UNESCO's Radio Projects - Mozambique

The community radio stations are being set up with the purpose of serving the communities in which they reside with information, training, education and entertainment. Through public surveys undertaken by radio volunteers, the communities have been asked what programmes they would most like to hear, and the times and languagues of broadcasts. According to the research, listeners overall would prefer to hear news broadcasts, educational programmes (on a variety of themes including those of a moral nature), recreational programmes, radio drama, comedies, programmes on women, children and young people, agriculture, livestock, sport and radio debates. Local stations will gather local news items, and hope to also rebroadcast main news services of Radio Mozambique that may be of interest to the community. Part of the strategy of these stations is to include a significant presence in the broadcasts of the communities themselves - through letters, live debates, taped interviews, phone-ins or other methods which allow listeners to have their names or voices heard through the radio.

Political Development, Democracy, Community-building.

Mozambique has literacy rates of 59% for men and 29% for women (1997 census). Only a quarter of the population speaks the only common language (Portuguese) at a level sufficient to follow and understand fully a radio broadcast news bulletin in that language.
Four factors were identified to minimise the vulnerability and ensure sustanable functioning of the community radio stations:1) A strong community ownership: when the community feels that this is their station to which it provides producers and stories, wher it assists in overcoming financial problems, and where it prevents theft by all being alert and protective, only then will a station in rural Mozambiue have a chance of survival. Creating this community ownership feeling takes time. They plan for a one to two year mobilisation and capacitation phase before arrival of the station equiptment.
2) Effective Training and Capacitation: to facilitate farmers, school teachers, accountants, school children (the community) can run the station effectively in terms of management and community relations, programming, administration and technical maintenance.
3) Technical Sustainability System: including effective and realistic responses at the different levels of support needed.
4) Financial Viability: (beyond the period during which UNESCO is able to provide a security net for the station) They are working to limit costs to a minimum and assisting to devise a multi-faceted system of sources of income - and capacity with the community to maintain this.