UNESCO and others have developed a definition for Community Radio. AMARC (the world wide association of community radio stations) also has its definition at amarc.org  Basically community radio is a not for profit volunteer based and community owned and community run radio station. Not for profit doesn't mean that it can't make a profit from ads or sponsorships, it just means that any income made on radio is reinvested in the station after paying costs and not given to the stock owners or the administrative board.

I'd like to share this link to a great listing of community radio examples on wikipedia. The examples of community radio come from around the world and show the connection between radio and human rights efforts. Here is a list of a few with the connection to human rights:

• Bolivia: community radio was established by miners and funded by trade union dues.
• Hungary: the first community stations started as "pirates", broadcasting politically free speech.
• India: in 1995 the Supreme Court in India ruled that the "airwaves are public property" and paved the way in 2006 for Community Radio Guidelines which permit NGOs and other civil society organizations to own and operate community radio stations.
• Jordan: highlights Daoud Kuttab's post regarding how AmmanNet.net was established by internet (2000) to bypass government restrictions.
• Nepal: the first independent community radio station was established in 1997 by the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (Nefej) regarding freedom of expression and right to information called Radio Sagarmatha. In addition, Radio Sagarmatha's 'Safa Radio: The Clean Air Campaign' works with the Nepal Environmental Scientific Society to measure air pollutants in Kathmandu and broadcasts information about the capital's air quality.

How do you define your community radio station? In what ways are you meeting the needs and concerns of your communities?

Community Radio is such a powerful tool that today marginalised communities are able to generate and share their knowledge and experience, to participate in discourse and decision making at every level.

 Community radio in Ghana is playing a major role in the promotion of good governance and civic education. A series of community consultations have taken place between radio community workers and rural community members in relation to the development and production of a series of radio programmes dubbed: Community Participation in Local Governance. (CPLG). This has been with the active participation of the poorest of the poor in the community where illiteracy is very high.

The radio programme is facilitating a process of public dialogue through which people define who they are, what they want, and how they can get it. Rural communities are finding their voice and articulating their concerns. Community radio is giving them a new lease of life.

Hi, it's interesting to see that there are different ways to define what is community radio - based on a lot of agreement of the essential central mission of community radio. But maybe it's useful to say that there are many small privately owned radio stations in different parts of the developing world that define themselves as community radio even if they don't exactly fit the criteria outlined by international organisations.  It's important to include them in the picture when looking at how radio is contributing to human rights and development.

I have had experience with online radio since 2000 when I helped establish the Arab world's fist Internet radio. The reason we went this route was the fact that in our country radio was a governmental monopoly, so to circumvent that we set up a server outside the country and used that server to broadcast on line. Later we found a way to get the online signal downloaded in a nearby country that is allowed to use independent radio and was able to rebroadcast our signal back into our country. Today many are using the global reach of online radio to reach audiences around the world. What is important about online radio is that you are able to save audio reports that include actualities for as long as the web site is up. This allows for people to visit and listen to programs, news casts or separate reports as many times as they may want

The public radio is a powerful tool to reaching out to a wide audience. It can provide you on the spot assessment on how the audience has received your message if it is a live phone in programme. I have found this the most beneficial tool in reaching out to a wide audience although it is also restrictive in the sense that persons without access to telephones are excluded and sometimes where there are numerous calls, the lines get jammed and only a few call get through. To stimulate interest in the dialogue, a corss section of the public are informed to listen in and contribute to the discussion/ debate. This has proved a good strategy especially where it is perceived that the public is ignorant of the true situation of a human rights situation or there are strong opposition to a proposed policy or law necessitating the voices of the excluded or affected to be projected to add value to the discourse.       

The public radio can be used in many ways. It could be used in passing on information on human rights situation of certain persons, groups etc as news items or in a commentary or documentary. The pubilc radio could feature discussion programmes around an issue bringing togather human rights activists or a mixture of human rights activists, government officials, politicians or other citizens depending on the topic. This gives the audience diverse views from the standpoint of these guests. You could conduct a vox  poll which could aired to complement the discussions in the studio. 

The radio is one way to dealing with the issue of ignorance of fundamental rights  and ways to enforce them especially in Nigeria. I had personally used the radio to provide information to the public on where to go to seek legal aid in cases of violations of human rights. The radio is cheap to maintain and could be accessed everywhere even in the depths of the forests. You can hardly see a cattle rearing Fulani without a radio dangling by his side in the bush. It also has appeal as it is broadcasted in many of the major languages including pidgin English unlike the internet which is more expensive and thus excludes Nigerian tribespersons who can not read and communicate in the languages used on the internet.     

However public radio is expensive in Nigeria if you have to sponsor the airing of the programme especially a s most of the radio houses are more concerned with making profit as against seeing the discussions as issues of public concern and thus not to be taken as of commercial value. One way out of this is engaging the officials of the broadcast industry to understand the importance of the issues to contribuing to sustainable development and security through advocacy calls and sensitization. This engagment could have many gains like free air time or reduction in rates.              

