that have not been adequately covered by mainstream media gain more attention.

Uks is taking advantage of the relative freedom brought by recently passed legislation on independent radio in Pakistan. In 2002, licenses were given for private radio stations to open all over the country. The Information for Development website reports that of these, 26 are community radios, all airing on FM frequencies in 17 cities in Pakistan.

Sources:
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority website, <http://www.pemra.gov.pk/radio.htm>

Ebrahim, Zofeen T., 2006 "Pakistan: FM Radio Series Wades Into Gender
Question" retrieved June 14, 2006 from <http://www.asiawaterwire.net/node/291>

2004, South Asian Potpourri, retrieved on June 14, 2006 from <http://www.i4donline.net/aug04/south_asia_full.asp>