Interview with Ben, Chief, Communications and Public Information, UN Mission in South Sudan

John Masuku: Welcome to the World Radio Day 2023 series. My name is John Masuku. The UNESCO's World Radio Day 2023 Campaign Coordinator. Today, we would like to discuss the UN peacekeeping radio stations, with a special focus on Radio Miraya in South Sudan. Well, other radio stations, are similar to Radio Miraya in the DRC. You may have heard of Radio Okapi or Guira FM in the Central African Republic and Radio Mikado in Mali.

And our guest today, to talk about U.N. peacekeeping, radio stations or radio station in South Sudan is none other than the Chief Communications and Public Information, Ben Dotsei Malor. Ben, welcome.

Ben: Thank you, John. Thank you for having me.

John Masuku: It's a pleasure to have you on this series about World Radio Day 2023. First of all, let's go onto what led to peacekeeping in South Sudan. Just an overview of what happened briefly in Sudan that led to the need for peacekeeping. And then we go to the peacekeeping radios.

Ben: First of all, thank you for this opportunity, for this interview to mark World Radio Day, which I know has been held on the birthday of UN Radio - sometime in 1946, 13th of February. Now, coming to South Sudan: South Sudan, the world's youngest nation, after years of back and forth, the referendum was held in July 2011, and this new nation was birthed.

There was a lot of great expectation, a lot of goodwill, that people in the Southern part of what used to be one nation, Sudan, felt seriously discriminated against, marginalized, and badly treated by citizens of the northern part of the country, that they've now got their independence. So for two years, from 2011, until 2013, everything looked like this new nation was getting the entire goodwill of the world to do better.

But then in 2013, there was a falling out, a falling out, which led to a lot of fighting among the same people who united to gain independence. And a lot of lives were lost. People were killed. Lots of people were displaced. The conflict or the violence took an ethnic dimension, which disrupted a whole lot of things and which then compelled the Security Council to modify the existing mandate to bolster this mission, the UN Mission in South Sudan, to help restore peace, and help the country to a sustainable democratic path.

But Radio Miraya, actually existed by the time the two nations came into being: Sudan, single “S” split - d then you have all remaining in Sudan and then the southern part of the country, which now has about 11 million population. Radio had started work. And so we've had to report during some of these crises, even subsequent periods when there was turbulence and conflict and violence between disagreeing forces within what was supposed to be one government.

John Masuku: So the radio obviously plays a very pivotal role, Ben, when it comes to the issues of peacekeeping and you said Radio Miraya was there. Obviously, you had to restructure it as the U.N. in order to fit it into your work. If you can, tell us how you did that so that at the end of the day, you are not blamed for taking any sides, but for being fair and bringing the country together as it were because you are a peacekeeping force.

Ben: So Radio Miraya's main mandate here is, when you listen to our slogans, we say Your Radio For Peace, Your Partner For Peace. Peace is the bottom line of the work we do, not just in the communications and public information section, but with Radio Mirror in particular. That's number one. Number two, across South Sudan, the biggest platform for information dissemination, for conveying information to people still remains the radio.

Radio is still the primary means of reaching people, not just here in the capital, Juba, but out in the other nine states - there are ten states in all with two administrative areas. Radio is what people depend on here for their regular, credible, factual information.

So radio is still critical. Number three, Radio Miraya is in a state of constant readjustment, constant self-evaluation, and constant restructuring so that we can support the leadership of the U.N. here in South Sudan to deliver on the mandate, which then means, whatever mission leadership is trying to convey with the government, with the officials, with the people of South Sudan, we must serve and provide the services that should help the mission.

In fact, as I speak to you, just last week, the government approached the U.N., approached the head of the mission, Mr. Nicholas Haysom, and asked that the United Nations should come and support the electoral process in South Sudan so that by December 2024, elections are to be held.

Radio Miraya is going to be playing its part as best as possible, as much as we get the cooperation of the government of South Sudan, so we will do everything to support the leadership for the success of this process. So, there is constant examination, constant restructuring, and constant improvement. We've just done a review of our programs: are we meeting the needs of the mission and sending information across to help towards success, to help towards peace, to help towards unity, to help towards reconciliation, to help towards security?

South Sudan is going through a very tough humanitarian crisis right now. Flooding is all over the place, and then there are climatic shocks. How do we convey this so that they can gain the support and assistance that will help South Sudan emerge and then become a strong democratic nation? That is what Radio Miraya will do, together with all other parts of our Communications Section.

John Masuku: Yes. Ben. Let's just have an overview of your program schedule, knowing some of the program that is in tandem with this year's theme of “Radio and Peace”, so that our listeners even understand the kind of programing - just a few examples that really stand out as programs that promote peace within Radio Miraya. You know, within Radio Miraya, and maybe you may have some practical examples of certain things that changed or that emerged as a result of the programs.

Ben: Okay. Let me mention, maybe, three or four key programs. Every morning, Monday to Friday, between the hours of six in the morning to nine. We have a talk show, a magazine program, and the early morning program called The Miraya Breakfast Show.

On that program, you have news elements, you will get reports from all the states, the latest news, we will get people to come and talk about elements, government ministers, civil society, people to come and talk on the Miraya Breakfast Show, 6 to 9 every morning. Every Saturday, there is a program we call Roundtable.

Roundtable is a political discussion program that takes the most critical issues in South Sudan, the most critical issues affecting South Sudan, getting the right people from government, ministers, officials, and influencers and gathering all of them – it’s not uncommon to find the defense minister in the studio explaining what we are calling the passing out or the graduation of the Necessary Unified Forces so that these are forces across many service areas being brought together and one Command - they are not pledging allegiance to one political party or political party leader or to another.

