JULY 2016
‘Hiigsiga Nolosha’: How has a youth radio
show given young Somalis hope for their
future?
BBC Media Action’s ‘Hiigsiga Nolosha’
provides Somali youth with a platform for
discussion, and this has prompted
dialogue and interaction across divides,
created understanding and acceptance
between youth from different parts of the
country, improved how youth are viewed
(by themselves and adults), given young
people hope and motivation for the
future and helped them to believe they
can positively contribute to their country
The project
The second phase of BBC Media Action’s
Somalia Stability Fund funded ‘Youth and Media’
project has aimed to increase engagement of
youth in discussion on the future of Somalia and
to contribute to an audience-responsive media
sector
The core component of the project has been the
Hiigsiga Nolosha radio programme focusing on
social issues affecting young people in Somalia. It
has been broadcast via the BBC Somali Service
and three partner community radio stations and
included both a drama Maalmo Dhaama Maanta
produced in BBC Media Action’s Somali Office
and discussion segments produced by each
partner radio station.
The project has also sought to contribute to an
audience-responsive media sector by improving
the capacity of local Somali partner radio
stations to deliver audience-driven, and
particularly youth-focused, media programming.
www.bbcmediaaction.org
Research approach
A final qualitative impact evaluation of Phase II of
the project was conducted in December 2015.
The research was conducted in three regions of
Somalia where the partner community radio
stations broadcast, and included focus groups
with youth (15-24) listeners to the programme
and with adults, and in-depth interviews with
youth leaders, media experts and staff from each
of the partner radio stations.
Key findings
Hiigsiga Nolosha resonated highly with the
target youth audience because it focussed on
youth issues and the combination of drama and
discussion helped to increase the impact of the
programme and was new to many listeners
Hiigsiga Nolosha provided young Somalis with a
platform to discuss issues which they felt were
relevant to them and prompted dialogue and
debate across divides
It enabled youth from different parts of the
country to hear from each other and interact
(via both discussion programmes and social
media)
This helped them to see the social and cultural
commonalities and joint challenges that Somali
youth face, and encouraged positive attitudes
among young Somalis to each other
The programme also helped youth to become
more aware of the social and economic
opportunities available to them and encouraged
youth to make use of these opportunities
RESEARCH SUMMARY // GOVERNANCE
Key findings (cont.)
Hiigsiga Nolosha positively changed perceptions
of youth, both among youths and older people
These factors motivated youth to take action to
improve their situation, encouraged them to
take control of their own lives, gave them hope
and motivation for the future and helped them
to believe that they can contribute positively to
their country
The project also improved the capacity of local
Somali partner radio stations to deliver
audience-driven, and particularly youth-focused
media programming:
 It improved the way in which partner stations
conducted research on potential stories,
gathered audience feedback on programmes
and included audience voices in programmes
 It also improved the editorial, production and
interviewing skills of station staff and the
editorial processes at the partner stations
The commercialisation training provided to
partner radio stations improved their skills and
planning in this area, and as a result they
increased their income through sold advertising,
air time and show sponsorship – helping to make
stations more financially stable and sustainable
The success of Hiigsiga Nolosha encouraged
other media organisations to increase their
youth orientated programming and audience
interaction in programmes
“There were not many programmes
about the youth from the local media but
now the local media have a lot of youth
and social programmes.” Female youth
leader, South Central
Project context
Somalia’s media has the potential to play a
critical role at a time of significant changes in the
political structures and processes of Somalia,
however while the quantity of Somali media
outlets is on the rise, the quality of programming
generally remains low, as most media
organisations are staffed by under-trained
journalists, lack the necessary equipment and
exist on a fragile financial footing. Formative
research in Phase I of this showed that there
were currently few (if any) programmes
providing platforms where young people could
exchange ideas and experiences and come up
with solutions to the challenges they face. The
impact evaluation at the end of Phase I found
that BBC Media Action’s Hiigisiga Nolosha
programme had given Somali youth an
opportunity to interact and express their ideas,
had helped to highlighted commonalities of
young people, had positively shifted how young
Somalis viewed themselves and contributed to
youth empowerment.
A number of improvements were suggested for
Phase II of the project, including that the
programme could exert wider influence on
other related parties such as parents, that it
should continue raising awareness of other
societal issues, that it should increase levels of
youth engagement in social media and that
increasing commercial initiatives could help to
make the partner stations more commercially
viable.
Implications
The findings from this research show that the
media can play a significant role in fragile states,
helping to increase understanding of and
tolerance towards different sections of society
(e.g. between people from different regions, but
also inter-generationally), providing people with
information about opportunities and encouraging
them to make use of these opportunities, and
giving people hope and motivation for the future.
“The real point is that they [the
programmes] motivate and inspire the
young people and they can get whatever
they want from their own country” Male,
aged 15-24, Mogadishu (South
Central), Radio Goobjoog listener
Registered office: Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London W1A 1AA, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 8008 0001, Fax: +44 (0)20 8008 5970, Email: [email protected]
BBC Media Action is registered in England & Wales under Charity Commission number
1076235 and Company number 3521587.
www.bbcmediaaction.org