Since 2014-15, FPU & BNNRC have implemented a female fellowship programme, where around 120 female journalists have been trained and worked at a community radio for 3-6 months. In this evaluation, the process of setting up the fellowship, the methodology, the results, and the visibility were investigated. This summary will only address the results. On an individual level, this included that fellows were embracing the role of change-makers in their communities, they are breaking (gender) stereotypes, they have an increased sense of empowerment, and are gaining recognition and employment due to their professionalism. At the community radio level, the fellowship contributed to them playing a local advocacy role, especially when raising awareness of issues faced by women and Dalits by producing diverse content but also inspiring journalism as a career. At a community level, there were many cases of stories made by the fellows that contributed to changes in regards to service delivery. This contributes to gender equality in the Bangladeshi (community) media landscape. Lastly, the impact of this programme for BNNRC is that it has created a replicable model to be used in other programmes. Recommendations include incorporating an advanced fellowship, extending the duration, and considering safety of the fellows more, to name a few. The report is for internal use only.

Authors: Dennis Bednar and Anna Gorter

Supervision: Saskia Nijhof