community-centred media projects
Radio MAMA - mid west, wa
The Midwest Aboriginal Media Association (Radio MAMA) broadcasts in regional, rural and remote towns of the Mid West of Western Australia. These include Geraldton, Mullewa, Mount Magnet, Carnarvon, Meekatharra (through Meeka FM) and Wiluna (through Meeka FM). Radio MAMA and HCR strengthen community engagement through workshops with community members who participate in the design, production and presentation of radio and video messages for health and social development campaigns delivered by local service providers. HCR has been working with Radio MAMA for over 20 years. We have provided Certificate 3 training in community media to staff and volunteers and continue to provide any additional support needed.
Read More about Radio MAMA
Read HCR Stories from Western Australia
Meeka FM - Meekatharra, WA
For over ten years, HCR, along with Radio MAMA, has supported community media station, Meeka FM in Meekatharra, WA. Collaboratively, we have promoted community engagement, supported governance and provided Certificate 3 training in community media to volunteers.
Community, Respect & Equality - Geraldton, WA
Community, Respect and Equality (CRE) is a community alliance of organisations in Geraldton, WA, that seek to address that social norms and attitudes that lead to family violence. HCR has been involved with CRE since its inception in 2017. With media a key component in promoting social change, a Communications Working Group (CWG) was formed. The group develops localised communications to promote dialogue aligned with the Our Watch framework within organisations (internally), as well as collectively in the community (externally). We have been one of the key organisations leading the CWG.
BRight Home - Sargodha
Bright Home (Roshan Ghar in Urdu) provides vocational classes for women or young people. In partnership with regional health care providers, health camps provide advice, medical checkup and basic medication. The Bright Home team have also set up a mobile clinic with a Ladies’ Health Worker making regular visits on a motorbike to groups in homes.
Some class participants go on to do Media training as an additional route for building skills, self confidence, and for participating more widely in community life and wider society.
Adivasi voices - mAHARASHTRA, INDIA
HCR is partnering with Seva Social Welfare Foundation to tackle poor health and build resilience in indigenous Adivasi communities. In a remote parts of India’s Maharashtra state Adivasi communities don’t have access to radio, television or mobile phones. Many villagers can’t read and are deprived of basic facilities such as clean water, food, sanitation and healthcare.
Seva augments their healthcare activities by distributing “speaker boxes” which play audio content stored on update-able memory cards. Based on the community’s own stories, the audio content includes local-dialect dramas, music and talk programmes that educate, inform and entertain.
Read More about the project
Vox radio, KENYA
In an effort to prevent further violent conflict in eastern Kenya’s Tana River County, HCR partnered with the Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention to set up a peacebuiding radio station to promote peace, health and social development among the communities of the region. The station went to air ahead of the 2017 polls and contributed to a peaceful election process.
AMPLIFYING VOICES THROUGH SALT, FrEETOWN
HCR is partnering with Believers Broadcasting Network (BBN) in Freetown and local community volunteers to strengthen community health, wellbeing and resilience. Amplifying Voices through SALT (AVS) encourages people to tell their unheard stories. An affirmative listening process explores community strengths, builds trust and grows confidence for communities to develop local responses to challenges they face.
Umoja FM - nORTH kIVU, DRC
Torn apart by 20 years of brutal and bloody conflict, North Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the most violence-stricken parts of the world. In a region with huge economic potential, many armed groups without specific goals regularly engage in fighting - with devastating consequences for the local populations.
HCR worked with partners to set up a peace-building radio station on the edge of the so-called “Triangle of Death” which is making a significant difference to health and development in the region. Community volunteers are also actively trying to engage with armed rebels in the national park, through the radio station, to encourage them to lay down their arms.
COMPLETED projects
Ride the Wave - Mid West & Gascoyne, WA
In partnership with the Midwest Mental Health and Community Drug and Alcohol Service and the WA Primary Health Alliance, HCR worked with the communities of Exmouth, Carnarvon and Kalbarri to develop localised content to reduce the stigma of mental illness, promote help-seeking behaviour, as well as encouraging everyday activities that promote good mental health. Due to the success of the project, it was extended to include Geraldton, Dongara and Denham. The project was selected to be presented at the National Suicide Prevention Conference in 2025.
