Wize Up TV Talk Show in Swaziland

The target audience for the show was female and male youth aged 15 - 24, but with a special focus on most at risk youth, and young women and girls.


The objectives of the show were:

• A reduction in the number of young women (15-24) who have older sexual partners - 10 and more years older than them;
• More young people getting information on safer sexual behaviour;
• More young people freely discussing sexuality with their parents;
• More youth delaying sexual debut and making informed decisions; and
• An increase in the use of condoms at first sexual debut and overall more consistent use of condoms.

The message design workshop was held in 2011 following a formative research process. Key messages were then guided by the research findings as well as by key stakeholders, who also participated in the workshop.

The following episode topics were then developed:

1. Sexual and reproductive health and rights for young people - dealing with youth rights to SRHR services
2. Young people’s right to privacy when confiding in teachers and parents
3. Sex talk between parents and children
4. Parents role modelling - looking at whether parent's lifestyles model healthy behaviours for youth
5. Sexual violence and "tibi tendlu" (meaning family secret)
6. Sexuality and disability
7. Growing up: what does it mean to grow up – understanding our bodies and feelings
8. Sexual experimentation and the consequences
9. Unhealthy relationships vs. healthy relationships
10. Peer pressure and going against the norm
11. Role of social media, it's power and influence (positives and negatives)
12. Circumcision
13. Condom use by young people

Youth participation and input
As the show was pre-recorded, it was not possible to get live feedback from youth, however, Lusweti was able to get audience input through their Wizeup Facebook page where planned topics would be discussed in advance of the programme.

Also, young people from all parts of Swaziland, who were the primary target audience for the show, were interviewed on each programme topic. These comments and short interviews would then be featured in an insert which was used at the beginning of the programme to introduce and launch the discussion. In addition, all episodes had two youth guests as part of the panel.

Branding and marketing

The TV talk show builds on the popularity and established branding of the Wize up! Your decision your life campaign which also included three series of radio talk shows that were aired in 2012 and 2013. Youth listenership clubs had also been established, who were provided with recorded radio talk shows to help guide group discussions.

Branding and messages were also reinforced through weekly newspaper articles by Lusweti on youth SRHR issues. According to Lusweti, these articles attracted positive responses from young people who would write and share their experiences and testimonials.

To promote and encourage viewership of the TV talk show, Lusweti set up a competition on their Facebook page where the public was asked questions relating to the show and the winners would get prizes. The show was also promoted by weekly newspaper and radio adverts, as well as through television trailers reminding people to tune into the show. Lusweti also set up stalls with Wize up branding at national and community events to make the show more visible.

Integration with other programme activities

To strengthen the impact, the TV show was supported by social mobilisation activities in communities which included sensitisation forums with cultural and religious leaders. These activities were supported by other donors like United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and National Emergency Response Council on HIV and AIDS (NERCHA).

Following the success and impact of the talk show in early 2014, Lusweti received funding from UNFPA to produce a further eight episodes of the talk show. The show is schedule to go on air from the first week of August 2014.

HIV/AIDS, Reproductive Health, Youth