During a recent webinar organized by the UNESCO office in Haiti, in collaboration with the Radio School and the Groupe Medialternatif, far from being a simple exchange session, was above all a session of reflection on the community radio in Haiti as a tool for resilience in isolated communities.

Four themes were discussed during this webinar. The evolution of radio in Haiti, community radio in the Internet age, the fight against disinformation and for gender equality on the radio.

Imelienne Ulysse from "Rezo Fanm Radyo Kominotè Ayisyen" (REFRAKA) focused her intervention on gender policy in community radios. She showed how women in rural areas have not always had access to technology, hence the role of community radios. She called on those in charge of these radios to take this social category into account in their programming.

On the other hand, Kechner Toussaint, Director of Radio Communautaire Abricot, believes that community radios are catching up with the innovation train. Many of them are currently broadcasting on the Internet and allow the Haitian diaspora to stay in touch with their community.

While the Haitian press has gone through very difficult times, Jean Rommel Pierre, Journalist, estimates that 94% of Haitians listen to the radio. However, community radio stations, which do not have all the means to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

To fight against disinformation, Edner Fils Décime of Groupe Medialternatif recommended continuous training for radio broadcasters. In order for radio to play its role in Haiti, a synergy must be established between broadcasters which will allow journalists to do a self-analysis, a critical look at how to disseminate information insisting "Broadcasters need to recover in question, to continuously train in order to make reliable information available to the public."

IH/ iciHaiti