Professional, rigorous journalism enables people to better understand the conflicts they face, and to identify their causes and solutions.
Inclusive and balanced media can help antagonist groups to engage in dialogue and thus prevent new conflicts.
For over 30 years, Fondation Hirondelle has been creating or supporting media outlets in conflict and post-conflict contexts — currently in the Sahel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and Ukraine, and previously in South Sudan, Liberia, and Kosovo, among others.
We apply the following principles to our activities in these contexts:
- Professional, rigorous journalism, enabling populations to better understand the conflicts they face, identify their root causes, and explore possible solutions.
- Production in local languages, with the same content available in all languages, in order to break the isolation of certain groups and strengthen social cohesion.
- Close attention to disinformation, rumors, and information manipulation (whether external or internal), by producing trusted reference information, developing fact-checking within newsrooms, and raising public awareness about media consumption (media and information literacy, as well as information about digital technologies and AI).
- The widest possible distribution, across all available channels — particularly digital platforms and FM radio — to connect populations divided by conflict through shared airwaves and media content.
- The application of charters and codes grounded in our core values — independence, integrity, diversity, and dignity — to ensure the impartiality and credibility of our reporting.
- The promotion of dialogue among all parties to conflict, through live programs and public debates, with balanced speaking time and strict rules of mutual respect, encouraging each side to listen to the other and engage in constructive dialogue.
Examples of media projects
Ukraine
Since March 2022, Fondation Hirondelle, together with its local partner the Institute for Regional Press and Information (IRMI), has been implementing a multidimensional project to support Ukrainian media outlets.
The objective is to provide populations living near the front line and internally displaced persons (in the East and South-East of the country) with access to reliable information on issues of public interest, humanitarian and social matters, as well as justice-focused reporting on war crimes.
Central African Republic
We create and support independent local media in countries experiencing conflict, enabling them to become trustworthy news sources and platforms for dialogue between all parties. In the Central African Republic, a country overlooked by the international community and fraught with violent and recurring crises, we created Radio Ndeke Luka, the country’s most listened-to station, and have continued to provide it with support over the past 25 years. With its team of around 100 professionals, the station produces and broadcasts a range of content including 13 daily news bulletins, debates, educational shows, entertainment, music and current affairs programmes.
Learn more about the project
Past projects
We have developed specialised expertise in fostering peace processes through our media partnerships with numerous UN peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste and Kosovo. In the context of partnerships with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, we have created and co-managed these missions’ radio stations in wartime, conflict and post-conflict situations. In this context, we created and managed Radio Okapi, the station of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC, for 12 years. The station had a daily audience of more than 14 million Congolese listeners between 2006 and 2012 and was recognised as “a shining example not only for media in other conflict or post-conflict areas, but for radio stations around the world”. (2010 International Press Institute Free Media Pioneer Award).
REFERENCE Documents
Fondation Hirondelle regularly holds discussions with its partners on the role media can play in mediation processes. We have developed a policy paper summing up our position, the main challenges and recommendations for stakeholders.
Read our policy paper: Policy Paper on Media and Mediation
Read the 7th July, 2021 issue of Mediation: Violence and the Media
