Educating through entertainment is the credo of the NGO RAES. With the support of Equipop, NGO 3D, and the Siggil Jiggéen network, the Bruits de Tambours (Drumbeats) project was launched in 2018. This communication campaign, which combines entertainment and community action, aimed to encourage the emergence of more democratic governance in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Between 2018 and 2020, five action strategies were implemented to make governance bodies more inclusive of women and young people.
Strategy 1: Participatory diagnosis and skills development
As part of this initial strategy, activities were carried out in the early stages of the project. This helped to understand the environment and mobilize stakeholders around the project's themes: decentralization, good local governance, accountability, leadership, and gender.
Strategy 2: Citizens engage in dialogue
For the second strategy, citizen dialogues were initiated in the twenty-two neighborhoods of the municipality. These dialogues enabled citizens, public authorities, and civil society organization leaders on issues identified in the mapping process: Where are young people and women? What role should women play in neighborhood councils? How much power should young people have in health committees? How can women and young people be involved in the municipal participatory budget?
Strategy 3: Edutainment, or how to educate and entertain at the same time
A radio drama and a television series were created as part of the third strategy of the Bruits de Tambours project; Dianké and Wara. These two productions tackle a sensitive subject: the inclusion of women and young people in local governance bodies. Atypical in their pan-African character, they address not just one country, but an entire continent. Scathing, Wara and Dianké are a veritable hymn to the awakening and participation of young people and women in both civic and political life. The broadcast of these productions has made it possible to constructively question individual behaviors and social norms.
Strategy 4: Radio stations are civic-minded
The fourth strategy took the form of six citizen radio programs. These programs provided a forum for live debate on topics such as clientelism, corruption, citizen participation, the place of women and young people in decision-making bodies, and transparency. Using an inclusive format, they also made it possible to gather the observations of people who were unable to participate in the citizen dialogues, as well as those of the authorities who were able to listen to the grievances.
Strategy 5: Citizens take action
During a mobilizing event held on December 10 in Saint-Louis to mark the end of the first phase of the project, an open letter written and signed by the women and young people of the community was read and presented to local elected officials. It includes nine best practices for initiating aprocess of high-quality democratic renewal. These are:
- develop a culture of dialogue,
- co-develop solutions with residents;
- trust young people,
- Establish mechanisms to enable women to participate fully and be heard in decision-making bodies.
- promote access and empowerment for more women in politics,
- developing spaces to promote collective initiatives and those of general interest,
- create a culture of transparency and accountability,
- train on citizen participation to change practices,
- involve residents in evaluations to improve local governance.
Thanks to the activities carried out as part of the Bruits de Tambours project, citizens have been informed about participatory and inclusive democracy, as well as civic and political engagement. A second phase will be launched in 2021 to continue bringing about change in the municipality of Saint Louis. Action strategies will be replicated in other localities across the country. to to make the drums of participatory and inclusive democracy for women and young people resound!
