International Children's Day of Broadcasting 2004
“In our community, it is not very easy to talk to our parents and teachers’ about what is on our mind and what is happening to us. Maputoland Community Radio helps us to do that. Now the community knows what we feel and experience.” says, 12 year old Sandile as he clamps into place the ear phones and takes command of the control board just before he goes on air with his team members. The 2004 International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) provided a platform for children’s participation in the media and particularly to showcase and raise issues linked to HIV and AIDS prevention, child rights and the prevention of violence against women and children. UNICEF supported children to participate in developing programming content for community radio in order to speak out on local issues that impact on their lives on a daily basis. UNICEF provided seed funding and technical assistance so that children were trained and mentored at three community radio stations to produce programs and file stories which culminated in a special broadcast to celebrate the ICDB 2004.The three radio stations reach approximately 262 000 listeners according to the latest AMPS (The All Media and Products Survey) figures. Groups of five children participate in each of the radio stations. The children, all from primary schools, are selected by their schools and the ages range from between 10 and 14. On average there are more girls than boys participating in this activity. The children work closely with non governmental partners linked to the Girls Education Movement and the Safe Schools Project to develop program content. The program formats included phone-ins, interviews, features and music. For the ICDB 2004 the program content focused on rights, HIV and AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, all produced by children, for children. “However, because this is a community radio, adults also phoned in during the children’s broadcast not only to compliment the children but to express solidarity and concern about the issues the children were raising. This is what we want – a healthy dialogue between children and adults” said Simon Ntsele, a local teacher and the station manager of the Maputoland Community Radio Station. Some of the highlights included children conducting interviews in the field with orphaned children, and interviewing representatives from child rights non governmental organisations. The challenge for Simon Ntsele and other community radio station managers is to generate financial and technical assistance to support and sustain children’s programming with children for community radios.
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