Private
Public

In 2013 Internews South Sudan developed an innovative radio program called Boda Boda Talk Talk to provide life-saving and life-enhancing information to people displaced at four of the UNMISS Protection of Civilians sites in the country following the conflict in South Sudan that broke out in mid-December 2013.

The service utilizes a quad bike that moves around the site playing the programs in dedicated public spaces, at “Listening Stops”, through speakers that are bolted to the bike. Through the BBTT project the people living in UNMISS Protection of Civilian Camps are provided with relevant, accurate, timely information, enabling them to make choices and decisions about their own lives.

To date nearly 400 programs have been researched, professionally produced and broadcast in South Sudan. The service provides information in the sites to an estimated 400,000 people.

The success of Boda Boda Talk Talk, with 97% of people listening to the program, and with 60% of regular listeners stating they have changed their lives and behaviors in some way after hearing the program, has shown that radio continues to be one of the best ways to reach underserved populations and to convey important information in an understandable and clear way.

If we are to meet the growing needs of disaster-affected communities around the world, we must do more to truly listen to them and, crucially, to tailor our responses accordingly. Internews believes that we need to be able to ‘walk the talk’ and truly put the people we are trying to help at the center of our humanitarian responses. Radio is one of the best ways to do that. 


Story & photos by Internews