I would like to bring up the example of an FM radio station in Pakistan called Radio Khyber, which I think brings up questions about the boundaries between community, public and state radio, and issues of remaining independent while receiving state funding. Radio Khyber, which broadcasts in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas in northwest Pakistan, was set up in 2006 by the Pakistani government to counter the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups who dominated the airwaves in the area using illegal FM stations. During the time the Pakistani government established Radio Khyber, the militant leader Maulana Fazlullah, nicknamed the “Radio Mullah,” used radio in the Swat Valley to give fiery sermons denouncing the West and the Pakistani government while his militant group waged a campaign against the Pakistani Army to take over areas in the Northwest Frontier Province from 2007 to 2009.

When Radio Khyber began broadcasting, the Pakistani government mandated that it only play pop songs and give short news bulletins from the state run radio station Radio Pakistan. Yet when the Pakistani Army mounted an offensive against militants in the area the station made a decision to cover more local news and concerns. According to the CSMonitor the station programming turned into “call-in talk shows, news bulletins phoned in from reporters across Khyber, and feature programs on health, education, women's rights, and security – all in local dialects of the Pashto language” The station also has three female broadcasters, something that breaks social taboos in this region of Pakistan.

Yet because the station is funded by the government and it broadcasts in a militant stronghold it must tread carefully “trying to avoid backlash from either the militants – who criticize the playing of music – or the Pakistani government, which dislikes its news coverage in this sensitive region.” Dawn.com reports the station receives constant threats from militants. In late 2009 Radio Khyber and two other similar stations funded by the government in North Waziristan faced closure because salaries had not been paid for two months—this at a time local listeners were demanding that the stations broadcast for more hours during the day.

The case of Radio Khyber is interesting because the station has many aspects of community or public radio, but using the definitions posted above it would not be community radio. The station is not funded by the community and salaries are paid by the government, but on the other hand it fosters participation in the community through call-in shows and played a vital function of informing the public during a time of crisis and war. The station also gives women a voice in a conservative region of Pakistan. Yet because the station is state funded it is restricted in what it can say about the government. So my question is how can we make sense of radio stations like Radio Khyber that are funded by the state but perform a vital community service and engage the local community? What is the potential for these types of stations in engaging and empowering the community, and discussing human rights issues that could embarrasses the government that provides funding? Does state funding automatically restrict on-air content? Are there examples in “developing nations” of public radio stations funded by the government that remain independent?

Elma7rosa.net is a completely self funded Internet Radio Station launched in September 2009 to be an independent radio station works to disseminate the values, of democracy, human rights, public and political participation, as well as the liberal values like tolerance, acceptance, and coexistence through a news service, entertainment service, and multilingual service.

The Main Stakeholder of Elma7rosa.net Online Radio is the Egyptian Democratic Academy (EDA) which is youth non-profit organization established in July 2009 by a group of young people believe in Democracy, Human Rights, Liberal Values, and political participation. Promoting the values of freedom of opinion and Expression, political and religious tolerance, accepting the others and the use of New Media tools and techniques in such promotion is the core interest of EDA. Elma7rosa.net is the main project of EDA's New Media program.

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has been using a local radio station that broadcasts in Hebrew, Arabic and English to promote human rights, the struggle against torture in Israel, the fight against Impunity and for the protection of civilians.  The show is weekly and delivered by PCATI's executive director, Dr. Ishai Menuchin.  It can be found on "All for Peace Radio" our show is

“Music, politics and everything in between” http://www.allforpeace.org/

Program Concept:

The program consists of political discussions of current events and human rights issues, interlaced with a variety of international music tracks, in particular protest songs and other politically motivated music.   In particular, the program uses commemorative days and celebrations, (e.g. Naqba Day, May Day, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance, Holocaust Day, Martin Luther King Day, Israeli Independence Day etc.), to broach political questions and foster critical debate.  In the course of each program, Dr. Menuchin conducts interviews (with call-in speakers), mainly human rights advocates and activists, academics and other individuals who can offer illuminating perspectives on the issues at hand. Once a month, the program will feature a studio guest.  In addition, the program makes use of recorded material, such as audio footage from demonstrations that will bring in voices from the field. 

The following is an overview of special programs planned during the project implementation period:

• Special program on the occasion of the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (26 June).  Programming will centre on the issue of torture, and will include interviews with torture victims and their relatives, as well as human rights advocates working on the issue.
• Program marking Naqba Day (15 May), to focus on the relationship between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel.
• Issues relating to the post ad bello cost of the 1967 war.
• Comparative discussion on human rights defenders in Israel and other countries.
• Periodic coverage of the activities of the human rights community in Israel/Palestine, aiming to expose ongoing human rights violations.
•  Discussions on periodic reports and publications covering events in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Hi everyone - this is Michael Bosse from Equal Access (www.equalaccess.org). We use local and community radio as part of our programming in a range of counrties in Africa and Asia. After working in this field for ten years, I've really come to appreciate that there is something special, a kind of magic ability to empower and mobilise that comes from sharing the ability to have your voice heard in the media with communities that for too long might have been excluded from decision making in their societies. It seems so simple, but I've seen over and over again, in so many contexts, that this is the key to positive social change in many communities.

