"This working paper defines the scope of the FemmePowermentAfrique project, its significance, its research approach and its intended beneficiaries. This project originated in an impact assessment of radio on women’s rights and empowerment in Niger, yet has broadened to incorporate a series of related and important research questions. The research draws on various methodologies including focus groups with listeners, semi-structured interviews, workshops and context analysis of radio output. The project pursues the following aims: 1. To assess the impact of radio on women’s rights and empowerment in the Sahel region of Africa. Three countries have been selected for initial investigation: Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. 2. To assess perceptions of female empowerment within the context of these countries, particularly in comparison with existing concepts and those widely used by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and countries and donors in the North. 3. To produce recommendations on the use of radio with regard to women’s rights and empowerment to be used by media development organisations, civil society organisations, journalists and the media, donors, and research organisations. 4. To contribute to understandings of impact and its measurement. 5. To contribute to methodological approaches used by researchers working in the field. 6. To benefit radio organisations, media, listeners and marginalised and disempowered communities in the three countries through the application of the recommendations. 7. To identify other geographic and topic areas that could benefit from the research findings and methodology (for example, youth, governance, and radicalisation)." (Executive summary)