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Daniel Barnaba's blog

South Sudan: reaching out to mothers and babies amid conflict

To: The Early Child Development Network with The Communication Initiative

From Daniel Barnaba - BBC Media Action on reaching out to mothers and babies in South Sudan's UN PoC (Protection of Civilians) camps.

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South Sudan: reaching out to mothers and babies amid conflict

When fighting broke out last December in South Sudan, members of our radio team were among the thousands who had to flee. After a few very difficult months, we’re all back in Juba and our health radio shows Our Tukul and Life In Lulu are back on air. But the conflict has left its mark on us all - and, what’s more, changed our programmes too.

Once most of our production team had managed the return to Juba - from Kenya, Uganda and other parts of South Sudan - the first thing to think about was how to make our programmes meet the changing needs of our audiences.

For example, we had to find effective ways of reaching the hundreds of thousands - mostly women and children - now living in the UN PoC (Protection of Civilians) camps.

How do you inform and entertain audiences experiencing such difficulties?

Music and drama

Recognising that people are desperate for high-quality entertainment as well as reliable information has been key.

As a result we committed to keeping our drama programme, Life In Lulu, on air - and adapted the storylines to reflect the conflict.

Early Child Development