CEPO to handover community radios in Lainya, Morobo counties to promote peaceful co- existence through dialogues

Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) will on Saturday handover Iyete FM 87.7, a community radio station it established in Morobo county of South Sudan’s Central Equatoria State (CES). The other radio station, Unity FM 100.8, was unveiled in Lainya County on Friday.

According to Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of CEPO, the two radios were established in partnership with International Organization for Migration (IOM) with support from Multi-Donors for Reconciliation, Resilience Trust Fund (RSRTF).

“These radios are expected to reach more than 1000 listeners daily,” said Yakani.

Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest.

The radio frequencies cover all payams of Lainya and Morobo counties, extending up to
Yei, Kajo-keji, Koboko and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

As such, it is expected that the two community radios will promote peaceful co- existence and social cohesion through dialogues, round table discussions, radio talk- shows and other forms of open discussions in Morobo and Lainya counties.

“Community radios are one of CEPO’s strategies of building and empowering communities to be able to access information, make analysis and come up with recommendations that will make a better South Sudan,” stressed Yakani.

He appealed to the communities of Lainya and Morobo counties to be proactive in managing and sustaining Unity and Iyete FM community radios.

Yakani urged the state and national government to protect and support the community radios established to provide information to people at the grassroots.

He called on UN agencies and other donors like UNESCO, UNDP, UNMISS, IOM, IREX and USAID) to contribute to sustainability of community radios in South Sudan.

According to UNESCO, community radios have proven to be an effective tool to provide access to information for marginalized groups and hard-to-reach communities in South
Sudan.