I would like to share an excerpt from an article written with my colleagues, Gemma Quilt and Jaya Luintel about Equal Access' work in Nepal. We train local people (Community Reporters) to use digital audio recorders and create their own radio programming for broadcast locally and nationally.

"For the first time then, it seems that many of these community members feel an ownership of the radio and its content and also an understanding of the power expression and access to the public sphere to create social change.  It is no longer an external medium controlled by unseen intermediaries, but an integral part of the community, with a face that they recognize and voices that echo their own.  One reporter even described how a woman in her village had curbed her husband's drinking by declaring to him "if you don't stop drinking, I will speak to the Community Reporter, then all of Nepal will know your story".  In terms of approaches to development and citizen participation, this change in attitude towards the role of media and radio is critical.  Empowered with the 'power of voice' Community Reporters and the communities they live in will not only seek to speak truth to power but will also use their voice to bring about social change in their communities.  Not only is the Community Reporter able to promote the so called 'voices of the voiceless', but having reporters who come from within the community, rather than outside, ensures the community is engaged in the radio program and its agenda for encouraging social change.  As described by community members in Nepalganj, Community Reporter's like Naina, Nisha and Apsara are able to encourage the often difficult transition from listening to participation and action: "We always use[d] to listen to the musical programs in radio. But it was Apsara-aunt (Community Reporter) who came to us and helped us form a (listener) group. This radio program helped us to know different issues….(and) encouraged us to do something in the community" (Community Member in Nepalganj where Apsara is the Community Reporter)."

PDHRE-Peoples Movement for Human Rights Learning has promoted using community radio in the Human Rights Cities. During the violence following the presidential elections in Kenya, Radio Koch which operates in the Human Rights community of Korogocho broadcast a constant message of peace and offering refuge in the community to those targeted by the violence. Radio Koch has continued to offer programs on human rights at the local and national levels. Another example of radio  as a tool for human rights learning comes from the  Human Rights City of Kati, Mali. There regular program on the Kati Community radio featue Q&A sessions in which people in the community call in or are recorded on the streets and in the marketplace as they ask human rights experts and activists questions  related to human rights in the daily lives of people. 

'Human Rights is the mother of all community change' was voted the 'most significant change' in radio KKCR in Western Uganda in an impact assessment in 2007, after discussing how the radio had impacted on life and empowerment in the community.

The Kibaale-Kagadi.Community Radio (KKCR) emerged as part of an East Africa Community Media Project”, where the objective not was to focus on community radio only, but to serve, effectively, the objectives of the URDT (Uganda Rural Development Trust) working broadly with community development in the district. KKCR started its broadcasts in August 2000, at the right time for URDT and was used as a tool to further operationalise what the organization was already doing.

KKCR was seen by the community as an important core informer and mobiliser - and the voice of the community. The two critical factors in KKCR’s success have been location of the radio in a matured and fully functioning institutional framework, with evident systems in planning, implementing as well as monitoring and evaluating of the organisation’s programmes. Related to the institutional framework are the specific programme components themselves: ensuring all programmes being at the core of community needs and challenges. Examples of such programme themes, which found a more-than-ready listenership include land, domestic violence, education of girls, exploitation of women, etc.

KKCR has not been without challenges. For example by “holding the radio in trust” for the community, URDT is challenged to continuously reflect on itself and to assess whether or not it is acting as a true mirror of the community. Similarly, community participation has always been difficult to moderate during politically charged seasons, such as during elections times. At these times, the radio aims to play a neutral yet informative role, but different community members, coming from different political persuasions also want to use the radio at this time to communicate their agendas. Another challenge is that Kibaale has been a land of many conflicts, especially those relating to land and resettlement. According to the station manager “we try to avoid fuelling the conflict, while at the same time informing people about what is going on or at least offering them an opportunity to discuss”.

The station management continually ask itself these questions:

• Does the radio serve the purpose of giving voice?
•  Is it demand-driven?
•  Does the programming seriously address community issues?

Some of the stories collected for the impact assessment give evidence to the winning expression of change heading this message - and the demonstrate how KKCR empowers and engages its community (for the full report: http://webzone.k3.mah.se/projects/comdev/_comdev_PDF_doc/scp08_sem2_Impact_Assessment_KKCR.pdf)

The value of knowing your rights:

“In this community the Police used to behave as if they were completely above the law. If they wanted to extort money from you all they did was to arrest you and put you in detention without any charge or with very flimsy charges. We never thought even for a moment that there was a law which protected us as citizens.”

