Christian radio stations are being used to promote peaceful coexistence between faiths and communities in some of the most troubled parts of the world.
Father Alexis Ouedraogo, director of Radio Notre Dame in Burkino Faso, told Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), that part of the work of his radio station is to counter terrorists in the country who wish to “to divide the Burkinabè and to make them fight each other”.
As part of his work, Father Alexis has held conversations with an Islamic imam in an attempt to promote inter-faith dialogue and to show that differences do not have to be resolved with violence.
“This [dialogue] can lead us to establish relationships between each other and to serve each other, and by doing so, help us to live in in solidarity,” he said.
ACN said that last year it provided £450,000 to support 22 radio projects in 19 different countries around the world.
Among the projects are the Radio-Television team of the Boma Diocese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Earlier this year violence flared up between M23 rebels and government forces, with the rebels taking the eastern city of Goma.
Reports on the ground indicate that millions of people have been forced to flee their homes, hospitals are overcrowded, and refugee camps are attacked.
The Goma airport is currently closed as a result of war damage and unexploded shells rendering the grounds unsafe. Until the airport can be reopened, the flow of much needed aid into the city is severely limited.
In one harrowing report, prisoners from the Goma central prison escaped, and broke into the women’s wing of the prison where over 100 inmates were raped.
ACN is also supporting radio projects in Haiti, which has been hit by “rampant violence” and in Ukraine, which has endured a three-year long conflict with Russia.