Multicultural Mental Health Project - Geraldton, WA
Partnering with the Geraldton Suicide Prevention Action Group and the Midwest Multicultural Association, HCR worked with local Geraldton multicultural groups, in 2024, to develop a community media campaign promoting mental health, reducing the stigma of mental illness and encouraging help-seeking behaviour.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Youth Project, Newman, WA
In 2024, HCR worked with Hope Community Services Newman, the local community alcohol and drug service, to engage young people in a mental health and wellbeing community media project. The aim was to develop local content that would support young people to seek help. Young people of various ages were involved and a range of community service announcements for radio, videos and posters were developed. These were broadcast on the local radio station, online noticeboards, at the youth centre, and a variety of community settings.
Screening & Early Detection of Cancer, Geraldton, WA
In partnership with Cancer Council WA, the Geraldton Regional Aboriginal Medical Service and the Midwest Aboriginal Media Association, HCR has worked on various local and state-wide campaigns to promote the uptake of screening and early detection of cancer, especially in the local Mid West Aboriginal community.
Perinatal Mental Health Project, Geraldton, WA
Post-COVID in 2022, there was concern within key services in Geraldton that post-natal women were not getting the support they needed. In collaboration with the WA Country Health Service and the Geraldton Suicide Prevention Action Group, we worked with women, their partners, and organisations providing services for women, to develop a localised media campaign and provide essential information to postnatal women within the community. The media campaign was broadcast on social media and community radio with incredible feedback from the community. As a result, the local Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) wrote an article about one of the mothers, Gemma, who had shared her story of postnatal depression and anxiety. Through sharing her story, Gemma supported other mothers in the community to seek help if struggling. This campaign provided additional support in the advocacy of bringing a critical service to Geraldton called Pregnancy to Parenthood.
SOOT SEMEE - NORTHERN UGANDA
Misinformation fuels conflict but community engagement fosters trust. Soot Semee is a community centred media pilot designed by South Sudanese refugees living in resettlement areas in northern Uganda.
The project engages community members in making content and in assessing and tracking rumours. It invites service providers based in these communities to provide information that the community needs.
HCR provided basic studio equipment to create weekly audio programmes, facilitated a community consultation and media training workshop, and is providing ongoing project accompaniment.
Healthy pregnancy project
Working with the Geraldton Local Drug Action Group, HCR supported the community and key organisations to develop content around healthy pregnancy. Important messages explored in the messages developed included, no alcohol being the safest choice while pregnant, how partners and family could support their pregnant loved ones, as well as ensuring help seeking information for additional support. A range of videos and community service announcements were created. These were shared through online social media platforms, as well as community and commercial radio stations. This project was completed in 2019.
Tuanze Biashara - ALLEVIATING POVERTy in eastern kenya
Using the newly established radio station, Amani FM, Tuanze Biashara (Let’s Start a Business) is a project designed to stimulate the creation of small businesses in an area affected by widespread poverty. It involves an innovative mix of creative radio programmes, live ‘phone-in discussions, social media interaction and workshops to encourage local people, irrespective of their education, to develop their business ideas and then put them into action.
Naway Saher - Charsadda, Pakistan
In north west Pakistan, HCR Pakistan has trained community volunteers to produce community centred radio programmes. The programmes tackle issues raised by community members, and encourage everybody to be involved in dialogue. Naway Saher is breaking down barriers between community groups that were traditionally separated by cultural and religious factors. This project, which started in response to floods in 2010, combines on-air and off-air activities to promote health, dialogue and inclusion.
Responding to COVID19
COVID19 has highlighted the vital role of communication for disseminating health and hygiene advice in a crisis, and for building cooperation across diverse populations. Although we have had to adapt working practices to observe physical distancing, community-centred media remains our primary tool in the fight against Coronavirus (read more).
We have also provided some emergency funding so our partners can support additional emergency relief activities to help their local communities to respond to this crisis (read more).
FIRST RESPONSE RADIO
Communication is aid! HCR was a founding member of the First Response Radio (FRR) network. FRR is a network of local teams in disaster prone countries who are equipped and trained to set up and run a temporary FM radio station for affected communities within 72hrs of a disaster.
HCR served FRR by training new teams and supports international coordination, monitoring and evaluation. In March 2019, 2 two trainers from HCR UK responded to Cyclone Idai, setting up a temporary FM station in collaboration with community radio volunteers in Buzi, Mozambique.
Hela Radio - Papua New Guinea
In Tari, the capital of the Tari-Pori District and the centre of Huli country in the Hela Province of Papua New Guinea, HCR has trained community members from 5 districts in community-centred media principles to operate a new radio station currently under construction.