“Since the programmes on radio started, now everyone knows that you cannot be detained for over a certain number of hours (28 hours) without being charged. The most interesting thing for us now is that KKCR brings the top Police Officers to explain to us what they do, how they do it and why they do it. We then take turns to ask specific questions, including citing cases where there may have been abuses by the Police in the past. This has changed the way the Police works and now one no longer hears of cases of unlawful detention. We know our rights”

“Another example reflecting how people’s rights were being abused in the past was the frequent battering of women, especially after their spouses had been drinking. This problem has now been thwarted, first by the guidance given on a programme, which talks about household relations. This programme is reinforced with another one, which challenges women to know and invoke their rights. These days you even hear children on Sunday (in the children’s programme) talking about the need to protect children’s rights. Some are, for example, on record for having demanded to be taken to school following radio programmes which stipulate among others the right to education for all children”.

Another story told by the elders of Igulika – but we heard similar stories from other communities::

 “After the radio came and discussed a lot of issues - among them the issue of land rights which is very sensitive here in this area – we become much more articulate and we know our rights and the (limits of the) rights of others. We had a concrete case here in Igulika, where one of our neighbours was about to be cheated. We alerted the radio, and the presenter came here to fully understand the case, and the put it all on the radio, which helped us learn – and those with bad intents stopped their plans.”

“It is really a very different feeling to little by little know about our rights. Can you imagine not knowing – as it was before – and just sitting around in ignorance without any clue as to whether your gut feeling (that something is terribly wrong around you) is right and you are about to be cheated big way, or whether you are the one, who is missing the point? It is such a helpless situation to be in. Our life was like that before. Now it is different. Thank God for that --- and the radio!” Daniel smiled his toothless smile as he made the last point.

Better livelihood  -  For life and fighting death 

In Igulika a powerful case was presented by a softly spoken, strong and radiant middle-aged man. And this was not just of livelihood options – but of life itself: Omuhereza Katende is now the Director of “Bwikara United People Living with HIV/AIDS Association” BUPHA.

“If it was not for the URDT and its radio KKCR I would be dead today. I fell ill before the radio went on air and I would not have dreamt about telling people around me that I was HIV positive. But the radio brought empowerment, and after discussing time and again with the people there, I gained the courage to take charge of my own life. KKCR gave me time and I started doing a regular programme, telling about HIV and AIDS. Four years ago I took the step to say out loud that I was HIV positive.”  

And Omuhereza Katende continues his powerful story:

” The programme is now fighting stigma and discrimination and we have created an association of people living with AIDS, which does counseling and gives information both on air and in other ways. We can see that the rate of infection has started decreasing – and this is because we have sensitized people and convinced them to get to know their status. And also, there are simply fewer people dying from AIDS now. The antiretroviral treatment we also tell about, and it is now administered through the URDT for this area. Also we advocate the important aspect of a balanced diet to go with it – on the radio we tell people what they can do with kitchen gardens and so on. And besides from strengthening people living with AIDS, this also helps the healthy people fight malnutrition!

Besides from information and providing me and us with a space on air - and a voice, I am also being paid a honorarium as a volunteer, and I got a bicycle from KKCR.”

And Omuhereza Katende’s colleague continues: 

“I am Miriam Kairu. I am the treasurer of BUPHA and HIV/AIDS councilor. When the AIDS programme went on air I was in bed, could not leave the bed at all. I had an antibody test taken, and realized that I was positive – and actually I already had AIDS. Gaining information on what to do and since then surviving on ARVs meant that now I have taken up the responsibility to mobilize and inform others to also be tested and know their status. Furthermore I have been a councilor with TASO for 2 years now. “

As the Kagadi hospital, servicing the whole area, has difficulty accessing testing materials, 1030 people are now receiving medicine for the opportunistic diseases based simply on a a clinical diagnosis. These people are all members of the BUPHA on top of the 700 who have been tested and are receiving ARVs. All together BUPHA has 30.000 members. 

[1] ORS FM started broadcasting in Tanzania in 2002. Radio Mang’elete went on air early 2004.

This is a subject which can only be begun in this forum. But it should be mentioned because of its importance!

As David from Radio Peace in Ghana has written: community members traditionall excluded from having a voice in the public are and should be of special importance when planning community radio. As one of these 'communities within the community' women make a particularly important use of the community radio - in many different ways. Including these:

• In most of the impact assessments, evaluations and reviews I have carried out of community radio, one of the first issues to be brought up by the women in focus groups or in one-on-one interviews is domestic violence: women and their children are usually much less beaten up and abused after the arrival of the community radio - for fear of exposure...


• A series of stories are shared in my own article on women and community radio in Mozambique. Feminist Media Studies, September 2007. The article includes personal testimonies by women overwhelmed by the fact that they do, indeed, have the same rights as men - and the 'Chimoio Declaration' of 2003, formulated by women from all of Mozambique's community radios during a women's community radio festival.


