Yaba Mangela Badoe Ghana / UK
I believe that the primary challenge facing African feminists today is to get women’s voices
heard and taken seriously.
I live and work in London and Accra Ghana, where I spend a few months
every year making films for the Institute of African Studies, at the University of
Ghana, Legon. I call myself a feminist because I am staunch believer in justice
for women and the validity of women’s perspectives. I am a documentary
filmmaker and writer with over thirty years experience in broadcast journalism.
I’ve made documentaries for BBC1, BBC2, BBC4, ITV and C4. Throughout
my career, I’ve combined a love of television and radio with a passion for
writing. This has given me an excellent sense of narrative structure, an ability
to convey the drama at the heart of a problem, and the confidence to devise
entertaining ways of reaching the widest audience possible. Having worked
on film, Beta, DV and HD with actors and presenters in studios, and on location
in Europe, America, Asia, the Caribbean and Africa, I’m able to gain access
to very different types of people as well as supervise the editing and scripting
of documentaries.
ourselves in such a way that we have a meaningful impact on government
policies, to ensure that the economic basis of women’s lives improves; and
that every woman, especially the poorest, realises her full potential. Thirdly
we should activate national debates about cultural practises underlined by
religious beliefs, which demonise and encourage violence towards women.
In order to strengthen the feminist movement in Africa, we need coordinated
regional and national solidarity, cooperation and dissemination of information;
a clearer, concerted communication presence in national media landscapes;
and more effective use of film and radio to promote feminist goals to the widest
audience possible.
I have called myself a feminist since my early twenties, when I was the leader of
a Cambridge research expedition to investigate female-headed households in
urban and rural communities in Jamaica. Ever since then, trying