In the lead-up to the United Nations High-Level Conference to formally adopt the Global Compact(link is external) for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, UNESCO opened “Radio MIG(link is external)”, a temporary radio station operated by young community journalists from the southern Mediterranean region and sub-Saharan Africa. The radio station is unique in its approach as it gathers young people from the region to strengthen their abilities in reporting on stories that media cover migration, but also hate speech, as the two in many aspects are closely related.
This initiative is being implemented by UNESCO offices in Rabat and Dakar, within the framework of the Spanish-funded project “Preventing Violence and Promoting Gender Equality through media in Morocco and Senegal”, under the umbrella of UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication, as well as by project “Prevention of Violent Extremism through Youth Empowerment in Jordan, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia”, jointly launched with UNOCT(link is external) and co-financed by Canada. Radio MIG builds on the work to empower youth in the region carried-out since 2014 under NET-MED Youth(link is external), an EU-funded project that is also contributing to the implementation of this experience. The National Council for Human Rights (CNDH)(link is external) in Morocco is also supporting Radio MIG, which is operated by the Maghreb/Machrek community media platform Forum des Alternatives Maroc (FMAS)(link is external).
One of the young radio professionals from Morocco, Ms Chaimae said, “The role of media is crucial in the integration of migrants in our region. Participating in this radio project is an amazing opportunity, as we definitely need to address the coverage of migration in the media.”
This was reiterated by another young professional from Senegal, Ms Sylvie, who said, “This opportunity is very important for me as it allowed me to cover international events and train on specific topics. It is also a great human experience that allow us to exchange, live and share our different cultures”.
The young journalists are preparing shows, gathering guests, recording and broadcasting leading up to the High Level Conference. The temporary radio station will continue to operate during the conference and the young professionals will be able to develop their journalistic skills in covering the events in Marrakech on topics such as hate speech, migration and gender issues.
Resources:
- To find out more about countering hate speech, read UNESCO’s “Countering Online Hate Speech” by clicking here.
- To share the countering hates speech poster in your newsroom in three languages, click here for English, here(link is external) for French and here(link is external) for Arabic.
- You may also like to read UNESCO’s new publication, Journalism, ‘Fake News’ and Disinformation, which touches on verifying news and information, a theme for one of the apps at the hackathon. Click here.
International Programme for the Development of Communication:
To find out more about the projects supported by the IPDC, click here.
The International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) is the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilize the international community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries. Since its creation in 1980, the Programme has successfully mobilized over US$110 million to strengthen the capacity of media in 140 countries.