• 'Now we are seen as real human beings!" is the title of a review, impact and sustainability assessment of Radio Mang'elete in Kenya in 2007. This phrase was voted the 'most significant change' by the women's´group responsible for the radio station. The stories shared in this story-based impact assessment are powerful witnesses of the role community radio can play in relation to women's human rights. For the full report: http://webzone.k3.mah.se/projects/comdev/_comdev_PDF_doc/scp08_sem2_Impact_Assessment_RM.pdf


• A very special story around this situation is shared by Radio Mang'elete in South Eastern Kenya - a radio run by 33 women's groups:

A group of women insisted that the issue of alcohol consumption had been so successfully dealt with by the radio that it needed to stand out on its own as the most significant change which had happened to the people of Akambaland. They added: “Drinking for our men was like a full-time job, and some even took pride in drinking from different locations and failing to find their way home. If they ever found their way home they would either harass the woman and her children or simply go to sleep without even knowing the conditions at home. Our men had actually started taking liquor which is mixed with certain chemicals (to make it more potent).

 “Even women had joined in these free-drinking-sessions”. Said one woman who had stopped drinking after listening to the radio programmes: “Many of us simply drank without thinking about the implications of this to our personal lives. We sometimes consumed large amounts of alcohol without remembering to wear our knickers. This put many women at risk of being sexually assaulted”.

 “On a scale of 1-100 we would say that the problem of alcoholism has been overcome up to 85 per cent.”

I look forward to seeing some of the many stories all of you out there have on how CR empowers - also - women and provide a link to information of rights!

Warmest,

Radio VOP, Voice of the People, is one of three short wave radio stations in Zimbabwe. VOP collects information, stories and data from all over Zimbabwe through a vast network of stringers, who – clandestinely and with risk for themselves – treat it in a studio outside the country and beam it back in for a few hours a day.

 During a review of the radio in 2009, the following powerful impact statements were collected from all over the country. Read for yourself:

 Listen to the voices – on Radio VOP helping listeners make informed choices for democracy

• “I have made important decisions from information I have gathered through Radio VOP, especially in matters to do with politics and this has made significant changes into my life. Right now there is an inclusive government which was born out of the decision I made when I voted VOP on countless occasions urged people to go and vote.” - Male 43, Ntepe rural

• “From Radio VOP I get the relevant and correct info about what is happening in Zim as compared to what the local stations are feeding us with. The station is playing to the correct tune of what a news provider is mandated to do to its listeners. The contents are not loaded with too much propaganda buts gives its audience fair, balanced, accurate and well researched info. Bravo to its ethical reporters.”   - Male 33, Gwanda south rural

•  “In Karoi and Chinhoyi towns we have had chances to hear stories discussed at different platforms and later well investigated and given both sides of the story and keep us well informed.”   - Female 25, Karoi town 

• “Radio VOP has made difference in information dissemination in the rural outskirts keeping us well informed about what is happening in politics, economics and socially. We are in better place to understand how political decisions are made since we hardly get newspapers here and Zimbabwe Broadcasting stations are hardly accessible. In Hurungwe some members of parliament have been exposed for their social shortcomings, political violence where an injured victim during June told us his touching story after he was maimed with a bullet and the suspect is still yet to be arrested. Its one of the best stories ever reported from Hurungwe.”  - Male 38, Hurungwe rural

•  “Radio VOP has reported issues without fear or favour despite the harsh media laws in the country. Many of us have made decisions upon the information we gather from VOP."  - Female 30, Gwanda urban

Listen to the voices – on Radio VOP’s election coverage around the March and June elections 2008

• “Before the March harmonised elections, Radio VOP made a series on SADC guidelines and principles on free and fair elections and it assisted many to understand how elections are run. The elections of councillor, member of parliament, senator and president was done during one day and Zimbabwe made its history as there were no incidences of violence. Through Radio VOP, I made an informed decision and currently it is giving us updates on constitution making, which is important for us.”     - Female 28,  Kadoma rural

• “VOP has created a plurality of voices in an environment where we are subjected to propaganda by the state run ZBC. With its stories I have managed to make right decisions. In the run-up to last years’ elections VOP covered a lot of stories, especially on violence which made me vote for the right party.”    - Male 34, Gwenda urban

• “I am a cross border trader and I travel a lot between Harare and South Africa. Last year during the March/June elections when violence broke out in my rural home in Shurugwi, I only heard about it via VOP. When I rushed there I found that things were bad. Some families had actually run away to the cities and I immediately organized to move my family from there to Beitbridge with me until things cooled down.”  - Male 50, Beitbridge peri-urban                                                                        

•  “In 2008 after the March and June elections when there was a lot of violence and uncertainty in Zimbabwe, VOP added a one hour programme during lunch hour, which increased our time of getting objective news. During that time we managed to hear from public figures like Welshman Ncube, Enos Nkala, Obert Mpofu a ZANU PF official. It is rare to hear ZANU PF officials on private radio stations, but VOP manages to get comments from some of these die hard politicians.”   - Female 36, Pumula East

• “Radio VOP covered the violence that went on after the 2008 March elections as victims and those that were affected brought it out. In particular from Mberengwa we had several reports about the violence that was taking place. This, I think, also frightened the perpetrators as sometimes they will be mentioned by name.”  - Male 64, rural, from Mberengwa

• “Political leaders from all political parties who are free to say what they want to say are given a chance [in Radio VOP]  including those parties that only surface during election time and it gives everyone the chance to be heard.  Some reporters take news tips and complainants from us and make follow-up  to well investigated stories to our advantage”   - Male 38, Hurungwe rural

• “VOP always holds officials accountable by questioning why things are done a certain way. When the June 2008 election results did not come out at the expected time periods, VOP was one of the few stations calling the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials to get answers as to why people were being kept waiting.”   - Male 23, Hyde Park, peri-urban

Listen to the voices –  What Radio VOP gives us, the listeners?