This is the national Army or the National Immigration Service or the National Police. So we bring people to discuss many of these thorny issues. If there are issues affecting, let's say, conflict, there is violence flaring up in certain parts, which has become quite regular here, violence related to cattle raids, violence related to inter-communal conflict, violence related to ethnic or tribal differences that we bring people who, especially people at the top levels of government and society, to come and not just discuss, but also to provide solutions to many, if not all of these problems.

So that is the roundtable every Saturday morning. It is repeated on Sunday. It gathers a lot of people listening. A third program is also called Nationwide. Nationwide comes on in the afternoons and I think between the hours of four and six. And that is where you go through all the states, and you have a communication staff in all the states, and they will send highlights into this program to reflect what is happening across the nation so that our focus is not just here on the capital, Juba.

So I'm just giving three examples of programs that are here – there are programs that would deal with crime. There are programs about democracy in action. There are programs that are going to be done targeting the youth. We have youth programs, programs for the youth to help them have a platform. Those programs are there.

There are programs that are targeting women to make sure that women are fairly represented. In fact, let me mention that we have a dedicated phone line for women who want to call into our programs. They don't have to be struggling with another phone (caller) to give a voice to the women, because we are in a society where we need more of the voices of women. So those are just some of the objectives.

John Masuku: Yes, as you have noticed, depending on the theme of World Radio Day, we are looking at “Radio and Peace” and there is an emphasis on the radio for conflict resolution, and also the promotion of independent radio that is not biased. I think you already mentioned you tried to balance your programming how you tried to balance your editorial approach to radio. Are you satisfied that Radio Miraya is setting those standards as a U.N. peacekeeping radio station, like what we are doing here at UNESCO's Radio Day to promote “Radio and Peace” through conflict resolution and independent radio?

Ben: Radio Miraya is doing a brilliant job in South Sudan, under the mandate of the United Nations, to convey and establish and consolidate peace. As I mentioned, and I need to say again constantly on Radio Miraya, you will hear our public service announcements or our jingles saying, “Radio Miraya - Your Partner For Peace”.

And that underscores the objective, the desire, the substance, and the spirit of what all of these professional colleagues, a majority of them South Sudanese citizens, South Sudanese nationals, with some of us, internationals, that what they are trying to do, is nothing but to guarantee peace, to promote peace, to consolidate peace, so that the people of South Sudan can have a life of peace, under which there can be progress, there can be sustainable development, there can be prosperity.

And so, we are doing that, but at the same time, we are not complacent. We are not saying that everything we are doing is complete, done, and dusted. We are constantly reviewing what we are doing, how are we responding to these needs that are emerging, and how are we reporting the violence?

Are we reporting the violence in a way that will help quench the fire and bring peace, or are we reporting in a way that will provoke more violence? And so, we are against violence, as the mission, the UN Mission UNMISS. As our Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Nicolas Haysom, would do, we are not here to see this country go back to war.

Our purpose, whatever radio is doing, whether we are online and we are on air, and people are calling in, is to reinforce the togetherness of the people across political divides, across religious divides, across ethnic divides, across gender divides, then across age divides. We are not fully there yet. There have been conflicts over the last few weeks. We have to keep at it. We have to keep examining what we need to do best. We are not resting on our oars.

We want to do the best we can to support the U.N. mission here, to support the leadership of the mission, to make sure that peace is consolidated in this country, and young school girls can go to school without fearing a flare-up of war or young boys that go about what they need to do, and education can be established. Many of these areas are not accessible. Infrastructural development is going to be the dividend of peace.

Okay? Togetherness and unity are going to be the dividend of peace. Sustainable development is going to be a dividend of peace. Of course, as Kofi Annan, our former or late Secretary-General, used to say, nobody invests in a bad neighborhood. Nobody invests in a violent neighborhood. And so, our target, our mandate, protection of civilians, guarantee and secure peace in South Sudan and let this country that is heavily and richly endowed, that this country thrive.

John Masuku: Well, in winding up, Ben, what is the size of your audience and Radio Miraya? That's one point. And then after that, if you can just briefly spell out the future of Radio Miraya, when you leave, when the UN departs, are we going to see good radio, good editorial standards being able to resolve conflicts through good radio? Are we going to see the promotion of independent radio and the sustainability of that radio?

Ben: We are not the only radio station in South Sudan. You have the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, SSBC. You have other radios over here. For example, Eye Radio, (independent radio), and when you ask about the sustainability of radio here, audiences, I can tell you for a fact that Radio Miraya, the United Nations radio station here in South Sudan, has the widest reach, by far, in this country.

We have managed to put transmitters in many remote places. Radio reaches more people. Radio reaches more states. We just haven't managed to do a quantitative review where we bring somebody in and find the money to say go and find the specific number of listeners. The population of this country is about 11 million. It is factual to say that the vast majority of them listen to Radio Miraya. Because some of the stations are based in Juba, they don't have the reach we had.

And we are getting reports from government officials in many of the states asking us if we could come and expand our reach in their regions or in their states. And that is a sign of the impact we are making on the ground.

One thing you raised is independent radio - radio that makes an impact. And what I can only say is that the mission has been making the point that the civic space has been created, the political space has been created, to promote the freedom of expression, to promote the kind of freedom that would lead to elections and ensure that people have a say in what is happening in the country.

We intend to do that. How we do that in objective, fair, balanced, factual, and accurate ways is what we seek to do every time. Once again, Radio Miraya exists as the Radio for Peace for the people of South Sudan, under the mandate of the United Nations. Radio Miraya, is the partner for peace for the government and the people of South Sudan.

John Masuku: Ben Dotsei Malor was our guest today on World Radio Day 2023, a series where we're talking about Radio Miraya in South Sudan. And Ben is in charge of information dissemination there. And he is telling us about what this station is doing and its future. So until next time! On behalf of Ben to say hello, this is John Masuku.