Tajalla

aepo Strategic Plan

AEPO’s PHILOSOPHY

Learning is at the heart of everything we do. We are driven by the needs of our audience and the values of trust, quality, creativity, respect for cultural diversity, and collaboration. We strive to ensure impartiality in all of our outputs, both in how our programs are produced and presented and in the messages they convey.

In nearly three decades since it was set up, AEPO has had a significant impact on the lives of many Afghans, with characters from our flagship drama programme ‘New Home, New Life’ now household names in the country due to 29 years of uninterrupted broadcasting of our productions on the BBC World Service and local FM stations. Working in a context where above 80% of women and 60% of men are illiterate and almost half of school-age children do not attend classes, while many Afghans continue to be affected by the ongoing conflict, we continue to engage with our audience to enable them to address the challenges that they face.

Issues covered by AEPO’s current programmes include education, human rights, child development and health, the role of women, constitutional issues, illegal immigration, reintegration and repatriation, conflict resolution, reconciliation, civic education, mine awareness, poppy cultivation/substitution, historical monuments, environmental pollution nutrition and malnutrition, drinking water, livestock management, basic hygiene, health and agriculture. An important aspect of our work is to make our audience aware of the services that might be available to them.

With financial support in the past and currently from UNICEF, WHO, UNESCO, FAO, UNHCR, UNDP, UNODC, UNMACA, EU, SDC, DFID,FCO, IFC, USIP, NED, NRC, Belgium Embassy, Canadian Embassy, Swedish Embassy and partnership (through BBC MA, AKF, TDH and Afghan Aid) we remain committed to ensuring that our outputs are of the highest standard. In addition to our existing platforms, we continue to explore ways to diversify our outputs to extend our reach across the country, where appropriate exploiting the opportunities afforded by new technology.

2. BACKGROUND

Afghan Education Production Organization (AEPO) operates as a registered, not-for-profit Afghan NGO based in Kabul. The organization began its activities (as BBC Afghan Education Drama - AED) in 1994 in Peshawar, where a group of exiled Afghan radio producers saw the potential to tap into the Afghan oral tradition of storytelling, by producing a radio drama for broadcast on the BBC World Service. This was the birth of ‘New Home New Life’, which has remained on air ever since. Its storylines have helped Afghans in the country and those living in exile in Pakistan and Iran to improve their lives and address the many challenges they face.

Over time, additional feature radio programmes were introduced, including ‘Village Voice’ and ‘Health and Life’. These aimed to address specific issues identified as important by our listeners, many of whom had limited access to information, let alone education. As in ‘New Home, New Life’ these new programmes used drama – and humour - to convey educational messages to people of all ages in all parts of the country and in refugee camps.

In 2000, a series of children's programmes entitled ‘Radio Education for Afghan Children’ (REACH) were developed specifically to address the lack of access to formal education in the country. With this initiative, AED’s name was changed to the BBC Afghan Education Projects (AEP). At the time of its re-location to Kabul in 2002, AEP had some 74 full-time and 150 part-time staff and a wide portfolio of media outputs.

In 2003, AEP became integrated into the media-for-development charity, BBC Media Action (previously known as BBC World Service Trust). In April 2012, the organization became independent of the BBC and registered as an Afghan NGO, as Afghan Education Production Organization (AEPO). Now run entirely by Afghans, AEPO continues to adapt to a fast-changing operating environment in Afghanistan. In late 2014, AEPO celebrated its 20th anniversary at an event in Kabul, attended by international and Afghan guests.

AEPO’s activities are overseen by a Board, comprising 11 Afghan and international members, some of whom have significant experience in educational programmes, that meets on a regular basis. The day-to-day operation of AEPO is managed by a Senior Management Team, headed by the Director.

From 2002 to 2021 AEPO operated in a fast-changing media landscape, which had grown rapidly, with some 250 radio stations and 100 TV channels broadcasting in the country. Since 2021, many of these channels have stopped their activities.