• “Radio VOP has changed my way of viewing things as they are told. It has come as an eye opener, to make me and my family know the untold side of politics. I cannot afford to miss it these days.”   - Female, 31, Masvingo rural

• “It gives us something to look forward to daily”  - Male 23, Hyde Park, urban

•  “Radio VOP gives us an alternative voice... It is filling a vacuum.” - Female 42, Midlands Semi-urban

•  “You hear the voice of people from all walks of life on VOP: the big guys in leadership, the mothers in the rural areas and some in the diaspora.” - Male 50, Beitbridge, peri urban

•  “As compared to the state run media organisations, radio VOP is managing to give us a chance to say our views through interview on air, but we think it must do more on this issue.” - Female 35, Mwenezi, rural

•  “Radio VOP gives ordinary people the chance to speak about their situation.” - Male 18, Midlands peri-urban

•  “Radio VOP has helped us a lot, because when we were coned by the chief, he was traced by the radio to give his account.” - Female 31, Masvingo rural, Nyajena

•  “I have made important decisions from information I have gathered through Radio VOP – and this has made significant changes in my life… the state media has become a ZANU PF mouthpiece, it continues to lie to the public, so without VOP we will have no alternative news.”  - Male 43, Ntepe rural

•  “In Kariba we are glad that once we get stories of poaching we end up having the suspects arrested and had another one when the suspect bolted out of the hospital. It was never reported anywhere else and w are well informed through radio VOP!” - Female 26, Kariba town

• “Generally all stories are followed up as most of the reporters are on the ground and well-connected to everyone who has something to tell to the outside world.”  - Male 30, Makonde near Chinhoyi

• “Radio VOP has reported issues without fear or favour despite the harsh media laws in the country Many of us have made decisions upon the information we gather from VOP.” - Female 30, Gwanda urban

Listen to the voices – on the social sustainability of Radio VOP: what if VOP went off air?

• “That would be like a death sentence to my child. Some of us do not have the strength anymore and we rely on this news to hear about the environment our city based children and fellow Zimbabweans are living under.  We have no other source of news. It would be terrible.” - Female 63,  Lupane rural

• “If radio VOP goes off air, it means that it will be another score for government especially Zanu PF to control the free flow of information and make people be subjected to limited voices.” - Male 32, Midlands urban

• “It will be beyond our control but if I have the power, the station must continue and become our Bicorn  CNN, covering Zimbabwe and beyond through informative, educative and entertainment programmes. We will be affected, as no other radio station will give stories the way Radio VOP does. Will not get stories from the remote rural areas being a voice to be heard. This must not happen especially during these hard and trying times when the country is still yet to getour  media reform. It will be devastating for us all.”  - Female 28, Kadoma rural

• “It would mean ordinary Zimbabweans not having a voice through which to air our views. Even the officials themselves especially from the 2 MDCs would not be able to reach their constituencies because they are not covered by other media. This is also their platform. It’s a platform to exchange ideas as a nation” - Male 35, Byo urban

• “For us students it would mean one less resource material. Radio is for us a source of intellectual information. More so for us History students who have a keen interest in politics and the international relations Zimbabwe has with other countries.”  - Female 18, Byo City Centre

• “Instead of going off air, we are actually pleading for Radio VOP to increase time of broadcasting. If this radio closes, then we will again have to suffer media black out “ - Male 28, Zaka rural

•  “If radio VOP is closed, then we are likely to be fed with propaganda. To me, closure or ban of VOP means chaos because there will be no one to hold these big guys accountable.”  - Female 31, Masvingo rural

It is important that when you think of radio online you think of it as a tool for documentation and for raising awareness. By recording an interview and posting it on a website for people to read and hear you are proving that this interview (or any other content) is authentic because the original persons involved can be heard in their own language. Video online is also useful these days for the same reason plus video online allows for people to see cases of human rights violations. But online audio content allows people to distribute news reports or news bulletins to a wide audience. We rarely get people to deny things when we have a documented audio file to prove it.

So where does one start off in media advocacy work? What has worked in Uganda.

