UNAMID radio starts broadcasting in Darfur
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July 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — A radio station run bu the joint African
Union - UN mission in Darfur finally took to the airwaves iof Sudan’s
restive western region on Sunday after years of wrangling with the
Khartoum government, which seeks control media programmes there.
Titled Yala Nabni Darfur (Let’s Build Darfur), the new radio will
broadcast alongside local radio stations, the US based Afia Darfur
Radio and the Netherlands based Radio Dabanga which broadcast on the
short waves.
While the local radio are perceived as propaganda radio by the rebel
groups because they seek to advocate the government policy, Afia and
Dabanga, which are banned from having local reporters, seek to be
liberal tribunes opening their programmes to the rebels groups and
report human rights abuses in the region.
The UNAMID radio "will feature a unique perspective into the lives of
the region’s people and present the latest on UNAMID’s activities and
its mandate in helping to achieve peace," said the joint peacekeeping
operation in Darfur.
The "Radio programmes are within the framework of UNAMID mandate of
achieving peace in Darfur and mainly are features of discussions,
interviews and cultural programmes," stated Said Musa, head of UNMAID
Radio Unit when asked by Sudan Tribune about Yala Nabni Darfur.
The two-hour radio daily programmes will be broadcasted on the
frequency of the government owned Al-Salaam Radio for one hour at 8:30
am and the second time at 2pm local time in line with a cooperation
protocol signed last June.
The hybrid mission and the National Public Radio Corporation (NPRC)
reached on 26 June an interim agreement to air UNAMID programmes on Al
Salaam Radio and Darfur state radio stations.
The peacekeeping mission said the use of public radios will last
untill "the Government of the Sudan reviews the Mission’s application
for a radio broadcasting license, in conformity with the Status of
Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between the Mission and the Government
of the Sudan."
Seen as most important medium for information in the region due to the
poor circulation of newspapers, illiteracy and lack of infrastructures
as well as the current violence, Sudanese government is very reluctant
to give the green light to the UNAMID to broadcast its programmes.
Talks on the radio license started in 2009. However it is not clear
when the UN largest peacekeeping mission will get it.
(ST)
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