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UNICEF Somalia radio project
Organization
UNICEF Somalia
Address and contact details
Ms Julia Spry-Leverton, communication officer
Ms Tisha Wheeler, project consultant
PO Box 44145
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +25 42 623 958
Email: jspryleverton@unicef.org
Project partners
Somaliland Ministry of Information
ACARO Youth Organization
SOCSA Girls Organization
HAVOYOCO Youth Organization
Location
Somalia
Background
In Somalia the most influential new leaders fostering debate and
change on important social and health issues are the youth. Youth
in Somalia have seen a lot and have strong opinions on what peace,
development and children's rights mean. Now the voices of Somali
youth are being heard with greater credibility than ever before.
As part of an instrumental new project, UNICEF
is providing radio production training for youth to broadcast intelligent
and popular shows over the airwaves.
Broadcasters and producers have been impressed and have given the
youth free access to the airwaves. Now a countrywide strategy for
building community-based youth broadcasting for behaviour change
on social and health issues has begun.
Radio remains the most important tool for communication in Africa.
In Somalia daily life is planned around radio broadcasts where,
every day at 5.30pm, activity stops and crowds gather around the
radio to hear the BBC
Somali Service. Somalis have used technology to support their
oral culture and built a broadcasting community that spans the war-torn
country and is available to Somalis overseas through Internet streaming.
Poetry, drama, songs and other traditional forms of expression
provide news and entertainment and foster debate. When Somali youth
said they want their voices heard through radio they picked the
most important means possible and because of their initiative people
from Somalia are saying let's hear from the youth.
Aims and objectives
• Provide a strategy of support for UNICEF
to assist the development of children's broadcasting.
• Define youth production for Somalia (involve children and
youth at all stages of production).
• Develop year-long, quality, locally-based broadcasts for,
with and by children.
• Address youth radio broadcasting training needs and production
opportunities.
• Develop the regulatory environment for youth broadcasting
in Somalia.
• Work with youth broadcasters to achieve sustainable financing
for youth production, particularly to pay for airtime.
Participants
The youth participants are recruited from active youth groups that
are currently working with UNICEF
and have demonstrated organizational skills, an interest in the
media and education, and have implemented projects for social development
in their community.
Target audience
Youth and young adults aged 14-24, media professionals and broadcasters.
Wider beneficiaries
Somali communities in Somalia, the East Africa region, and overseas
in the diaspora.
Involvement of children
In order to foster a truly community-based project that is built
on the interests of youth this project has been led from the beginning
by Somali youth with UNICEF
support. Through interactive workshop and training activities the
youth determined that they wanted to produce radio dramas, they
determined the issues and content for their radio programmes, then
they begun drafting scripts after a short training period.
They are now managing their own budgets and producing programmes.
Summary of project
To build the capacity of youth radio broadcasting in Somalia we
began with three youth groups from northern Somalia. This pilot
project was designed to serve as a model of youth media training
and local youth media development. The youth were given a budget
of $3,500 and close guidance from a consultant to cover training
costs, ongoing capacity building costs, production and air time
fees. A four-week long training period was conducted during which
they were exposed primarily to radio drama production. Their themes
of interest were identified through confidence-building activities
to determine what issues were important to them and the development
of their communities. The production was supported through a local
radio drama consultant who worked with them to develop scripts.
The local radio station and Ministry of Information recognized the
importance of youth broadcasting by offering the use of the recording
studio and airing the youth productions for free. Their training
continues as they continue to work with UNICEF, a local drama consultant
and the radio station to produce programmes. Their aim was to produce
a total of 12 radio dramas by the end of 2002.
UNICEF Somalia is now developing a countrywide strategy to build
the skills of youth broadcasting as a support mechanism for UNICEF-sponsored
work in the country. The aim is to build local production capacity
so that youth groups can inform their communities with special relevance
to their peer groups and in language used by youth foster debate
about HIV, hygiene, immunization, female genital mutilation and
children's rights.
Funders
This project is a self-funded UNICEF
project with support from:
Somaliland Ministry of Information
ACARO Youth Organization
SOCSA Girls Organization
HAVOYOCO Youth Organization
Strengths of project
The strength of this project is founded on the importance of radio
in Somalia and the commitment of the youth broadcasters.
• Involving youth in the production of media is fundamental
to designing, creating and broadcasting programmes that are interesting
and relevant to youth.
• Youth producers do not see productions as a source of income
but as a way to have their voices heard.
• Building youth production capacity through organized youth
groups is an extension of the community service they are already
active in, so they have a sense of what they want to produce.
• When training youth, they do not consider their attendance
an obligation but an opportunity to take advantage of.
• Leaving the content in the hands of the youth will ensure
that the programmes are about topics that are important locally
and have qualities that appeal to Somali youth.
• A youth-led production will better ensure that the local
community and broadcaster see the programme as a local product worthy
of local recognition and support.
• When youth handle controversial issues in the media they
are often not overly confrontational on sensitive political issues.
(In Burundi youth are interviewing rebel leaders and engaging in
previously unspeakable political debate with great success.)
• Youth have an enthusiasm for learning new technology and
are excited by the media, so they are often easier to train than
adults.
Challenges
The greatest challenge to the project comes from the insecurity
in Somalia and subsequent lack of access to areas where youth groups
continue to prosper. Without a central government, training and
broadcasting agreements cannot be standard but must be adapted for
each situation and local authority. Other challenges lie in the
lack of infrastructure throughout the country, the disparity of
equipment and its poor overall quality.
Evaluation
Project monitoring is ongoing, however, the enthusiasm of the youth,
the support from the radio station and Ministry of Information,
along with the interest in the community is positive.
Lessons learned
• Media projects are best when developed by the audience for
which they are produced.
• The strength of young media producers on many levels should
not be underestimated.
• Community support and sustainability comes when projects
are seen as local initiatives.
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