Youth Broadcasting Project

Inspired by the vision of media-spurred dialogue as a means toward more effective human rights practices and people-led development, this project is based on the full participation of young people in all stages of radio and video production. Participants are recruited from active youth groups (20 of them, as of this writing) that are currently working with UNICEF and who have demonstrated organisational skills, have articulated an interest in the media and education, and have implemented projects for social development in their community. Through interactive workshop and training activities, participating youth determine the format and content of the programmes. UNICEF then provides radio and video production training and production support, with a goal of enabling youth groups to create their own programmes and broadcast them to their community.

The programmes focus on a wide range of issues that are relevant to youth, such as HIV/AIDS, hygiene, immunisation, female genital mutilation, cholera, children's rights, and peace and reconciliation. Incorporating a youth perspective, the programmes provide information while portraying issues in a local context and drawing attention to misconceptions that community members might have. An effort is made to produce programmes that are entertaining within the local context.

Young participants venture into their communities to interview prominent citizens to highlight what people think and why they make the choices they do about a wide range of issues. The programmes are designed to prompt dialogue to the end of resolving issues at the local level. Because youth producers are required to become proactive in the community by uncovering local understanding, addressing advocacy needs, and harmonising local constraints and customs with regard to topics, it is expected that youth groups will carry out follow-up community-based activities such as drama, dance, song, and circus to further explore specific topics.

The presence of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) is important in the undertaking of this initiative. The project is drawing on video centres - private businesses where viewers pay about US$.05 to watch a movie on a television screen with other customers. Developed to bring media into the villages where radio does not reach, the centres will receive the videos produced by the youth initiative.

Youth.

This programme has been developed in response to UNICEF Somalia's observation that, "Despite the receptiveness of audiences and the need to provide local level broadcasting to reach the diverse developmental, economic and demographic groups in Somali society, very little community based programming has been developed. Local broadcasters have been trained in news journalism rather than specific skills to produce local programs on community development topics."

Youth producers claim that they do not see their work as a source of income but, rather, as a way to make their voices heard and to benefit their communities.

In Somalia, youth groups have been created to meet many social, economic, and environmental demands. In some cases, the groups have developed because youth wanted to form sports teams; in others, they wanted to develop skills and support their communities through development work. UNICEF provides training to members of these youth groups to mobilise communities for polio vaccination, to raise awareness about female genital mutilation, and to conduct other activities. UNICEF hopes thereby to achieve its goals by drawing on the talents of local youth as agents of change.

Organisers explain that radio remains an important tool for communication in Somalia. Every day at 5:30PM, they say, activity stops and crowds gather around the radio to hear the BBC Somali service on the short wave transmitter. As an oral culture, Somalis have built a broadcasting community that spans the country and is even popular among Somalis overseas through Internet streaming. Poetry, drama, songs and other traditional forms of expression provide news and entertainment and foster debate. UNICEF notes that strategies for using local radio to engage audiences have worked best when specific group(s) to be addressed and common culture(s) have been identified, and when the programme has been linked to the local people through on-the-ground techniques.