Radio Dabanga is a shortwave radio station which serves the Darfur

Darfur

Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...

 area of western Sudan. It has been broadcasting in local languages since December 1, 2008, initially for an hour each day and currently for three hours. The broadcasts feature news in standard Arabic, Darfuri Arabic, Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa.

Program listings

News, Topic of the day, Frankly Speaking, Press Review, Hababkum Darfur ("We Greet Darfur"), and a justice program, Fi Al Mizan ("On the Scale"). Hababkum Darfur, a weekly program aired since April 9, 2009, allows callers to send greetings across the airwaves to listeners in other places. On the Scale is a weekly radio programme co-produced by Radio Dabanga and the Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Institute for War & Peace Reporting is an international media development charity, established in 1991. It runs major programmes in Afghanistan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Iran, Iraq, the Balkans, Congo DRC, Tunisia and Uganda...

. It focuses on local and international justice issues. Occasionally, drama programmes are also broadcast over Radio Dabanga.

Reporting

Radio Dabanga reports from inside Sudan and elsewhere. It produces independent news and relevant information for people of Darfur, including internally displaced person

Internally displaced person

An internally displaced person is someone who is forced to flee his or her home but who remains within his or her country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the current legal definition of a refugee. At the end of 2006 it was estimated there were...

s and refugees. The editorial team operates out of facilities at Radio Netherlands Worldwide, a public radio and television network based in the city of Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

. The radio station maintains correspondents in the field. Audience participation is another important source of information since listeners call the radio studios in Hilversum with their own stories and tips. Audience research conducted from September to October 2009 found that next to the state-run Radio Omdurman, Radio Dabanga was the most listened to radio station in all of Darfur.

Supporters

Radio Dabanga is a project of the Radio Darfur Network, a coalition of Sudanese journalists and international (media) development organizations, supported by a consortium of international donors, humanitarian organizations and local non-governmental organization

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

s. Radio Dabanga is conceived, operated and facilitated by Free Press Unlimited in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. The current editor-in-chief is Hildebrand Bijleveld.