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Thousands of wind-up and solar-powered blue radios distributed by NDI in Sudan are bringing a dialogue about national issues to isolated communities.  A recently-completed NDI program has put more than 265,000 radios into the hands of Sudanese citizens since the end of 2007. Some 65,000 radios distributed in partnership with CHF International in the southern states of Lakes, Unity and Warrap along with 200,000 radios distributed in partnership with international NGOs across Southern Sudan and the Three Areas are providing access to civic education and information that was previously difficult to deliver to mass audiences in these remote areas.  Michael Rifer, who works in Sudan for NDI, describes the radios’ impact in one community in Unity.

Late morning in Southern Sudan’s Unity State provides a stunning visual contrast: the gray flat earth punctuated by bursts of green trees, still vibrant from the not-too-distant rains, all weighted down by a cloudless, pale blue sky. 

It’s beautiful, but it is hot. 

As the cool air and long shadows of morning are slowly replaced by the violent heat of the noonday sun, men and women in the village of Leer begin to retreat to the cool of a scrap of shade.  As the shadows shrink, they draw closer together, creating the forum for a daily ritual: friends and neighbors sharing tea, water and news of the day – gossip, the weather, or the price of a strong bull in the market.  Yet as this country continues its recovery from more than two decades of conflict, and with national elections looming in its collective consciousness, discussions frequently turn to Sudan’s political transition from war to peace. 

In isolated communities like this one – far from main roads and large population centers – the impact of the radio distribution is clear.  The little blue radios distributed by NDI and its partners such as CHF are a ubiquitous sight under shady palmetto trees and in front of the tin-roofed shops that line Leer’s unpaved streets.  Although Leer was previously served by a community radio station – Naath FM 88.0 – its impact was hampered because most citizens had no way to listen to it. 

Since early 2007, NDI has, in partnership with the Sudan Radio Service, produced and broadcast “Let’s Talk” [3] – a weekly 30-minute radio program dealing with an array of issues, such as Sudan’s political transition, democracy and civic participation.  The program’s popular drama weaves a series of civic education topics into the daily lives of the main characters, Taban and Salama, as well as their friends, family and neighbors, in a fictional Southern Sudanese town. 

To date, more than 50 episodes of “Let’s Talk” have been produced and aired, mirroring the evolving course of the country’s transition, including its interim governing institutions, constitutional framework, political processes, and the rights, roles and responsibilities accorded to citizens in a democratic transition. 

Accompanying the program, NDI has organized ‘listening groups’ of civil society members who gather to listen to the program and discuss its topics and themes, and their impact in communities such as this.  Nonetheless, NDI has struggled to reach diverse, rural populations and outlying villages with its civic education program. The introduction of the radios, and an innovative partnership between NDI, CHF, and the Internews-supported community radio station here has helped change all that.

In June 2008, CHF brought more than 3,400 hand-crank and solar-powered radios to central Unity state, including more than 2,000 that were delivered here in Leer as part of NDI’s radio distribution program, effectively expanding – and democratizing – the community’s radio listening audience.  As today’s Let’s Talk broadcast concludes, three young men – community radio reporter and host Simon Rica Taker, Isaac War of NDI, and Matthew Papuon of CHF – crowd into the small, but comfortable Naath 88.0 FM studio.  In eloquent Nuer, the local language, Taker briefly recaps the major themes of the preceding Let’s Talk episode and implores his broadcast audience to call in and discuss the issues – the national elections in this case – with the assembled panel and the community at large. 

Within seconds, the studio’s small blue cell phone begins jingling. Simon turns on the phone’s speaker and lifts it to the boom microphone hanging in front of him.  While today’s program focused on a leader’s responsibilities and the importance of selecting responsible people to govern, it has clearly aroused citizens’ apprehensions about the election and the electoral process. 

One man calls to express his concerns about the logistics of conducting an election in this remote part of Sudan. “The election is an important exercise, but we want the government to put some of the things in place before [the voting]; we need better access to road networks so that [the election] can be done successfully,” he said.

Another caller encourages government officials to consider security: “We also need the government to put down some laws to protect the people before the election...to make sure security is granted for the voters and mobilizers to move freely!” 

For the next hour, the calls come as soon as the previous one ends — men and women, more than a dozen in all. 

Taker of Naath FM has no doubt about the impact that the radio distribution program has had on the ability of communities to access information.  Indeed, call-in participants hailed from about a half dozen communities within the station’s five county broadcast area in central Unity state.

“This program lets us share information with many communities,” he says.  “Not just Leer County, but Koch County and even Guit County.”  Although these locales are in the same state, poor road infrastructure and moribund communications make sharing information between them difficult.  Let’s Talk, the call-in program and the NDI/CHF radio distribution have helped to bridge that gap, enabling citizens to hear the voices and opinions of their peers across the region and promoting dialogue as Sudan’s transitional milestones approach.  Taker continued, “Before the radio distribution, they used to say ‘We enjoy the radio, but we don’t have enough radios here.’  Now they listen.”

Pictured above: Sudanese citizens gather around an NDI-distributed radio in the village of Leer to listen to the Let’s Talk program.

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Published on June 18, 2009