Moyamba District Children's Awareness Radio (MODCAR)

Children's involvement in the radio project is seen as key to reflecting their needs and reaching intended audiences. This involvement is facilitated by consulting children in all aspects of radio production, ensuring their representation in MODCAR decision-making bodies, and developing children's radio clubs. Specific steps have been take to ensure children's participation in the project.

• The majority of members of the General Assembly are children, there are six child representatives and two adult representatives from each of the 13 chiefdoms in Moyamba District and 15 children from Kaiyamba, the central chiefdom.
• The Board of Trustees includes two children (one male and one female).
• There is a Children's Executive Committee made up of representatives of children in the General Assembly.
• During the project, a consultant trained 14 members of established Children's Radio Clubs in broadcasting skills.
• 60% of all the programmes aired were produced by children and aim to reflect their views and opinions.

The Children's Radio Clubs play a role in reaching out and reflecting the needs of children as they help to educate their members and other children about the issues raised in radio programmes. The Club members identify topics to be covered by the radio broadcasts, including HIV/AIDS education, promotion of the rights and responsibilities of children, current affairs, the role of girls and women in community development and peace building, education and learning programmes, sports news.

The following are some of the aims of the project and how they are being achieved:

• MODCAR aims to contribute towards the peace and reconciliation process in Moyamba following the civil war. The enhanced participation and empowerment that stems from community members' involvement in the project is hoped to promote social cohesion, which is considered by the organisers to be vital in a post-conflict context.
• The project aims to act as a form of trauma-healing for the children who suffered both directly and indirectly from the conflict. The participation of the children in the radio project is designed to give them the opportunity to become involved in the development of their own communities and to provide them with the opportunity to discuss their experiences of the civil war.
• The project aims to give children who have missed out on years of education the opportunity to gain vocational skills and education. This is achieved through the involvement of some children in the radio station; others may learn directly from the programmes broadcasted, which focus on such issues as HIV/AIDS and girls' education. The organiser, Plan, envisions these children then communicating their new knowledge to others.
• MODCAR aims to enable children to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and access to the media. MODCAR also believes children should claim their right to have fun and be able to teach others that children have rights, too. According to MODCAR, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will be monitoring the programming content to ensure that the project is fully compatible with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In addition to information and communication technologies (ICTs), this project also draws on face-to-face interactions. The Children's Radio Clubs are designed to reach out to children and reflect their needs as they help to educate both members and their peers about the issues raised in radio programmes. Club members identify topics to be covered by the radio broadcasts, including HIV/AIDS awareness, promotion of the rights and responsibilities of children, current affairs, the role of girls and women in community development and peacebuilding, education and learning programmes, and sports news.

Children, Rights, Education.

"Many children and young people in Sierra Leone missed out on their education during the war, and through this radio station they are able to alert adults and their peers to the importance of gaining a good education to ensure a return to normal life."

Although MODCAR is primarily developed by and designed to serve children, the station also aims to serve the diverse needs of the community - for agricultural information, for economic regeneration and education in its many forms, and for the re-integration into the community of the "new civilians" (the ex-combatants who are a growing proportion of the population).