Projects

Strengthening Radio Democracy’s Elections and Accountable Governance programming (Elecktion Tem)

Donor: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
Duration: October 1st 2012 to August 2014

Summary:

The Elecktion Tem Project seeks to increase broadcast coverage of Radio Democracy to reach out to a wider audience and other marginalized segments of the society for them to be able to make informed choices during the elections and demanding accountability from elected representatives thereafter. It also supports the strengthening of capacity of its broadcast journalists to enrich and expand content whilst maintaining quality, professionalism and independence. This project directly targets initiatives to reach independent broadcast and analysis to more segments of the society, increase women and youth leadership and decision making ability by increasing participation in governance. It directly targets first-time voters, women, youth and the disabled in its programming to encourage tolerance and diversity and reduce the potential for violence prior to, during and after elections. It also provide a platform and space for meaningful discourse between national, local and political party leaders and their constituents on a wide range of governance issues.
Overall Goal is to increase coverage reaching rural segments of the Sierra Leone Population whilst ensuring voice and space for marginalized groups in national discourse

Specific objectives include:

– 40% Increase in radio coverage of 98.1FM.

– Increased coverage of issues relating to youth, women and physically challenged on elections and governance.

– Increased communication and information between political leaders and their constituents

 
Establishment of a news website by Radio Democracy 98.1 FM

Donor: Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)

Duration: 24 Months

Summary:

The current media landscape in Sierra Leone is characterized by weak capacity, poor financing and therefore can easily be infiltrated by the rich and powerful individuals and state officials. Today it is easy to identify the few trustworthy and independent media outlets and it is important to safeguard, sustain and protect these media outlets as they are essential in promoting and strengthening democratic governance. The website project seeks to increase Radio Democracy’s news dissemination capacity by developing a website with functionality that would enable live streaming of flagship programs and uploading and archiving audio files of past programs; allow public contribution via comments and questions; and provide other forms of information and news items, in order to reach a larger audience, both within Sierra Leone’s to engage more effectively with listeners.

The overall objective of this project is to promote the principles of democracy and universal access to information, by increasing access to key programs aired by the Radio Station as well as the publication of important information for use by the general public.

The specific project objectives are:

– To enable equal, unrestricted and constant access to information and material produced and aired by the station by all segments of society

– The enable broader and wider participation in the development and production of important current affairs and other important news stories and documentaries, especially the younger segments of the population and Sierra Leoneans living abroad

– To create additional space for feedback on the programs, and where possible allow provisions of facts from the public through responsible and proactive citizen journalism

 
Building media capacity to monitor and report on Public Finance Management (PFM) issues related to Health and Education Sectors

Donor:National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

Duration:February 2014 – January 2015

Summary:

Sound and quality public financial management (PFM) systems are critical to achieving development and growth aspirations of a country. Sierra Leonean government has embarked on a quest for reform through the Integrated Public Financial Management Reform Project (IPFMRP), with the overall aim to improve the credibility and predictability, control and transparency of fiscal and budget management. This government initiative recognizes the critical role civil society and media has to play in ensuring national and district level PFM fiscal and budget management. Education and health sectors are two critical areas that government and development partners have invested considerable resources; however communities continue to face considerable challenges in accessing these basic human needs and have impacted on the development and growth of citizens.

Overall objectives to support the informed engagement of radio democracy staff, in monitoring public financial management of Health and Education sectors at national level.

The project has two specific objectives:

– Strengthen the reporting and production skills of a core group of Radio Democracy journalists to report on public financial management processes at national level.

– Mentor a core group of radio democracy staff that will monitor and provide media engagement platforms for civil society actors on PFM issues

Raising community awareness and knowledge of the three Gender Laws, whilst strengthening capacity of Radio Democracy’s producers and presenters, to reinforce women’s empowerment in Sierra Leone”
 

Donor:Action Aid Sierra Leone (AASL)

Duration:February – April 2014

Summary:

Despite numerous interventions by Government and Civil Society to raise awareness about the 3 gender laws, there remain considerable challenges with its implementation. To date much has been achieved in raising awareness but because citizens lack faith in the justice system, the uneven application of the rule of law and coupled with male dominance in national, regional and district governance structures continue to be key challenges for the laws to be implemented.

Overall Goal of the project is raise awareness, and promotes accurate reporting and information sharing about the three Gender Laws.

Specific objectives included:

– To build greater knowledge and understanding of the Gender Laws amongst Radio Democracy’s producers and reporters

– To increase understanding (awareness) of the Gender Laws through accurate radio programming.

 

Project Title: Promoting Inclusive and Participatory Election Processes through education and engagement platforms for women, youth and physically challenged

Donor:Rockdale Foundation

Project Summary:

The project seeks to support Sierra Leone’s upcoming Presidential, Parliamentary and Local Council election processes reaching out to a wider audience and particularly marginalized segments of the society for them to be able to make informed choices during the elections, and demand accountability from elected representatives thereafter. It also supports capacity strengthening of Radio Democracy’s (RD) broadcast journalists to produce diverse elections programs with targeted content whilst maintaining quality, professionalism and independence.