h2n and partners launch USAID Coragem in support of community radios

In Nampula this morning, representatives of USAID, h2n, project partners and the provincial government launched the CORAGEM project, a $6 million initiative funded by USAID that is designed to support community radios in the four northern provinces by strengthening radio journalism, sustainability and engagement. “We aim to help radio stations operate a high technical level, with financial stability and community involvement,” says Sergio Chusane, who is leading the project.

While community radio is often seen primarily as a channel for the transmission of messages, h2n views community radio stations as an integral part of the social infrastructure, a permanent and trusted feature of community life. By empowering radio reporters and contextualizing content, h2n aims to strengthen the social fabric at the community level. “We invest in the empowerment of radio reporters as communicators that have a shared purpose with the communities where they live,” says Chusane. “And community members are also part of that communication process.”

The project’s community engagement aspect is reinforced by the establishment of a regional radio reporter network and a large number of Youth Centers, social incubators affiliated with radio stations that train a new generation of communicators and change agents. “We look for every opportunity to involve the radio in the community and vice versa and make it responsive to the issues that are important to community members,” comments Chusane, emphasizing the role of interactive radio programs, such as the “Vozes” model program developed by h2n, which aims to promote accountability at the district and community level, as well as townhall-type meetings and regular audience surveys. “Our goal is to help people access, understand and internalize essential information by speaking their language and adapting the communication agenda to their lived reality,” concludes Chusane.

h2n works with community-based communication, produces television programs and video content, organizes youth centers and pursues a comprehensive gender equality agenda.