UN Highlights Importance of Radio

Radio has great importance in the communication process because the UN can speak to the local population without going through the filter of biased media, the UN said on the occasion of World Radio Day.

Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay said: “Since it was developed about a century ago, radio has proven to be an exceptional means of communication, debate and exchange – indeed, it is one of the most accessible and widespread types of media."

In her message for the Day, Azoulay urged everyone “not only to celebrate radio’s potential but also, and especially, to make greater use of radio as a unique instrument of peace.”

Radio officially became part of peacekeeping in 1989 under the UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) in Namibia, a political mission established to ensure the holding of free and fair elections there.

In turn, Douglas Coffman from the Peace and Security Section of the UN’s Department of Global Communications (DGC), which is also home to UN News, noted: “Perhaps the best tool in our toolbox has been UN Peacekeeping radio stations."

Mr. Coffman served in the Balkans in the late 1990s, in the wake of the series of wars that erupted following the breakup of Yugoslavia.

“Radio is important because the UN can speak to the local population without going through the filter of biased media,” he said. “These are media that have been part of the problem in the conflict. They don't necessarily want to help us get our messages out. So, having the ability to speak directly and in real-time to the communities, we're working for, is essential.”

Radio has played a pivotal role in the world’s youngest nation, South Sudan, which has suffered periods of brutal fighting and displacement since gaining independence in 2011.