By Lisa Inks
After a summer of intensive research in West Africa, three fellow interns and I were recently invited to share our findings in SFCG’s Washington office. A swath of SFCG staffers and members of the general public gathered for the occasion: an October brownbag lunch presentation.
Intern Lisa Inks talks with women in Pujehun District about their opinions of Radio Wanjei
Cyrus Ahalt, Simone Grant, Immanuel Wolff, and I—all Masters students studying international affairs—set out to address the question, “What is the impact of community radio on development and peacebuilding?”
A key research source was Talking Drum Studio (TDS), SFCG’s main arm in West Africa. TDS produces and distributes radio and TV programs that encourage peacebuilding. These programs are then aired on community stations throughout the region.
To that end, we used a mix of qualitative and quantitative data tools applied to four locations: in Sierra Leone, Radio Wanjei (Pujehun District) and Radio Kolenten (Kambia District) and in Liberia Radio Kergheamahn (Ganta, Nimba County) and Radio Life (Zorzor, Lofa County).
We then compared and consolidated our findings.
We discovered that community radio in these rural areas has a significant impact—it serves as a channel for local government and NGOs to communicate development goals and projects, as an independent driver of development through self-generated programming, and as an agent of peacebuilding.
Below are some key findings from our research :
- Radio strengthens civil society organizations, enabling them to communicate more effectively and address development concerns on-air
- NGOs effectively use community radio to broaden their reach and to educate communities about important issues, such as HIV/AIDS prevention
- Community radio programming is the sole source of news and information in the research locations, fostering inclusive discussions on development
- Radio is credited with improving sanitation and cleanliness through awareness campaigns
- Radio is further credited with reducing violent crime, particularly gender-based violence, as a result of interactive programming and investigative journalism
- Radio programs that directly address peacebuilding issues and promote unity are popular and have a high-impact
While existing radio programs proved to catalyze progress, financial constraints threaten the effectiveness and sustainability of all four
Ibrahim Kamara (center) listen to Radio Wanjei's "Learning Zone," an interactive quiz program
radio stations studied.
After the presentation, staffers engaged in a robust discussion addressing ways to strengthen community radio’s role as an agent of peace. Providing training in best practices was a highlighted answer.
The group also brainstormed solutions to other challenges, such as the need for financial management training, greater mobility and improved journalism skills.
In addition, they addressed the need for community radio stations to maintain their independence in the face of political pressures and to ensure increased participation of marginalized groups, such as youth, women and the unemployed.
In the end, event attendees voiced a shared commitment to supporting these community radio stations by following up on recommendations to ensure their sustainability as agents of development and peace.
By Immanuel Wolff
Intern Immanuel Wolff spent 5 weeks in Sierra Leone conducting research for a community radio assessment
Radio Kolenten staff climb the transmitter to scope out the problem.
Radio Kolenten is one of SFCG’s partner community radio stations in Sierra Leone. Earlier this year the transmitter at the station broke. Though a seemingly minute problem, this was a sign that the yet developing Radio Kolenten would have difficulty maintaining itself. It was June 20th and bolt of lightning presumably struck the transmitter antenna one evening
The next day, the one staff member with some knowledge about electronic equipment had a failed attempt at repairing the device.
Luckily, some technicians from Freetown-based Sky Radio were in the area and stopped by to diagnose the problem – the power unit inside the transmitter was broken. The opportunity for repair seemed grim as the rural station had no funds to purchase a new one.
But the station manager’s sister loaned Le 350,000 (approx. USD 110) for the repairs. As neither the required know-how nor spare parts were available in Kambia, one of the staff members took the transmitter to Freetown for repairs, and later to Bo when they discovered the parts were unavailable in the capital city. On June 25 the radio began testing transmissions.
During the following days, transmission continued to be irregular—the signal cutting off unexpectedly every fifteen to twenty minutes. Staff climbed the pole to fix the antenna, which was assumed to be responsible for this, but without success. Eventually, after five days of trial and error, the problem was identified (the transmitter was overheating) and solved.
