Africa

By Jon Hargreaves With just over four months until Kenya goes to the polls amidst concerns that there will be election-related violence, HCR (now known as Amplifying Voices) is exploring the feasibility of a new radio station in eastern Kenya’s Tana Delta. Last year we partnered with the Sentinel Project to set up a peace…

MSc Student, Joseph Thompson has just completed writing up his research which he conducted at HCR’s partner project, Tana FM in Eastern Kenya during June and July.  A student of water resource management at Wageningen (Holland) and Copenhagen (Denmark) Universities, Joe’s research addressed the conflict over resources in the region and particularly how the radio…

HCR and Canadian-based Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention, are about to set up a “Peace Centre” in the conflicted east Kenyan region of Tana Delta.   The centre will be established in the town of Garsen and will serve as a hub to analyse misinformation and rumours, as well as disseminate reliable information and messages…

In eastern DR Congo’s conflicted province of North Kivu, HCR has been working with partners to establish a new community radio station, Umoja (Unity) FM.  One of the architects of the project is Member of Parliament Albert Baliesima Kadukima who has great hopes for this station….

With recent warnings from Kenya’s electoral commission that a rise in ethnically charged “hate speech” threatens Kenya’s elections in 2017, the team at HCR partner station, Tana FM, know they have an important role – to promote peace.  Elections in the past have led to violence, particularly in Tana River County.  Next month,  some 22.4 million…

It is nearly 3 months since their country was declared Ebola-free and Sierra Leoneans are yearning for a return to normality.  But for many, life still remains far from normal, as communities emerge from trauma, where many still face social stigma, persistent health problems and don’t trust the health system.  Added to this, an estimated…

As the Kenyan Meteorological office warns coastal areas in Kenya of the high risk of flooding due to El Niño, newly founded HCR partner station Tana FM , is playing its part to get communities prepared.  Having gone on the air with the first test broadcasts only in May this year, Alex Stout and Jon…

Since the nineteenth century, eastern Kenya’s Tana River county has often been the scene of violent conflict, largely between two ethnic groups, the dominant Orma, who are nomadic cattle-herders and the Pokomo, who are farmers.   Many of the disputes have been over land use and access to water, however the intensity of these conflicts has…

Broadcast journalist Alex Williams has joined HCR UK’s Alex Stout to develop a community-centred radio station in Eastern Kenya’s troubled Tana River County.  Here’s his latest video diary.

While HCR’s partner in  Kenya works hard to obtain a community radio licence for the conflict-torn Tana River,  the team on the ground have been continuing the work we began in June by meeting community groups, lobbying local government and vociferously advocating to bring pressure for the release of a licence.  In a touch of amazing ingenuity,…