Pakistan

Radio for Peace Building

In March 2011, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Pakistan successfully implemented a 24 months project ‘Radio: A Forum for Moderate Voices in Pakistan’ (R4PB) with funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The project aimed to shift attitudes by using media as a tool for peacebuilding. The project reached communities in four provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan) in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) and Capital Territory of Pakistan.

SFCG helped to develop the skills of radio broadcasters from 50 percent of FM radio stations across Pakistan (a total of 60 radio producers) to facilitate constructive and culturally sensitive dialogue on critical issues facing the country. The project  resulted in programming – 120 radio talk-show episodes – that tackled critical issues essential for moving the country forward in a constructive, problem-solving way. The project built on our extensive expertise in radio for peacebuilding across Africa and in nearby Nepal. Continuous, long-term broadcasting is essential to create positive effects on Pakistani society.  The project involved training radio producers and journalists and providing them with conflict resolution skills to incorporate in future radio shows, and working local radio production houses in Pakistan to advise them on producing talk shows based on the template created within the same year.