During this time, community members were very unhappy. Radio Kolenten staff were overwhelmed with people stopping by the station to ask when they could expect to tune in to FM 92.4 again. Many likened the situation to “darkness.” Traditional healers were particularly upset because they say the radio is essential for them to announce outbreaks of diseases. In response to this outpour of concern, radio staff were frustrated that very few community members offered financial assistance to help solve the problem.
This short episode illustrates the lack of financial sustainability faced by many community radio stations. To date, it is unclear how Radio Kolenten will repay its debt as it has no steady source of income. Without community (or other) support, Radio Kolenten’s continued operation is by no means certain.
SFCG Volunteers at DC Central Kitchen
By Patricia Marby Harrison
SFCG interns and staff prepare meals in an assembly line
This Tuesday, SFCG staff and interns volunteered at DC Central Kitchen to help prepare meals for the homeless.
The purpose of this service project was “team bonding,” a space for us to have fun and get to know each other better while serving the local community. It was certainly a good opportunity to get out of the office and away from our computer screens and work together in a different way.
DC Central Kitchen rescues food that would otherwise go to waste, then prepares and delivers meals to partner social service agencies such as Meals on Wheels and after-school programs. SFCG staff and interns boiled corn, cut up steak, chopped onions and cooked rice for several hours, helping to prepare over 4,000 meals that would be distributed that day.
We worked under the expert guidance of the culinary staff at DC Central Kitchen, who showed us how to efficiently prepare delicious meals for their clients. Most of the staff are students and graduates of the Kitchen’s Culinary Job Training program; once homeless and hungry themselves, they received professional training and have “re-purposed” their lives to serve others. We were impressed by their talent, welcoming and cheerful spirits and patience with our lack of knife skills!
To our surprise, we discovered that part of the food we had been preparing was for our own lunch: at the end of the morning, the staff invited us to join them for a delicious meal, which they graciously served to us. After spending the morning working to help others, it was humbling to become the recipient of all the hard work that had gone into preparing the food.
DC Central Kitchen shares several of the values espoused by Search for Common Ground: the need to work collaboratively with other organizations to address interconnected problems, the understanding that such problems must be approached with a variety of creative tactics, and the belief that people can be empowered to build a new, more peaceful future for themselves and their community.
More than just a team bonding exercise, this experience confirmed those values for SFCG staff in a hands-on way.
October CPRF: The Advantages of Investing in Peace
By Juontel White
The October meeting of the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Forum (CPRF) was held today. It’s topic: investing in peace.
Titled, “Investing in Peace: Taking Conflict Resolution and Development to Scale” this CPRF addressed two key questions: How can peacebuilding NGOs secure more funding and take their work to scale? And what can these organizations do to measure their progress in fostering peace?
The forum included several expert panelists in the field of conflict resolution. Nancy Bearg, Senior Advisor for the Project on National Security Reform served as moderator and speakers included: Harriet Mayor Fulbright, President of the J. William & Harriet Fulbright Center; Mark L. Schneider, Senior Vice President and Special Adviser on Latin America for the International Crisis Group; and Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Alliance for Middle East Peace and associate at Patton Boggs LLP.
Through each of the speakers’ remarks, there was a common theme—war is expensive and in comparison, peacebuilding is very cheap.
“Peace is a generative expense,” said Harriet Fulbright, “because they [peacebuilding groups] create better societies, better opportunities and allow for improvement rather than destruction.”
In light of the global economic crisis, it seems that any avenue to save money would be the road most traveled during this time. But, evident through the struggle many peacebuilding NGOs face in winning funding proposals in comparison to the large budget allotted to U.S. military efforts, funding agencies need much more convincing about the advantages of peacebuilding other than it’s cost effective.
The stronger case is best made through statistics—tangible results that chart a progressive growth as a direct response to an organization’s work. Though many peacebuilders can research the effects of their work, they are often unable to effectively do so within the time constraints established by funders.
