Experience Marks Media Development Success

Michael Hedges January 24, 2012 Follow on Twitter

Media development in conflict and post-conflict zones requires a certain expertise. A talent for adaptation is essential. Being there is important, too. And development agencies and NGOs are always looking for experience.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and Swiss media development NGO Fondation Hirondelle launched Radio Miraya in 2006 to bring news, information and a bit of entertainment to a region lacking in independent media. The channel broadcasts on two-dozen FM transmitters across South Sudan. A three-hour morning program is broadcast on shortwave. The primary studio facility is located in the capital city Juba. Broadcasts are in English, Simple and Juba Arabic as well as indigenous languages. Radio is widely used as roughly three-quarters of South Sudanese are illiterate.

South Sudan gained full independence from Sudan in 2011 after years as an autonomous region. North-South and interethnic civil wars have wracked the region since the 1950’s, effectively beginning when Sudan was ceded from Egypt. The Second Sudanese Civil War, from 1983 for nearly a decade, was particularly horrific with an estimated two million Sudanese civilians killed. The huge number of traumatized orphans from the conflict became known by humanitarian organizations as the Lost Boys of Sudan. Both sides of the conflict conscripted male children into armies.

Media development NGOs specializing in conflict and post-conflict regions typically reach out to professionals from outside for expertise in broadcasting basics and training skills. UK broadcaster Kevin Howard joined Radio Miraya as editor-in-chief and head of media, the most recent ex-pat to work with the project. He formerly worked with the BBC West Midlands as a producer and with Guardian Media Group (GMG) in programming management.

Project manager for Radio Miraya, based in Switzerland, is Jean-Luc Mootoosamy, a Mauritian who previously worked as a trainer at Radio Okapi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the largest United Nations radio project, which is also managed by Fondation Hirondelle. Radio Okapi is considered a post-conflict media development model of success.

“With new journalists, we have learned to be adaptable and make an effort to provide the best possible training opportunities, “said Mr. Mootoosamy to Mauritius news portal leexpress.mu (January 15). “It’s also difficult to find people passionate for radio who match our expectations and meet basic journalistic requirements.” Several of the nearly 100 staff at Radio Miraya are former child soldiers.

Radio is considered the “most important source of information” by more than three-quarters of South Sudanese surveyed for development NGO Education Development Center (EDC) and USAID in 2010. Two-thirds said radio is the “most reliable source.” The study showed Radio Miraya the most popular radio channel in South Sudan (88%), followed by BBC World Service English (62%), Sudan Radio Service (54%), Liberty FM (45%) and Radio Omdurman (38%). Sudan Radio Service (SRS) is operated from Juba and Nairobi, Kenya, by EDC, funded by USAID. Liberty FM is affiliated with the Voice of America (VOA). Radio Omdurman is the Sudanese State radio channel. About 20 radio channels are regularly available in South Sudan, most emphasizing entertainment. Several are operated by religious organizations.

South Sudan Radio (SSR) and South Sudan Television (SSTV) are the country’s State broadcasters. SSR is a network of regional stations, among which interconnectivity is limited. Television service is also limited, available only in major cities. Media, in general, and broadcasting, in specific, is under far less government control in South Sudan than Sudan.

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