1. Know your target audience. My target audience are victims of domestic and sexual violence. This knowledge helps when designing messages;
2. Know how far the radio you intend to use broadcasts. In Uganda, most radio stations broadcast within a 400 KM radius. This information helps in knowing how far your message will reach your intended recipients. I have used a community radio in northern Uganda that broadcasts as far as Congo. We get Congolese clients so knowing that the messages were reaching some parts of Congo was good;
3. Documentation is important. This is how it works. This is a hypothetical scenario. If most clients we receive are victims of domestic violence, it is important to know their socio-economic background, level of education, etc. If the majority are illiterate or semi literate, then I would straight away know that using newspapers as a channel of communication will not get my message through to the target audience. I would use radio which is cheap and accessible in Ugandan households;
4. Design work. Work with people who are experienced in designing BCC [Behavioural Change Communication] messages;
5. Impact. It is often said that advocacy work is very difficult to measure. The challenge most of us implementing human rights programmes face is donors want value for money and so the question IMPACT lingers on all the time. How can we put in place some mechanisms to help us assess the impact of our radio work?

• have live talk show programmes where listeners can call in. Although only one or two people get through with calls, whatever they say is representative of the wider audience that was not able to call.
• carry out media surveys.
• pre-test messages before going on air. It is sometimes a tedious process but it pays off. I often pre-test on staff, clients and studio [radio] staff to make my work and life easy.
• for talk show programmes, get facilitators who are knowledgeable on human rights issues. This way, the questions they ask will be relevant and it is value for money for paid-up programmes - radio is an expensive venture.
• Have the facilitator assist with asking listeners poll questions. I had one done for me this year where at the beginning of the talk show programme, listeners were asked: Are human rights organisations in Uganda working to prevent domestic violence? At the end of the programme, 60% responded in the affirmative. 40% felt otherwise. It is good to follow-up on the 40% to know their thoughts. This can help in repackaging messages and probably push up the 60% to 90%.

Sharon Lamwaka.

I wanted to share the resources that I have found in preparing for this dialogue.  All of these resources can be found in the New Tactics group space - Community and short-wave radio tactics

• Community Radio Manual by Open Society Foundation for South Africa
  • This is a learning and training document that covers topics such as community participation in radio development, a history of community radio, the legal and regulatory environment, development of mission statements, and drama production.
• Community Radio Manual by Gram Vaani
  • Although this manual was written for community radio practitioners in India, much of the content is relevant to anyone interested in learning more about community radio.
• Digital archiving of audio content using WINISIS and Greenstone software: a manual for community radio managers
  • This publication is a self-instructional handbook aimed at helping managers of community radio stations, FM radio stations, public service broadcasting agencies and any other organizations that deal with audio files in creating prototype archives of digital audio documents.
• Community Radio - a user's guide to the technology
  
  • A guide to the technology and technical parameters of community radio in India, by N. Ramakrishnan (again, this is useful to practitioners outside of India).
• Freedom Fone-Interactive audio programming
  • Freedom Fone is an information and communication tool, which marries the mobile phone with Interactive Voice Response (IVR), for citizen benefit.  It provides information activists, service organisations and NGO's with widely usable telephony applications, to deliver vital information to communities who need it most. (Similarities to community radio - but through a phone)
• Empowering Communities, Informing Policy: The Potential of Community Radio
  • This is the femLINKpacific publication that I have referred to in most of my comments in this dialogue!  It is a great article about a community radio success story with lots of practical information and advice for starting your own community radio project.
    
• Gender Policy for Community Radio (by AMARC-WIN Int'l)

What other resources - guides, manuals, communities of practice, tools, etc - can we add to this list?

we all know that it is easy to succeed, but it is more difficult to be always on the top 

the most problem we face is fund and training also

we have about 40 program in Arabic  , 3 programs in English , one in German , preparing for french , Russian and Spanish shows  .

all of that is by volunteers

 For us in the human rights community in Nigeria, one of the major challenges faced is that of ignorance by the media practitioners on the importance of human rights education to sustainable development. Many media practioners are interested in making money for their outfits, the State owned media inclusive as against promoting public good. This in the absence of enligthened managment staff to approve programmes featuring human rights issues, activists are forced to buy air time for their issues to be aired as news items, discussion programmes, documentaries or jingles. These cost a lot and is mostly above the reach of human rights activists especially if you have to pay for production of programme or jingles and then for the airing.       

In Kaduna, activists have noticed a new trend in broadcasting. The State broadcast house no longer agree to air live phone in programmes. At best they allow a pre recorded discussion, which when being aired allows for only text messages to be sent. Even at that, replies to these text messages are only made , if found appropriate by the authorities, at subsequent editions of the programme. This is highly frustrating and a result of self censorship on the part of over zealous and ignorant officials who are more interested in preserving their jobs through ensuring that nothing critical of government is aired. The privately operated radio stations are a little better off in this instance. What this means is that human rights issues are not properly put in the front burner to attract the necessary action required in addressing them.  

