Somalia

By 2009, AMISOM, the United Nations-supported African Union Mission to Somalia, was actively engaged in providing security and stability to the fragile Transitional Federal Government. But it lacked the ability to communicate effectively with the civilian population or counter the influence of the al-Qaeda linked terror group, al-Shabaab.

The UN set up information support team (IST) to fill that vital gap, and three members of our network played leading roles in setting up and directing its operations. Their strategy combined attributed press office activity on behalf of the African Union, the UN and the government, and unattributed, locally authentic messaging disseminated via independent channels.

Another gap was the absence of an impartial, trustworthy source of news and entertainment in the Somali media environment: The IST filled that gap by setting up a radio station, Bar-Kulan (Somali: the meeting place) – an example of media sector development: if it doesn’t exist - build it. At the same time, the IST disseminated a highly effective radio comedy that mocked al-Shabaab, as well as numerous YouTube-style video products.