Stop Child Witchcraft accusations
HCR is part of the steering group of Stop the Child Witchcraft Accusations (SWCA) - a network of practitioners and academics advocating for the rights of children accused of witchcraft. HCR is continuing work on a project initiated by Feba, that enables street living children in Kinshasa, DRC to tell their stories on radio and video. These stories are helping to change negative perceptions of street children and challenge the wider community and churches against making harmful accusations of witchcraft against children.
[Photo credit: Feba UK]
Radio Gandingan - Mindanao, Philippines
In Mindanao, Radio Gandingan (RG) is an educational and advocacy radio program that is produced by community members. Community Radio Volunteers (CRVs) from marginalised communities participate in the design, gathering and presentation of audio for radio programs. Listeners say the radio program has contributed to a reduction of community violence and an increase in positive family dynamics.
SOUTH SUDAN - Peacebuilding
As tensions between factions in South Sudan deteriorated into civil conflict, HCR was commissioned by BBC Media Action to help transition their ‘edutainment’ serial radio drama from a health focus to a peacebuilding focus. Working with local BBC script writers, HCR ran a workshop and held ongoing consultations to design the new programme, help the team understand the conflict environment and engage more effectively with communities to create relevant material for the dramas to influence behaviour change.
Radio Djati - Indonesia
Radio Djati, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, was created to support the December 2004 tsunami recovery operation and was the pilot project for the Rapid Response Radio Unit initiative developed by HCR but which has now become an independent organisation. The station continues programming that is designed to improve and enhance the quality of life of local communities with community education and advocacy through on-air programming and off-air activities.
Nabua Kabua Wone - West Papua
HIV/AIDS information and education was provided to 2000 villagers in the Indonesian province of West Papua with audio programmes modelled on a radio programme format. A media unit of volunteers was trained to produce audio products with contributions from communities. Programs were distributed to the communities for replay on solar-powered MP3 players to ensure those with low literacy rates would have increased access to education.
Wind FM - Mongolia
WIND FM is a radio broadcast network in Mongolia aimed at strengthening family values through integrated radio programming and community activities in collaboration with local organisations. Teams of community volunteers are trained to gather and produce key feature material. Professional development workshops for service providers enable them to contribute radio programming focused on local issues.
Afno FM - Nepal
A community-centred radio station in Okhuldunga, Nepal, has an intense focus on participation by the local community in designing, producing and contributing to local programs. Individual health behavioural change and community-wide social change has been documented. Government agencies have become more engaged in providing education, information and service to the communities. Social capital has increased.
Radio Salam - Kyrgyzstan
HCR was asked by UNICEF to assist with a youth health initiative, applying community-centred media principles to engage the youth community and encourage them to improve their life-styles.
Heartline FM - Bali
Heartline Bali FM mobilised local organisations in a multi-faceted project with on-air and off-air activities in a traditional Balinese village. Activities included mobilisation of mothers and health workers to improve infant nutrition, a radio station-based book library, volunteers trained as community radio reporters, a low-impact cultural daytour designed in collaboration with the community to contribute to the local economy from tour fees paid by foreign tourists.
TANA FM - EASTERN KENYA
Following violent conflict between the Orma and Pokomo communities in 2012, which claimed many lives, HCR worked with CBO KESHA local communities to set up Tana FM in the town of Hola. The station was designed up to help build peace between rival communities living in Tana River county, especially in the run-up to the 2017 elections and contribute to health and social development in the region.
PEACEBUILDING - AFGHANISTAN
As part of a peacebuilding initiative, HCR was asked by partners Morningstar Development and Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB), to upgrade and develop their community radio station and provide training for community health workers and other volunteers. The project has helped build community cohesion in an area where there were tensions between Tajik and Pashto communities. Despite many challenges the radio station is still active and effective.
MTAANI FM - DAGORETTI, KENYA
In an effort to prevent a repeat of post-election violence that had affected Dagoretti Township in Nairobi, HCR was asked by Mtaani FM to provide conflict-sensitive journalism training ahead of the 2017 elections. HCR trainers worked with producers to prepare for the elections and provided outside broadcast equipment and training to enable the station to cover events live.
HOPE FOR SYRIA
As the tragedy of the Syrian civil war began to unfold, HCR joined a consortium of Christian agencies to begin daily, live broadcasts to provide critical information, hope and healing to refugees flooding into Lebanon and Jordan. Using the principles of disaster response radio, HCR’s role was to help design the programme, train a team of refugees in daily programme production, link with the humanitarian cluster groups, monitoring and evaluation.