EmpowEring young Ethiopian womEn through debate and media skills

Project run by SvenSka Interorga & IceaddIS In 2015, SuPPorted by Lund debate SocIety

Funded by SwedISh InStItute through ItS creatIve Force Program - orIgInaL FundIng ProvIded by SIda

Short description

The “Debate | Empower | Impact” workshop and debate competition took place during one week in September / October of 2015 at iceaddis innovation hub in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, as part of Swedish Institute funded project “Empowering young Ethiopian women through debate and media skills”.

Under the broad objective of empowering young Ethiopian women, the project specifically aimed at improving debate & social media interaction skills, as well as creating awareness & encouraging reflection & pro-action on local gender issues.

17 selected female Ethiopian University students from different campuses around Addis Ababa were trained by members of Swedish Lund Debate Society in using an inter-national academic debate format (British Parliamentary Style) to debate issues related to gender discrimination in online social media. Ethiopian guest speakers additionally provided input and discussion on topics like feminism, blogging and social media advocacy in the local context and the participants were continuously guided in how to practice expressing themselves through social media tools.

Upon completing the main workshop, the participants themselves organized several follow-up trainings to pass on what they had learned to their peers in the Universities.

Background / Objectives

Ethiopia is among thE world’s most gEndEr- unEqual countriEs. Discrimination, sexual harassment & violence against women are prevalent every day on all levels of society, while tactics such as victim shaming, intimidation & the invocation of established stereotypes, biases and prejudices, prevent a public dialogue on these issues. Social media can play a pivotal role to change perceptions & opinions, but currently, traditional norms are often replicated in the online sphere.

For dEmocracy to Function, all mEmbErs and groups oF sociEty nEEd Equal accEss to tools and platForms oF sociEtal discoursE. Recurrent gender discrimination in society translates into policies & laws that in turn cause harm to women. Therefore, knowledge & skills in parliamentary style debate aid understanding of the democratic process’ mechanisms. Public media in particular influence socialization by framing public opinions, personal perception & personal beliefs. Social media has potential as an emerging arena for progressive individuals to bring about important changes to public norm.

with thE broad objEctivE oF EmpowEring young Ethiopian womEn, the project aimed at improv-ing debate & social media interaction skills, as well as creating awareness & encouraging reflection & pro-action on local gender

issues. The project thereby also aimed to promote a more diverse & informed public discussion on women’s role in Ethiopian Society in general & deeper reflection on how these issues are manifested in social media.

thE projEct FocusEd in particular on FEmalE univErsity studEnts of an informal network of Univ. Leadership & Debate clubs on 8 campuses in Addis Ababa (initiated by CCL Ethiopia). These clubs gather once a week on each campus to discuss issues that concern them. Active & ambi-tious students are future change makers & role models. Many will go on to assume leading positions in society. By equipping them with debate skills & gender sensitive argumentation, the target group will better function as multipliers for issues of gender equality.

Photo impression and student reviews

‘That I learned how to debate and how to judge, it was amazing. I liked it because it has shown me how to be an open, critical thinker and I love that. I got to see women who are inspiring trainers and debaters!!!’

‘In life there is also a debate either with your-self or with other people. I now know how to make a good arguments and also to test my ideas.’

‘It was great; they trained us in the techniques, then they pushed us to make it practical during the debate.’

‘I liked the workshop because it gave me a voice. To be honest I don’t speak up because I am scared I will be wrong and it is embarrassing. But now I know being wrong is not always a bad thing. The other thing I like most is that the trainers are really friendly and easy to talk to, and the workshop mentions very important issues.’

‘I liked the workshop because it was such an infotainment. I mean, I grasped a lot of important and new points (ideas) at the same time it was so entertaining to have a followed up conversation with my peers. I appreciated the picked up points like feminism, stand point, micro blogging or social medias and the basic BP debating skills.’

‘What I liked the most were the trainers. For me, they have a lot of experience & they helped me throughout this time. In order to improve and make me to see from so many perspectives.’

‘I intend to apply in my campus with my partners as a small workshop just like this. Plus in my future life I will believe in my self perfectly and I want to make sure to make my voice heard.’

‘What I liked about the workshop makes me to raise all the questions that I have. It made me to come up with good and convincing arguments. It was really a good opportunity to learn how to debate and different technologies that I don’t know before.’

‘This workshop has taught me many things, which I will apply to my future in many aspects 1) by standing up for myself & by convincing people what I want to say. 2) by teaching others to stand up for themselves.’

‘I will blogg and express my opinions. I will try to find a debate club & join. I will keep improving my debating skills in every day life.’

‘I will apply one hundred percent that or what I learned from this workshop cause it is important in my day to day life.’

‘I don’t have to agree on everything that somebody else says.’

‘I will definitely mentor others about what I have learned. I really want to strive for a woman to convince others what her rights & opinions are. I will definitely open my own blog and help others to do to.’

‘I used to look at my paper every time I debate but now I got the confident to talk freely and further more I am communicating with people more than I’ve ever did.’

icEaddis.com iceaddis is the first innova-tion hub & co-working space in Ethiopia estab-lished in May 2011, working on youth-driven private sector initiatives and facilitating con-structive interaction between techies, entrepre-neurs, investors and people from the creative industries.

intErorga.sE Svenska Interorga networks Swedish creativity, innovation and pedagogics worldwide, while in particular encouraging independent thinking and acting, as well as active participation in public processes among young people, starting from early ages until young adulthood. We promote sustainable entrepreneurial solutions to local social and ecological challenges and encourage a gender-equal and culturally diverse society.

lunddEbatE.sE Lund Debate society (LDS) is a non-profit, non-partisan association operating in Lund (Sweden) with the purpose of encouraging and providing a platform for intellectual public debate and critical thinking.

thE projEct was organizEd by:

Project manager: Blen Gebrehiwot Desta

Project aSSIStant: Rakeb Wondimagagenhu

traInerS: Lucinda David & Emilia Carlquist

gueSt SPeakerS: Billene Seyome & Markos Lemma

graPhIcS & cartoonS by: Yemsrach Yetneberk

Funding partnEr:

si.sE Swedish Institute, through its Creative Force program, supports collaborations between Swedish and international partners who work with culture or the media to promote freedom of expression, democracy and human rights. The Creative Force program receives original funding from SIDA.

Project partners

SvenskaInterorga

many thankS to SwedISh InStItute!

to Learn more about thIS InItIatIve, PLeaSe contact Project manager bLen gebrehIwot deSta: bLen.deSta@Interorga.Se