Happy World Radio Day 2026!
In the hardest-to-reach places, radio is still the most powerful tool for documenting truth and sparking change.
Today we’re celebrating the journalists and stations carrying marginalized voices every single day.
Kenya: “Radio is the only place where we feel heard”
Millicent Sabwami is Station Manager at North Rift Radio in Kenya, one of JHR’s long-time partners.
She still remembers the phone call that crystallised everything for her:
“A woman from a remote village rang the studio. She told us women in her community had no platform to speak about early marriage or gender-based violence. Then she said, ‘Radio is the only place where we feel heard.’ That moment stayed with me because it showed that community radio is more than just broadcasting – it is a lifeline, an advocate and a bridge between marginalised voices and decision-makers.”
On World Radio Day, Millicent says we must celebrate “the impact of the news they deliver, the voices they amplify, and the stories they share, often from places and communities that would otherwise go unheard.”
South Sudan: A letter that says it all
For more than two years, JHR has worked side-by-side with Equatoria Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) in Juba. In December 2025, EBC proudly launched its television station, but radio remains the heartbeat of their service to communities across the region.
On World Radio Day, EBC’s Board, Management, and Staff sent us this message:
“Through the provision of story bursaries, training sessions, mentorship programs, and consistent follow-up support, JHR has empowered our journalists with knowledge and skills that have significantly enhanced the quality of our reporting.
The impact of this support has been evident in the powerful human-interest stories produced and broadcast by our team — stories that have informed, inspired, and positively influenced our audience and listenership across the region.
The story grants not only built technical capacity but also instilled confidence, ethical rigor, and a deeper commitment to community-centred journalism among our reporters.”
EBC closed their letter with a hope: that the partnership will soon grow to include their new television journalists too.
When a station writes words like these, you know the work is making a difference.
Mali: Kadia Bassoum and an award-winning story that’s changing lives
In Bamako, 25-year-old Kadia Bassoum is proof that training works.
Since 2019 she has lit up the airwaves of Radio Émergence FM. In 2024–2025, Kadia was one of 48 women journalists in Mali who received intensive JHR training on human rights reporting, gender-sensitive journalism, fact-checking and combating hate speech.
On December 21, 2025, her hard work was recognised on the national stage: Kadia won 3rd prize in the radio category at the inaugural Night of Media for Reproductive Health awards for her investigative feature: “HIV/AIDS and Mother-to-Child Transmission in Mali: What solutions?”
In a country where only 46% of HIV-positive pregnant women currently receive treatment, Kadia combined data, expert voices and one unforgettable human testimony: a mother who, after tragically transmitting HIV to earlier children, followed medical advice and gave birth to her youngest child HIV-negative and healthy.
Thousands of listeners heard a story that could alter the trajectory of many more lives.
Stories like these is why JHR will keep training, mentoring and funding journalists like Kadia, stations like EBC and voices like the woman who called North Rift Radio.
Because as long as there are communities waiting to be heard, radio will remain a medium that amplifies their voices.