As part of an initiative to encourage citizen participation in the upcoming elections in Guinea, the conflict transformation NGO, Search for Common Ground (SFCG), has handed out 143 radios to groups working in remote communities.

The hand out of radio sets funded by USAID, took place on April 18 and 19 in the towns of Boké and Kindia, north and west of the capital, with four associations in each location receiving around 15 radio sets. The radios are an important part of a wider project of improving the public’s access to credible and fact-based information around the elections. Included in this effort is an SFCG initiative to produce 25 short public service announcements, known as spot messages, which are distributed to rural radio stations around the country and broadcast in local languages, notably French, Soussou, Poular, and Manlike. The messages give information on how to register to vote, the importance of voters using their vote wisely, and the meaning behind such ideas as ‘free and fair’ elections.

In Boké, the radio distribution took place in the town library with community members and local authorities present. SFCG’s director Quentin Kanyatsi gave 68 radios and batteries to four associations who will now distribute the radios to the communities they serve. The associations represent key groups targeted by the project, notably women and youth, and marked the occasion with speeches and poems highlighting the need for greater transparency and public involvement in elections.

In Kindia, 60 young people were on hand to celebrate the handing over of 75 radios to four groups. The groups promised to look after the radio sets, listen carefully to the radio messages and spread the information they heard among their communities to raise awareness and increase public participation in the elections anticipated in October for the National Assembly and December for the Presidency.

SFCG and USAID will continue to work in the lead up to the polls with local radio stations and associations to build their ability to report effectively on the elections in their localities and inform the general population about what is happening.