3 May is World Press Freedom Day, a day on which we recognise the difficulties of journalists working around the world in areas of conflict or in countries where the media is under strict government control. Both of these conditions apply to Darfur, the region of Sudan where government-backed militias are waging war on local ethnic groups.
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As many as 300,000 people are believed to have lost their lives since the conflict began in 2003, with over 2.5 million people displaced by the violence. Since the start of the conflict, it has been all but impossible to report from inside the country. But one radio station, broadcasting out of the Netherlands, has forged a crucial link with Darfur, both in Sudan and around the world.
That station is Radio Dabanga or Radio Darfur. It is produced by six Darfuri journalists working out of a small studio in Hilversum with the help of Press Now, an organisation that supports independent media.
One of the Radio Dabanga journalists is Gaafar Monro. Back in 2003, Gaafar was a human rights activist and an elected member of the Sudanese parliament. But he was forced to leave the country after writing articles about what he had witnessed in Darfur.
Now, with the help of correspondents on the ground, Gaafar and his colleagues are able to report on all aspects of life in their homeland, including the indictment of President Omar al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court.
Gaafar is halfway around world from Darfur. But he insists that the distance is not a problem. He uses all available technology to get information.
His audience also doubles as one of his main sources. For example, Radio Dabanga recently received a call from a student in the town of El Fasher informing it that the government had arrested a number of students from the university there.
Lots of listeners call the Radio Station. Gaafar says on some days as many as 300 listeners get in touch - a surprisingly high number given the expense of a long-distance phone call.
Gaafar recently heard from a new group of young listeners.
"I received a phone call from Nyala, in South Darfur which said 'Hello, we are a group of around 15 students of Nyala secondary school and we are going to form a listening club that's called Radio Darfur Friends. Here in our school we are going to buy a small radio to listen for transmissions coming from Radio Darfur.'"Another call came from N'Djamena, the capital of neighbouring Chad, where a quarter of a million Darfuri refugees are living. They said that all the transistor radios at the market had disappeared and that the prices had increased dramatically, all because people wanted to listen to Radio Darfur.
Gaafar has also spoken to UN personnel in Darfur who say Radio Dabanga is the most listened-to station in the region. It's something that Gaafar is very proud of and he says it inspires him to work harder.
"To embody the value of freedom itself, to embody it in this kind of relationship with my audience, also motivates me to go deeper and search for the whole truth, for the best information and my best effort to present it to my audience."
The station takes its name from a big heavy clay pot which is the most important item in most Sudanese households. There's a saying in Sudan which goes, "Life is as fragile as a dabanga - take good care of it".
As we mark World Press Freedom Day, it's clear that in many parts of the world, press freedom is just as fragile.
Tags: Darfur, Radio Dabanga, Radio Darfur, Sudan, World Press Freedom Day
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