At screening of new RSF film about community radio stations, Senegal pledges to upgrade their status

The announcement by Habibou Dia, communications director at the Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Affairs, who pledged to lead this reform, constitutes a long-awaited major step toward recognising the importance of these local media outlets, RSF says. Dia made the announcement at the Dakar premiere on 11 September of RSF's documentary"Community radios: their fight to inform in the Sahel."

Community radio stations play a crucial role in informing and raising awareness within the population, especially in the Sahel, which is home to a multitude of communities and languages. As vital local media, they help promote social cohesion but, until now, those in Senegal have lacked an appropriate legal and regulatory framework to ensure their economic sustainability.

Senegal's community radio stations are currently not allowed to broadcast commercials, except those related to national awareness-raising causes, and they are mostly run by volunteers who do not have journalistic status.

In Senegal, "community radio stations provide significant support to the government in raising awareness and combatting flooding," Dia said at the film screening. He added that the proposed change to their status was a key recommendation of the consultationorganised by Senegal's communications sector last June.

Senegal's first community radio station, Penc Mi FM, was established in 1996 in Fissel, 80 km south of the capital, Dakar. Senegal now has at least 138 of these stations, spread across all regions and broadcasting in several languages.

They are grouped within the Union of Associative and Community Radio Stations (URAC), which also plans to organise consultations with public decision-makers. The aim is to find and implement viability mechanisms for these radio stations, to identify and discuss an appropriate legal and regulatory framework, and to develop an action plan to strengthen cooperation with the government. RSF calls for these local media outlets to be able to conduct commercial activities and for the laws to be amended accordingly.

RSF support for community radio

In September 2024, RSF and more than 500 community radio stations in the Sahel launched an appealto protect local journalism in the region. RSF's new documentary, which is designed to support this important campaign, explores the daily lives of three community radio journalists in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger who resist threats and embody the last hope for media freedom in rural areas.