Somalia’s first female-run radio station is to launch in Mogadishu, as part of a programme seeking to empower women in the country.
Aman Radio will begin broadcasting in the near future staffed initially by 25 female Somali graduates from the Nasib Information and Media Training Centre for Women, which has also initiated the radio project, to be funded by diaspora women.
“We chose to start with radio because reading is not prevalent in Somalia [now], and we wanted [to choose a medium] that helped us reach and spread our message of empowerment to all Somali women,” said Farhia Farah Roble, assistant director at Aman radio, speaking to local publication Sabahi. “That is why we wanted to create a media outlet owned and operated by women.”
The Nasib Centre runs a number of different journalism and media related courses for women in Mogadishu, and six years ago began publishing a newspaper written and produced by graduates.
The radio station is the next project to complement the training provided at the centre, and is to encourage women to be independent and do the same technical jobs as men. It will also provide on-air educational content to further empower female listeners.
“We are going to produce programmes that focus on the education of young girls and [celebrate] the positive contributions Somali women have made to society during the civil war. We will invite Somali scholars to help us highlight the positive role women have played so far and discuss the challenges facing them now,” Roble told Sabahi.
According to Roble, the project has met with support, aside from a few negative comments.
“Anytime you start something new challenges are to be expected, but so far we have not encountered any impediments. Of course, there are people who say that a radio station run by women will not add any value [to society], but comments like that are insignificant.”
