Press Briefing Notes 16 November 2012 Spokesperson: Jumbe Omari Jumbe
IOM is today launching a community radio station at Kakuma, a town in North Western Kenya to assist in bringing about peace and harmony among the refugees and the host communities in the area.
The area has witnessed frequent conflicts between the refugees and the local communities and between the Turkana and neighbouring communities caused by the scramble for resources, especially food aid from the humanitarian agencies, pasture and water for the livestock.
Radio Ekisil, which means the champions of peace in the local Turkana language, will mainly target the local youths and the refugees by its messages aimed at preventing the recurrence of communal strife among the refugees and host communities in the area, where a big refugee camp is located. The Kakuma refugee camp hosts some 100,000 refugees from South Sudan, Ethiopian and Somalia.
The idea of establishing a radio in the area was proposed by a local Turkana youth group in 2010, when IOM was implementing peace building and conflict prevention initiatives in the area.
Apart from assisting in building the culture of peace and communal coexistence through its interactive programmes, the radio will also assist in communicating health education, agriculture, and animal rearing and will also provide entertainment. In addition, the radio will serve as a tool for humanitarian agencies in the area.
Radio is the most easily accessible and affordable means of interaction for the rural communities in Kenya.
The station will be powered by solar energy facility, which was established by IOM for the community.
The funding for the project was provided by the government of Japan.