MDC and Heinrich Bِll Foundation launch new project airing voices from Palestinian villages

Trainer Aref Hijjawi with trainees for MDC and HB Foundation's new project, 'Village Voices'.

Water or electricity scarcity, lack of access to doctors and hospitals, poor education opportunities and skyrocketing unemployment figures. These are some of the obstacles faced by Palestinians living in the rural areas of the West Bank as well as in villages close to settlements and checkpoints. But the voices of the villagers are rarely heard in the Palestinian media. In 2012 the Media Development Center will therefore - in cooperation with Heinrich Bِll Foundation and 13 radio stations -initiate a new project dubbed ’Village Voices’.

The MDC has held round-table discussions with directors of the 13 participating radio stations in the West Bank. And last week journalists from the stations started their first courses which were taught by former Head of Programs at Al Jazeera, Aref Hijjawi.

The focus of the project is to raise the voices of people in Palestinian villages through radio features centered on the issues and challenges they face in their everyday lives.

The project is a continuum of 16 year-long partnership between the Media Development Center and the Heinrich Bِll Foundation. Additionally, the MDC has consulted and set up partnerships with radio stations from all over the West Bank to ensure that voices from all areas will be heard.

In 2011 the Heinrich Bِll Foundation supported a large scale initiative on environmental journalism in Palestine. The project, which trained journalists in telling stories of environment issues through docudrama, led to the production of 12 radio programs on different environmental issues.

Read more about MDC and HB Foundation's project on environmental docudrama for radio