Towards an International Child and Youth Radio Manifesto

The South Africa government Department of Communications (DOC) published plans (Sep 2001) to support and strengthen children's radio, by inviting the community radio sector to tender for funds to produce appropriate programming for the young. Since the initiative did not at the time involve any consultations with young people themselves, the youth members of Cape Town's Bush Radio Children's Radio Education Workshop (CREW), all actively involved in radio programme production and broadcasting, decided to take up the challenge by brainstorming youth views on radio. To this end they made discussion workshops the main focus of their second Kidocracy conference, held in December last year, with participation of delegates from other radio stations and youth organisations in South Africa.

Aiming to articulate what children and young people need from radio and what they want to hear on the radio, the workshops produced a set of outline notes organised under five headings which now form the framework for a 'Children's & Youth Radio Manifesto'. The categories identified by the 2001 Kidocracy delegates challenge all radio broadcasters to rethink the provisions they make (or fail to make) for this sector of the demographic. Starting with Child rights on radio, the workshops, facilitated by Bush Radio staffers, also listed Stories and traditional culture on radio; Programmes made for and by children; Education programmes, and What I feel and really want to say on radio. The categories represent starting points for further development and the next stage is to involve youth radio groups worldwide in drafting an international charter on children's and youth radio which will set a standard for appropriate radio programming for a sector of the world's population that continues to be marginalised if not disregarded by broadcasters.

The initiative is being taken up by the World Radio Forum to harness the energies of children's and youth radio groups in other countries in order to progress development of the Manifesto and enable contributions to be made from every sector. The World Radio Forum, a group of producers, broadcasters, journalists and facilitators of radio programmes made for, with and by children and youth, aims to bring pressure to bear at the highest levels of policy and decision-making to enjoin radio broadcasters to work for the respect and promotion of children's human rights by recognising the needs of children and making sure their views and voices are sought and heard.

In recent years the number of new radio projects that involve children and youth in production has been increasing. An overarching framework of development would greatly strengthen their sustainability. Children's & youth radio has to be seen as a priority for donors and international aid agencies within accepted 'good governance' guidelines. Establishing a free and independent media is an integral part of good governance, and the training of children and youth in radio production an equally important part of what is carried forward into the future. Where new initiatives are being set up to maximise radio's potential, both for involving youth and actioning the rights of marginalised children, small community stations have a vital role to play but their efforts need recognition and support. Even the most successful children's radio projects in Africa, South or Central Asia, or Latin America are rendered less effective through isolation and lack of recognition. A collaborative effort to bring these radio projects' urgent calls for help together into one voice for the promotion of children's needs and best interests can empower their claims to airtime and to serious attention from the broadcasters. This can be achieved by the development of an internationally recognised Children's & Youth Radio Manifesto.

Already some child rights organisations, in defining the structure and content of a 'child protection framework' for the harmonisation of their strategic planning, are seeing radio as a medium uniquely suited to mediating change in situations of development, reconstruction and democratisation. And wherever he travels, the sustained energy of the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu, in reiterating the value of radio and its capacity to meet the needs of children affected by conflict, is impacting slowly but surely on the broadcasting organisations. But it takes more than informed journalism and sensitive reporting of child rights issues. Mr Otunnu calls for the support of the broadcasters in responding to the needs of children in camps for refugees, the homeless, displaced and often parentless children who have nowhere to play, no schooling, no fun or possibility for enjoyment. Entertainment in the form of stories, songs and drama can easily be provided as well as school radio programmes in language learning, health education and information on safety. These are programming needs which national and international broadcasters have the resources to provide for. They are also included among the programming needs identified and defined in the Manifesto.

An outline document based on the preliminary workshops held at the Radio Kidocracy event in 2001 has now to be shaped and articulated in co-operation with every child and youth radio group wishing to be involved, and with additional contributions from other children's rights and youth associations interested in collaborating in its formulation. Participating groups are invited to contribute to any one of the five categories set out in the outline document, or to propose additional categories. At present, the Child Rights category specifically refers to Articles 12 (freedom to express an opinion and the right to be heard); 13 (the right to access to media); 17 (the right to information) and 39 (the rehabilitation and social reintegration of children whose rights are violated). In its current, draft stage of preparation, the document represents thoughts and needs in the words of young people and addresses radio broadcasters at all levels - community, local, national and international, recognising that they share responsibility for the needs of future generations. It is relevant to both the protection and the participatory rights of children.Some of the youth radio groups already involved include Nepal's Radio Hatemalo, a weekly show produced by disabled children and broadcast on national radio; Mozambique's Radio Alto Molocue youth broadcasters who produce a show for the rural FM station; the Nasli Somon youth radio group in Tajikistan which broadcasts every week on national radio; the media group of street & working children in India, Butterflies Broadcasting Children; Peru's Chaskiwawas who broadcast on local radio; the Radiobumba youth producers on Latvia's national radio; school children in Bulgaria recording interviews for radio with Roma children; and the children & youth involved in producing programmes on national radio in Mongolia. Information about the Manifesto is posted at the World Radio Forum website.

An online discussion forum is planned as part of the next stage and outreach strategies will ensure that children's and youth radio groups who are not online are able to participate. Details will be posted on relevant Internet bulletin boards including Drumbeat, so that all groups interested in contributing to the development of a fully international Children's & Youth Radio Manifesto can be included. The aim is to have work on the Manifesto completed before the 4th World Summit on Media for Children in Brazil in 2004.

Sarah McNeill/World Radio Forum
UNLIMITED Productions
sarahmcneill@dial.pipex.com