The Start of Femina HIP

The initiative was founded in 1999 by Dr. Minou Fuglesang, the current Executive Director of the organisation. The need to set up a mass media based project such as Femina HIP in Tanzania was identified in 1998 by Sida Partners on Adolescent Health Network (SPANe), which Fuglesang coordinated. The Swedish-funded network encouraged a sharing of ‘lessons learnt’ on approaches for promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights in the African setting. Only a few organisations in the region had started using popular and innovative media products as an entry point to empower young people to adopt healthy lifestyles.

The environment in Tanzania was ready for such an initiative. Interested parties came together and launched the Femina Health Information Project, today known as Femina HIP. The new media initiative set out by experimenting with the use of popular media produced for and by youth. Femina, later Fema magazine, became the project’s flagship product. The initiative has grown steadily since then, expanding with new media products and responding to demand and huge positive feedback from audiences and partners across Tanzania and beyond.

Today, Femina HIP is one of the largest media platforms in the country.