In this context, it is critical that AEPO maintains both standards and impartiality in any future partnerships.

According to the Asia Foundation 2021 survey, 52.3% of people get their information from the radio. AEPO’s field research shows that compared to the past more people are tuning in to the radio and the medium continues to be a main source of information for Afghans.

It is estimated that up to 10million Afghans are now using the internet, which offers AEPO an opportunity to reach audiences through social media and other platforms.

3. WHERE WE ARE NOW

AEPO continues to work in close partnership with BBC Media Action and BBC World Service, producing 16 programmes per week (8 in Dari and 8 in Pashto) for multiple broadcast. The long-running drama ‘New Home, New Life’ reaches almost 40% of BBC radio listeners in the country, while our regular feature programmes reach up to 21%, according to BBC Media Action surveys. A survey conducted by the Aga Khan Foundation in 16 provinces in 2014 found that almost 64% of families reported that at least one member of the family listens to ‘New Home New Life’.

AEPO’s current output includes:

Family radio drama: ‘New Home, New Life’ (since 1994)
Adult education programmes: ‘Health and Life’ (since 1997); ‘Village Voice’ (since 1995) and ‘Gold in the Dust’ (since 2010)
Children's education programmes (REACH): ‘Peddler’s Bag’, ‘Castle of a Thousand Windows’ and ‘Story for Living’ (since 2001)
AEPO’s theater activities (since 2017)
Publications include ‘New Home New Life’ magazine and illustrated story books for children
Information about AEPO’s programmes and streamed content on www.tajalla.af/www.aepo.af, as well as on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Training of media workers.

AEPO works in partnership with a range of Afghan and international institutions, and consults with the Ministries of Information and Culture, Health, Education and Agriculture as appropriate. We maintain close links with a number of civil society organizations such as Integrity Watch Afghanistan, Afghans for Tomorrow, Empowerment Center for Women (ECW), The Afghan Women's Network (AWN) AWN, Canada Women for Women in Afghanistan, Afghan Women Education Center (AWEC) and Fair Law Organization for Women (FLOW).

As well as BBC Media Action, we work with a number of Afghan media partners, including Salam Watandar and ERTV and have provided production trainings for key staff at 26 FM stations in more than 26 provinces across the country and helped train more than 2,700 journalists. Our staff have also worked with theatre groups in 8 provinces to help them develop their skills. Through its partnership with the BBC World Service, AEPO enjoys unique coverage across Afghanistan. An independent survey undertaken in 2010 (by ACSOR) indicated that 39% of adult radio listeners regularly tune into AEPO programs on the BBC.

AEPO strives to ensure that its programmes remain relevant to our audience by

systematically involving listeners in the process of design and production. A

number of ‘consultative committees’ meet regularly and provide a platform for

ideas and feedback. We also regularly conduct needs assessments in the field,

pilot new programme ideas with audiences and hold regular ‘listening circles’ to

assess the impact of our broadcasts. Our research team finds that listeners often

try to apply the lessons carried by AEPO’s programmes, and this is backed up by

fieldwork undertaken in 2013 by external consultants (commissioned by SDC) in

Bamiyan where it was found that:

After listening to ‘Health and Life’, a woman identified the illness affecting her pregnant neighbor and persuaded her to go to hospital

A listener convinced his neighbor to allow his daughter to go to school after hearing a programme on the subject
A female shop-keeper in the bazaar learned how to improve her business through listening to ‘Gold in the Dust’
A listener mentioned how Abida from ‘New Home New Life’ had helped demonstrate how to mediate in community conflicts, which helped her to resolve a problem between two families in her village.

We also learn important lessons from external evaluations, such as that conducted by SDC in 2013 and included the following observations:

AEPO enjoys a high degree of credibility among its partners.