Fulbright best addressed this issue saying, “Peacebuilding is slow, it requires time […] and a kind of patience that war does not.” She compared the process to educational development and agricultural development, explaining that in these industries (just as in peacebuilding), several seasons must ensue before groups are able to effectively measure results.
So how can NGOs bridge the gap? “Start Micro! Micro! Micro!” says Meyerstein.
He says funders are not moved to open their pocket books after hearing ostentatious presentations on the general effects of peacebuilding but prefer learning about specific projects. For instance, news about how a group of people, if sponsored to attend a conflict resolution summit, could develop more peaceful attitudes as a result would serve as a concrete example for funding agencies to understand specifically how their monies will support peacebuilding efforts.
Meyerstein also suggests that NGOs use more role models when making presentations. He cites the success of the International Fund for Ireland as a model for his decision to spearhead the creation of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace.
Both Meyerstein and Schneider offered new ways to further help NGOs bring their work to scale.
More organizations should work together, says Meyerstein. “If you want people to know how the NGO sector can contribute to peace writ large, then you need to speak collaboratively,” he says. The cliché “there’s strength in numbers” is obviously the take home lesson here.
Meyerstein’s message is integral to his work as founder of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a coalition of nearly 70 grassroots organizations dedicated to resolving conflict in the Arab world. He says if more NGOs would work in tandem, the community voice would be much stronger.
Though amplifying the NGO community voice is critical, it is equally important for this community to be given higher priority within the government, says Schneider
“One of the ways to focus on peacebuilding is a cabinet level that would be focused on long term development, conflict prevention and mitigation, reconstruction and humanitarian response,” he said.
Overall, the forum provided valuable lessons for NGOs seeking to take their work to scale and helped identify the benefits of investing in peace.
By Juontel White
President Barack Obama receives international recognition for working towards a nuclear arms-free world
The 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to President Barack Obama and the global community is filled with mix responses. Share your thoughts below.
Global Leaders Response:
“In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself” –Mohamed ElBaradei, head of IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
“It is an award that speaks to the promise of President Obama’s message of hope”–Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, former winner.
“I am concerned at the drift of the prize that is invariably going to politicians who have been, or who are still, involved in warfare. Obama has not left Iraq, he has stepped it up in Afghanistan. It is somewhat paradoxical to give it to a president who presides over the largest military arsenal in world history.” –Jan Oberg, Executive Director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research
“America’s return to the hearts of the people of the world”– French President Nicolas Sarkozy
“We congratulate Obama for winning the Nobel. His hard work and his new vision on global relations, his will and efforts for creating friendly and good relations at global level and global peace make him the appropriate recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.” –Siamak Hirai Spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai
Quotes courtesy of BBC NEWS
Nobel Peace Prize 2009 (Nobel Prize Press Release)
Oslo–The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama’s vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.
Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population.
For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world’s leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama’s appeal that “Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”
SFCG Indonesia Launches Project to Promote Religious Tolerance
By Brian Hanley
In September 2009, SFCG Indonesia launched a two-year project to promote religious freedom, pluralism and understanding through youth-centered educational activities in pesantrens (Islamic boarding schools).
SFCG will use innovative activities, including English debate competitions and “intended outcomes” comic books that are both unique and ground-breaking for pesantrens. The program focuses on pesantrens because of their ability to reach a large number of students, as well as impact the greater surrounding community.
The project, funded by the U.S. State Department, targets more than 25,000 students from 10 pesantrens across Java, as well as in Central Sulawesi, South Sumatra, and Lombok – all areas vulnerable to religious intolerance.
SFCG’s partner in this initiative is Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia, and in the world. By working in close collaboration with Perhimpunan Pengembangan Pesantren dan Masyrakat (P3M), a civil society organization formed to advance educational development in NU pesantrens, this program ensures institutional sustainability, and that a lasting impact will be achieved.
Brian Hanley is the Country Director for SFCG Indonesia
