Colombia. MinTIC closed the 'School of Radio Communication for Peace', a project developed together with Channel 13 and the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation (Pares). This initiative provided community radio stations with tools to enhance their capacities in PDET municipalities, and strengthen community participation in the creation of content that contributes to peacebuilding and reconciliation.
In the first edition of the school, 12 community radio stations participated, belonging to ethnic peoples from eight departments of the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, with high potential for influence in their municipalities. The media teamed up with key community authors, such as social leaders, organizations, collectives, arts and youth groups, to generate new narratives that promote peace and reconciliation.
In these contexts, radio is one of the main means of communication, so the experience is especially relevant in municipalities with large digital divides, but, above all, with great stories to tell.
Through training workshops, the radio stations and the community created the podcast 'On the Shore of Peace', to tell stories and experiences of the territory, with a cultural and peace component. In all this, the ethnic approach was fundamental to achieve the strengthening of radio communication, since these places stand out for their cultural and ethnic diversity, with representation of Afro-descendant, Raizal and Palenquera communities.
During the school, three panels were held on the role of community radio stations in different scenarios. These were attended by representatives of community radio stations; the head of Regional Development of the MinTIC, Valentín Sierra; the manager of Channel 13, Alejandro Linares; the director of the Pares Foundation, León Valencia, and the deputy director of the Pares Foundation, Laura Bonilla. There was also space for cultural exhibitions, by Milerlanda Micolta and the Lunante Pipers. The event ended with the presentation of a diploma to the representatives of the radio stations participating in the School.
The workshops allowed the community to identify spatial problems and opportunities, reconstructing the memory of their territory. These spaces are the pillar to continue promoting the language towards peace in the regions.
