In Shebe Sombo of Jimma Zone, the Conversation Starts When the Radio Stops

Every week in Shebe Sombo Woreda, two groups of neighbors pull their chairs together around a radio and listen to Yalaleke Guzo, which means Unfinished Journey.

Then the broadcast ends, and nobody gets up to leave. That is the part that changes things.

Neyma Abbamecha leads one of those groups. Kebede Hundie helps lead the other. They came to the same work from opposite directions, and between them they are taking apart a silence that has held in their community for generations.

Neyma carries it herself

Neyma is 35. She lives in Shebe Sombo Woreda and leads a radio listener group established with the support of Population Media Center Ethiopia. Through the group, she helps community members discuss gender-based violence and take practical steps to protect women and girls.

She speaks from experience. Neyma underwent FGM, and she remembers the pain it caused. That memory is why she now sits with her groups and asks them not to put their daughters through the same thing.

“I experienced FGM, and I know it’s painful. That experience taught me that harmful practices should not continue simply because previous generations accepted them. We can choose a safer and better future for our daughters.” Neyma Abbamecha, radio listener group leader

For Neyma, silence allows violence to continue. Speaking out, supporting survivors, and demanding accountability can help stop it.

After each broadcast, she brings the members together to reflect on what they heard. They work through the different forms of violence affecting women and girls, including physical violence, sexual violence, emotional abuse, forced marriage, and harmful traditional practices. The discussion lets members connect the radio stories to situations they already recognize around them. They ask why survivors sometimes stay silent, why families hide violence, and how fear, shame, economic dependence and social pressure stop women and girls from seeking help.

She does not accept the frame that keeps the problem indoors.

“Violence against women and girls is not something that should remain behind closed doors. When the community stays silent, the survivor suffers alone, and the person responsible may continue harming others. We must speak out, report violence, support survivors, and make sure the law protects them.”

Kebede sees the cost in the classroom

Kebede is 27. He works at the woreda education office and serves as vice leader of a ten-member radio listener group established through the Yalaleke Guzo project. His group meets the same way and holds the same weekly opening hours.

For Kebede and his fellow members, the program opened a door to subjects that once felt too sensitive to touch.

“After our radio listener group was established, we began listening to the program every week,” he explains. “The stories help us discuss gender-based violence and harmful practices, particularly female genital mutilation and child marriage. We talk openly about why these practices have continued and what we can do to end them.”

Inside the group, opinions differ. Members do not always agree quickly, but they let everyone finish.

“We discuss and sometimes debate the issues. Each member explains what they understand from the program. In the end, we try to reach a common understanding about what protects the rights, dignity and wellbeing of women and girls.” Kebede Hundie, vice leader, radio listener group

As an education professional, Kebede understands exactly how child marriage interrupts a girl’s schooling and narrows her future. He believes every girl deserves the chance to learn, to grow, and to make decisions about her own life.

Why the practices persist, and how the program works

FGM and child marriage have shaped the lives of generations of women and girls. In some communities, the practices continue because of social pressure, cultural expectation, and long-standing belief. Families fear criticism or rejection if they step away from tradition. Yet the consequences for a girl can last her whole life, affecting her health, her schooling, her confidence, and every opportunity that follows.

Child marriage exposes a girl to violence, takes her out of school, narrows her options, and places adult responsibilities on her before she is physically and emotionally ready.

Yalaleke Guzo lets listeners recognize those realities through characters they find familiar. Rather than telling audiences what to do, the program invites them to think, to question, and to weigh healthier choices for themselves. That approach is what makes group discussion possible. Each broadcast creates a chance to listen, question, and learn. Each discussion helps a member find the confidence to speak.

Population Media Center Ethiopia produces and broadcasts Yalaleke Guzo in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The program forms part of the project titled “A Multimedia Social and Behavior Change Project Addressing Gender Based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation and Peacebuilding in Six Regions of Ethiopia, Including Humanitarian Settings.”

With UNFPA support, PMC Ethiopia has established radio listener groups in 11 project intervention woredas across six regions. These groups bring together women, men, young people, government representatives, religious leaders, clan and community leaders, and other influential community members.

Out the door and into the community

Neither group stops at its own meeting.

Members of Kebede’s group take what they discuss to their families, their neighbors, their workplaces, and community gatherings. They explain that FGM offers no health benefit and can cause severe physical and emotional harm. They encourage parents to keep their daughters in school and to protect them from child marriage. They correct misinformation, they encourage people to report violence, and they draw men and boys into the work of protecting women and girls.

Neyma’s members share what they learn with families, neighbors and friends. They encourage parents to listen to their daughters, they teach young people to respect one another, and they remind couples that violence has no place in a healthy relationship. When someone argues that violence between a husband and wife is a private matter, the group explains that abuse violates human rights and carries serious physical, emotional, social and economic consequences.

Both groups know that influence matters, so they bring in the people who hold it. Religious and clan leaders can clear up misconceptions and publicly reject harmful practices. Government and justice representatives can strengthen services, enforce the law, and explain what support is available to survivors. Teachers and education officials can keep girls in the classroom. Parents can protect their daughters. Women and young people can share their own experience and lead with it.

Following the case

Neyma also follows reported cases of violence in the woreda. In one case, a young man accused of committing violence was arrested. Neyma and other community members followed the legal process closely and called on the responsible authorities to give the case proper attention and to see that justice was served.

For her, following a case is not about revenge. It is about protecting survivors, discouraging further violence, and showing the community that people who commit violence will be held accountable.

“When one case is ignored, other survivors may become afraid to report what happened to them. But when the community follows the case, and the responsible institutions take action, women and girls begin to believe that their voices matter.”

Neyma knows how hard reporting can be. Survivors may fear retaliation, rejection or blame. Families may pressure them into silence to protect their reputation. Through community discussions, the group urges people to listen to survivors without judgment and to help them reach the right authorities and service providers.

Her group also raises a harder problem. According to Neyma, some families now carry out FGM secretly because they know it is illegal, which makes prevention more difficult. So, the group encourages community members to stay alert, to share information responsibly, and to work with local leaders and authorities when they believe a girl may be at risk.

What it takes

Changing long-established attitudes takes time. Some people resist the messages at first. Others hesitate to challenge practices their families and neighbours accept. The radio program gives both groups reliable information and relatable stories, which is often what it takes to open a difficult conversation.

For Kebede, ending FGM and child marriage takes more than awareness. It takes regular dialogue, shared responsibility, and the courage to question practices that cause harm.

For Neyma, preventing gender-based violence takes more than awareness too. It takes people ready to notice abuse, listen to survivors, report crimes, follow cases, challenge harmful beliefs, and work alongside responsible institutions.

One episode, one honest conversation, and one family decision at a time, both groups are building toward a community where women and girls live without fear, and where every girl grows up healthy, educated, confident, and free from violence.

Their two messages arrive at the same place.

Culture should protect people, not harm them.

And change begins when people refuse to remain silent.

Neyma survived FGM. Kebede watched child marriage end with a girl’s schooling. In Shebe Sombo, both lead radio listener groups breaking a generation-old silence.

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