This year, Isis International-Manila and Women Writers of Mindanao, Inc. (MinWow) teamed up to develop and conduct “Women Making Airwaves for Peace,” a five-day training program in three different cities in Mindanao, Philippines, namely, Cagayan de Oro,  Zamboanga, and Cotabato. The first leg of the training, held last October 25-29, 2006 in Cagayan de Oro City, was attended by teachers, radio reporters, students, NGO workers, and activists.

This series of training seeks to enhance the crucial role media plays in conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Mindanao. Furthermore, it covers technical skills enhancement as well as self-care and safety strategies for women community journalists.

Isis' Pretchie Obja-an, training facilitator, said that “It was good that the trainers were actually peace journalists. Hence, they were able to share relevant experiences to the participants.” Obja-an is specifically referring to Bianca Miglioretto of Isis and Lina Sagaral Reyes of MinWoW.

“Another thing that was good about the training,” Obja-an added, “is that participants seemed to learn much from the training, particularly on peace journalism and radio plug production. The radio plugs that the participants produced at the end of the training proved that they indeed were able to enhance their skills. The plugs were really suited for peace building.”

Immediately after the training, the organisers solicited comments from the participants. Annaliza Reyes of DXCC-RMN Cagayan de Oro shared that “As a reporter, I realized that I have done a lot of violations against women and I [still] have a lot of things to improve on.” While Era Espana of Mindanao People's Caucus said that “I did not expect that I will learn [that] much, especially on the technical side, because I have been doing broadcast for several months already.” 

Women community media practitioners, women journalists, and women interested to develop skills in the area of peace building through community radio, who are based in Mindanao, are invited to take part in the upcoming training on February 7-11, 2007 in Zamboanga City and on April 3-7, 2007 in Cotabato City. Deadline for applications is January 8, 2007 and March 10, 2007, respectively.

For more information, visit <http://www.isiswomen.org/announced/wmafp/wmafp.html>.

Source:
Rañosa, Rachel May T. (2006). “Women making airwaves for peace.” Unpublished paper.