BURUNDI-TANZANIA: Promoting reconciliation through radio cooperation

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

BURUNDI-TANZANIA: Promoting reconciliation through radio cooperation

NAIROBI, 13 June (IRIN) - Two independent radio producers, one based in
Tanzania and the other in Burundi - respectively Studio Ijambo and Radio
Kwizera - are to collaborate in order to use radio as "a tool of conflict
prevention, and reconciliation".

The collaboration would include programme-sharing, co-productions, exchanges
of journalists and a correspondent network, a statement issued on Thursday
said.

The collaboration aimed to provide accurate, balanced and objective
information on both sides of the Burundi-Tanzania border as the facilitated
repatriation of Burundi refugees from camps in western Tanzania continued,
said the statement. "This collaboration will open up dialogue, through the
radio programmes, between Burundians in Burundi and those in the camps,"
said Lena Slachmuijlder, the director of Studio Ijambo.

"In the absence of dialogue and information, dangerous rumours and
misunderstandings thrive. This collaboration aims to open a space where
Burundians can begin to discover each others' realities, and find a common
understanding of reconciliation," she added.

[ENDS]

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