Just as there is a lack of understnding on the importance of reporting human rights as a key development issue on the part of many media practitioners, there is also a lack of understanding on the part of some human rights activitsts on properly engaging the media to maximize benefits and sustain a cordial working relationship. There are  certain concessions a human rights activists could get if there exists a mutually beneficial relationship with the media house. Where the media is only brought in to cover an event without the persons carrying out the assignment or orders ignorant of the issues or not treated as colleagues in propagating human rights values, it affects the manner the media handles the airing of the issues to the public. A lot of the times, the correspondent or reporter may not have sufficient information to prepare a good report, news item or documentary. In such cases human rights practitiners need to feed them with the required facts or information or enlighten them to use the proper terms and contexts. However this may be lacking where the activist is only intersted in the issue having a mention on radio and not the contents or what might be the outcome of the public' s reaction to the report or programme.          

Opportunities to redressing the trends arises now and then. There has been a change in the leadership at the State level. This may open up the media to the public especially if the new government  is interested in making positive changes and providing opportunity for voice for the citizens. Relationships built with media practitioners ( across cadre) could be strengthend with closer engagement that in particular provides an avenue for them to understand what human rights activists are doing and how it is aiding the work of the media. Where there is a buy in as a result, activists may be surprised to get offers for free air time or to participate in programmes to enligthen the public on specific issues. We have had several offers to participate in programmes to draw attention to diverse human rights issues, some of the requests coming at times which may conflict with your work. We had tried as much as possible to meet up with these requests as turning the media back closes opportunity for others.

Challenges:

1. Radio work is expensive. For target audiences to internalise messages aired, the campaign must be sustained;


2. Censorship. When working on sensitive issues e.g., corruption and human rights violations involving public officials, politics, etc, one must tread extremely carefully if you work in the context where Governments are repressive;


3. Uganda has very many radio stations making it difficult to choose which radio station to listen to;


4. Many human rights workers without Communications/Media/Public Relations Departments do not fully know and understand how to work with the media especially when it comes to programme/content design.

Oppportunies for radio and human rights:

1. Many Ugandan households including the rural countryside own radio sets making it a good channel of communication. According to statistics from the Uganda National Household Survey, 63% of households own a radio;


2. Given electricity difficulties especially in rural Uganda, using radio to communicate means that your message will get across with or without electricity. Even without electricity, households can afford to buy batteries to power their sets and listen to programmes normally;


3. While a variety of radio stations is a challenge, on the other hand, it gives the community many choices of programmes to pick from. Besides, community radio stations with localised programming are sure to get audiences in that particular community as programmes are broadcast in local languages;


4. The community in Uganda loves "ebimeeza" [out door talk shows] and drama. The ideal time for drama is 15 minutes but it can extend to 30 minutes creatively designed with discussion content. Take note that the urban populace listens more to music and news while in the rural countryside, the populace listen to announcements, drama and talk show programmes. This information is important during message design;


5. Where talk show programmes in the rural countryside prove expensive for people to call in, some NGOs in Uganda have developed hotlines that are toll free. This facility allows even poor households to call and take part in interactive talk shows.

Sharon Lamwaka.

I am not sure if there is one operating in Nigeria presently. Some years back, we had Radio Kudirat which was originally launched as Radio Democratic International. Kudirat was the wife of late Chief M.K.O. Abiola who won elections in Nigeria in 1993 but was never enthroned. Instead he was thrown into jail where he died allegedly from poisonong by the military regime which took control of power. Kudirat was killed while leading campaigns aginst this injustice. 

Radio Kudirat operated between 1999 -2002 before it was shut down. It was operated by a group based in London known as  the United Foundation for the Defense of Nigeria. The UFDN opposed the dictatorship of General Sani Abacha in Nigeria. It is understood that the programs received funding from Worldview Rights, Norwaya media NGO, and used commercial airtime on South African transmitters. In the period it was on air, Radio Kudirat provided news, views and comments from the angle of pro- democracy groups and served as alternative to the public radio. Wole Soyinka was quoted as saying to a New York Times correspondent, that Radio Kudirat  "has been the single most effective counter against the authority of the regime. I mean, they’ve really been hysterical over the effect of the radio. Until that moment, they had total control of the media, apart from the underground press." 

You may go to www.cladestineradio.com to see what other places this type of medium was used.  

Hi Melissa,

To answer your question above :   

SW radio from Zimbabwe uses SMS / text messages to complement their short wave radio programming beamed into Zimbabwe on a daily basis. When it all began in 2007, it is covered here: http://comunica.org/radio2.0/archives/19 and a lot more about SW radio here:  http://www.swradioafrica.com/index.php

I will come back with more about the power of SW radio in Zimbabwe in view of the human rights situation there... but have a different commitment now :- )  More later!

My experience with the use of text messaging is in sensitizing the public to the programme - its timing and getting them to listen in and contribute to the discussions especially if it involves a phone in or allows for text messages to be sent. This strategy works as we have found that many activists hardly follow programmes on radio apart from news or specific programmes. It is thus key to attract listernership and stimulate robust discussions amongst a cross section of citizens through sms and reminders.  I need state though that it is not the radio stations that send these sms but activists who are sponsoring or behind the programmes.  Some of our colleagues that have successfully used the sms include Raising Her Voice project of Women;s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative ( WRAPA) and Connecting Gender for Development (COGEN).