“You need leadership, you need active advocacy and civil society groups to speak out about these issues. You need women themselves to speak out but you also need men to support that change.” – Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund

From Rhetoric to Reality is a tve project resulting from a spirited meeting of around 40 women broadcasters from 27 countries who met in Paris in February 2000. Top of their agenda was the creation of a series of short films, reflecting the lives of women and progress made, since the noble promises issued in 1995 years ago at the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. From Rhetoric to Reality examines women’s progress on the road to equality, and assesses how much further there is to go.

The outcome is 32 wide-ranging and powerful programmes covering issues from women in power to the increasing feminisation of poverty. From women’s role in the Irish and Colombian peace process, to the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation in Lithuania. On violence – the horrific rape and disfigurement of twenty-four year old Makhosi in South Africa and on reproductive health – the soaring rate of teenage pregnancies in Scotland.

From Rhetoric to Reality was made possible with the help of:
UNESCO and the European Commission Directorate General for Development to promote better understanding of development issues, the Directorate General for Employment, Industrial and Social Affairs: Equal Opportunities between men and women, Human Rights Policy Department, Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Full information about each film with transcripts available on the Broadcasting for Change website.