Puntland Station Tackles IDPs’ Plight in Radio Stories

Young radio journalists in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland recently used their newfound skills to shed light on the challenges facing internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in refugee camps in Galkayo.

The reporters – who work for Radio Hage Somalia, an IREX subgrantee – visited the camp and broadcast stories about some of the IDPs’ needs, including better access to water, food, and shelter. Their stories caught the attention of local officials and humanitarian organizations, which then took steps to provide for more of the IDPs’ needs.

It is unclear how many refugees are living in the camp as more IDPs flow in and out every day. They are largely evacuees from the wars in southern Somalia and arrived shortly after the militant group Al-Shabaab took control of the southern regions. This camp in particular is new, having been established in 2009, for refugees from across Somalia, including those escaping from the Hiran region where fighting between Al-Shabaab and Ahlu-sunna Wal-jamea grew intense.

The radio stations’ stories informed residents in the Galkayo region about the plight of the IDPs and inspired them to provide clothing, water, food and shelter with support from the city council. International NGOs worked with local NGOs to donate tents, money, and chickens for the IDPs to establish small businesses.

The story came to light via Radio Hage’s subgrant from the U.S. State Department-funded Supporting Media and Civil Society in Somalia (SMCSS) program. The funding allowed Radio Hage to develop a journalism training manual that encompasses the resources necessary to develop a sustainable in-house training program. Ten young journalists learned about a variety of topics including who is a journalist, what makes the news, feature reporting, professional ethics, managing teams, and using editing software. The practical training also made the young journalists think more deeply about their story ideas before they are developed into news stories.

As part of their training program, the young journalists were asked to find a story that would interest their listeners. Because numerous IDPs are landing in Puntland after escaping conflict in south-central Somalia, the reporters-in-training thought a story about the new camp would pique residents’ interest. Furthermore, officials from the Puntland government had recently reported that they would not be able to meet the needs of the IDPs without the support of the international community. The trainees’ stories suggested that locally driven assistance could make a difference.

Abdikarim Nur, Radio Hage’s owner and managing director said at the conclusion of the workshop that IREX’s training-of-trainers provided the station with the capacity it needed to better develop its own in-house training capabilities. The training was held in Hargeisa last year as part of the SMCSS media training series focused on professional and business development. “With the help of the resources and skills that we gained from these trainings, we will continue pursuing our objective of developing our professional and business capacity until one day we become the best media outlet in Somalia, if not in Africa.”

Independent media outlets in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland, which lies within Somalia’s borders, have struggled as sustainable businesses and reputable sources of journalism. Radio Hage Somalia, a short-wave station first established in 2007, has worked to overcome some of those obstacles by hosting its own month-long professional and business development training course in December.

Nasra Farah, Radio Hage’s 19-year-old news presenter and one of five women who participated in the training program, said her new skills give her hope to further her professional career. “Before, we had no formal journalism training but now IREX opened a window of hope for … Radio Hage’s (young) journalists. With the skills gained from this training, we can now develop an interesting news story that has all the principles of news reporting,” she said.

The SMCSS program provides support to the media to improve its professionalism, develop a democratic legal framework for the media, and contribute to the sustainability of media outlets operating in a difficult environment.