Open Media Fund helps in rebuilding Afghan journalism

Sitting cross-legged in his bookshop, 45-year-old Hamdullah Sahhaf, an Afghan refugee in Pakistan's southwestern city of Quetta, contemplates returning to his home town, the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, after nearly two decades in exile. "I hope and pray that this time peace in our country is not elusive," he told IRIN after a recent trip to Kandahar to assess his prospects. Sahhaf wants to permanently resettle in his country, but knows little other than printing, binding and selling books - a rare profession in his war-ravaged country. Sahhaf had worked in a printing press in the United Arab Emirates before joining his family in exile in Quetta in early 1980s. "I want to utilise my experience and want to establish a printing press in Kandahar," he said. Already, he has published four issues of a Pashto magazine, Palana, or Nurture, along with more than 20 books on his country's poetry, history and culture. His shop is probably the only one catering for a wide variety of Afghan tastes - magazines published by exiles in Scandinavia, Germany and other countries, old, out-of-print books in Afghanistan's native languages of Pashto and Dari are probably only available in his store. New arrivals, mostly authored by Afghan exiles on their country's ongoing saga and published on cheap newsprint are placed alongside the old ones. "We can't rebuild Afghanistan on our own, we need assistance, guidance and help," he said. Sahhaf is thinking of applying to the Open Media Fund for Afghanistan (OMFA) towards bringing to realisation his dream of establishing a press in his native town. One of his friends among the Afghan diaspora in the West had informed him about the opportunity. If established, his would be the only press in southern Afghanistan. While much has been pledged but little delivered towards the reconstruction of Afghanistan, Oscar-winning American actor Michael Douglas has made a substantial donation to the OMFA. The celebrated author and expert on Central Asia, Ahmed Rashid, donated a quarter of the royalties from his best seller "Taliban" to launch this fund in February. The initiative aims at developing professional local media in Afghanistan. "We are extremely excited about the new grants," Rashid told IRIN on Thursday. "This is a crucial moment in Afghanistan's political process, and we are confident that our support to Afghan media will strengthen the Bonn peace process," he said. OMFA financed the magazine of the Loya Jirga Commission, of which more than 10,000 copies are issued every week, making it the leading publication in the country. "An independent, nongovernmental source of funding is needed if we are going to effectively empower local media in Afghanistan - and local media are critical to the reconstruction," Rashid maintained, sharing the vision of his programme. The fund is also financing a magazine entitled Takhassus, or Expertise, launched by a shura, or council of professionals, in the western Afghan city of Herat, following the demise of the hardline Taliban late last year. Since its inception, OMFA has funded six projects with grants totalling US $100,000. As other media - television and Internet - open up, OMFA will expand its reach. It will also encourage women in the media and support socially beneficial education campaigns and humanitarian information. It is helping to launch the first children's magazine in Afghanistan, Sada-I-Koda, or Children's Voice. The monthly magazine will embrace children's health, short stories, poems, cartoons, and computers and technology. Sada-I-Koda represents another step towards restoring literacy among Afghan children. With the help of the United Nations, the magazine will be distributed to schools, which face a chronic shortage of reading material for children. Internews, a non-profit making organisation supporting open media worldwide is administering the fund. However, an independent board of directors, including prominent Afghans and international experts, manages the initiative. So far George Soros's Open Society Institute, the AOL-Time Warner Foundation, the Markle Foundation, and Dow Jones and Co had contributed to the fund.