Based on the ideas and feedback from listeners, AEPO’s programmes are relevant to the changing context in the country.
AEPO adopts a highly professional editorial approach.
There is scope to extend the scope of AEPO’s partnerships with additional Afghan media actors.
AEPO’s publications make a significant contribution to education and are widely used by teachers and students in many contexts.

As part of preparations for AEPO’s 20th anniversary in 2014, our research team travelled to a number of provinces to solicit the views of listeners. During these consultations, security and conflict resolution emerged as two critical issues among the Afghan public, who urged AEPO to continue to address this in our programmes. Those we consulted in Kandahar and Bamiyan stressed the need to continue to focus on education, which they felt could contribute to a ‘culture of peace’. Water management, health and livelihoods were identified as priorities among those we consulted in Khost, Balkh and Herat.

During field visits in 2018 and early 2019 the AEPO research team found that there still is significant demand in certain communities for our educational output, as well as a keen interest in the topic of reconciliation.

Since the launch in 2015 of AEPO’s strategy, the following goals have been achieved:

Partnerships with other organizations have increased - for example, AEPO’s partnerships with FM stations has grown to 46 from 33, efforts to diversify range of our outputs and reach new audience.

AEPO established in 2017 Its own theater group.
AEPO has extended the range of listeners from 39% to 42% (of radio-listeners) according to surveys undertaken by AKF, BBCMA and others.
The quality of outputs has improved through training of AEPO staff.
An AEPO e-newsletter is distributed on a regular basis.
AEPO’s budget for 2015-21 was fully funded by donors and Core activities

4. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

As part of the preparation of this Strategic Plan, AEPO staff consulted a wide range of stakeholders, including listeners, our media partners, donors, consultants and members of the AEPO Board to help identify an appropriate way forward. What emerged from these discussions was a picture of high editorial standard and successful track record of producing quality educational programmes and publications, albeit in challenging circumstances.

This process of consultation also highlighted elements of uncertainty that might affect AEPO’s activities in the next 5 years. While security has arguably improved since mid-August 2021, the media ‘space’ for AEPO’s work may in time be constrained by official restrictions imposed by central or local authorities. The banning of certain international TV broadcasters also indicates sensitivity about what Afghans may be allowed to listen to. In the face of these challenges, AEPO needs to continue to have a flexible and pragmatic approach in how we adapt to the context and seize opportunities as they arise. Among the key observations from our consultations were:

While the partnership with the BBC continues to provide an effective and valued platform for AEPO’s output, it will be important to identify appropriate opportunities for diversification.

Within the general thematic areas identified for future programmes, AEPO should be bold in addressing issues that might be perceived as contentious, while ensuring continued impartiality and balance.
The manner in which AEPO consults its listeners is a key strength, but should be matched by systematic monitoring of coverage and outcomes of its programmes, by location and demographic group.
AEPO’s reach could be extended by additional partnerships with those provincial FM stations who continue to operate and possibly streamed content over the internet.
Building on the steps taken to date, AEPO should continue to explore the opportunities presented by new technology, including multi-platform (radio, TV, mobile phones, websites, publications, theatre) and multimedia content (audio and video through podcasts, blogs, social media, etc.)
Continued attention needs to be paid to staff development within AEPO to enable us to maintain standards and foster creativity, while providing opportunities for female staff to participate at all levels.

Bearing these recommendations in mind, the challenge facing the AEPO team is to build on our achievements while continuing to respond to the needs of our audiences and adapt to the changing environment in which we operate. An important new landscape for AEPO is social media, which provides opportunities for multimedia content for educational material. This will require us to both develop our skills and attract new creative talent. In order to achieve this, we intend to continue to explore potential new sources of revenue.

5. AEPO’S STRATEGIC AIMS 2022-27

We have identified five strategic aims for AEPO over the next 5 years, and have set these out with the corresponding activities below:

Strategic Aim 1: To sustain AEPO’s activities through an appropriate mix of donor funding and income derived from commissions, programmes, training, research and publications.