Professional, rigorous journalism enables people to better understand the conflicts they face, and to identify their causes and solutions.
Inclusive and balanced media can help antagonist groups to engage in dialogue and thus prevent new conflicts.
Fondation Hirondelle has been creating and supporting media in conflict and post-conflict situations for more than 30 years, currently in areas including the Sahel, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Ukraine; and in the past, in countries including South Sudan, Liberia and Kosovo.
We apply the following principles to our activities in these contexts:
- Practise rigorous, professional journalism that enables people to better comprehend the conflicts they are experiencing, and to identify the causes and solutions
- Produce content in local languages, with the same content across languages, in order to end the isolation of certain segments of the population and counter distortion and rumour
- Broadcast as widely as possible through all available channels, particularly digital and FM radio platforms, using the airwaves and media content to reunite populations divided by conflict
- Apply charters and codes based on our values—independence, honesty, diversity and dignity—to guarantee the impartiality and credibility of our information
- Foster dialogue between all stakeholders in a conflict through live broadcasts or public debates, with equal speaking time and strict rules of mutual respect, to encourage each side to listen to the other’s point of view and publicly engage in dialogue.
Examples of media projects
Mali
We produce news and discussion programmes which are broadcast by partner media networks in countries experiencing conflict. In Mali, 3.4 million listeners aged 15 and over tune in to Studio Tamani’s programmes, which are broadcast through a network of 85 radio and 3 TV partner stations. This project was launched in 2013 in partnership with Union des Radiodiffusions et Télévisions Libres du Mali.
Central African Republic
We create and support independent local media in countries experiencing conflict, enabling them to become trustworthy news sources and platforms for dialogue between all parties. In the Central African Republic, a country overlooked by the international community and fraught with violent and recurring crises, we created Radio Ndeke Luka, the country’s most listened-to station, and have continued to provide it with support over the past 25 years. With its team of around 100 professionals, the station produces and broadcasts a range of content including 13 daily news bulletins, debates, educational shows, entertainment, music and current affairs programmes.
Learn more about the project
Past projects
We have developed specialised expertise in fostering peace processes through our media partnerships with numerous UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and Kosovo. In the context of partnerships with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, we have created and co-managed these missions’ radio stations in wartime, conflict and post-conflict situations. In this context, we created and managed Radio Okapi, the station of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, for 12 years. The station had a daily audience of more than 14 million Congolese listeners between 2006 and 2012 and was recognised as “a shining example not only for media in other conflict or post-conflict areas, but for radio stations around the world”. (2010 International Press Institute Free Media Pioneer Award).
REFERENCE Documents
Fondation Hirondelle regularly holds discussions with its partners on the role media can play in mediation processes. We have developed a policy paper summing up our position, the main challenges and recommendations for stakeholders.
Read our policy paper: Policy Paper on Media and Mediation
Read the 7th July, 2021 issue of Mediation: Violence and the Media
