Benefits of community radio in the Horn stressed

Community radio could help revolutionise the lives of millions of people in the Horn of Africa and play a crucial role in their future development, according to a conference underway in Addis Ababa. Rural communities in the Horn of Africa would reap enormous benefits and gain invaluable knowledge through its medium, participants attending the three-day international conference said. "Radio is often a lifeline for people in rural areas," Ephrem Tadesse, of Oxfam Canada, who organised the conference in the Ethiopian capital, told IRIN. "And community radio by its very nature is radio for the people, by the people," added Ephrem, who heads Oxfam-Canada's programme in Ethiopia. He said that illiteracy in the Horn countries of Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia was among the highest in the world, making radio an even more powerful tool in spreading information. "It provides platforms whereby community members can dialogue, debate and exchange ideas in their own languages and styles on issues that affect their lives," he said. "Community radio promotes active participation of communities in development and democratisation by enabling communities to articulate their experiences and to critically examine issues, processes and policies affecting their lives." But Ephrem said that although community radio was extremely prevalent in other parts of Africa and the world, its worth was little understood in the Horn. In the entire region there is only one community radio station based in Somalia. He explained that strict laws often prevented the growth of community radio in the region, but said Oxfam Canada was driving forward a programme to illustrate its importance shaping the lives of rural communities. It has launched a Canadian $5 million scheme aimed at developing civil society and raising the awareness of community radio plays a large part in this. The programme has been financed by the Canadian International development Agency (CIDA). Jacynthe Rivard, the first secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Ethiopia, told the conference that her own country had benefited enormously from community radio. She said around 90 percent of the population of the Horn – over 110 million people – live in rural areas and have little or no access to newspapers and television. "Community radios are useful engines for the introduction of social changes, cultural enhancement, economic development and democratisation – all of which are badly needed within the Horn," she added. "They are also important tools for conflict management and dispute resolution. They help break social, cultural and language barriers thereby bringing about harmony and understanding. And in the absence of well functioning telephone and postal systems they help spread individual or collective messages." She said the development of community radio in the Horn was still at a "nascent" stage with many hurdles to overcome. But Rivard also warned of the dangers, citing the havoc in Rwanda in 1994 fuelled by the infamous hate broadcasts of Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM). In Harar, in the east of Ethiopia, a community radio station is in the process of being set up. Galkayo Radio, in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in Somalia, has played a key role in keeping communities informed in their own language. The conference included speakers from all over Africa including Ghana and South Africa, who have successfully set up community radios. Melaku Tegegne, the head of PANOS-East Africa, an NGO working in the field of broadcasting, told delegates in a keynote speech that the Horn of Africa was known for famine and conflict. But, he added, community radio could play an essential role in spreading knowledge and information. "The conflict-peace and poverty-development nexus are interwoven," he said. "Like other development issues, members of society can make a meaningful intervention only if they are informed and educate themselves...community radios are extremely important weapons." Ephrem Tadesse explained that part of the reason for the failure of community radio to take off in the Horn was a "lack of awareness of the role it can play". "There is no fertile ground in terms of broadcasting legislation, although that is now changing," he said. Already the Ethiopian parliament looks set to introduce a new broadcasting law later this year which will make setting up community radios much easier.