Voice of America to Begin Broadcasts in Somali Language 12 February

Excerpt from report by Kenyan newspaper The Standard website on 31 January

[Passage omitted] Meanwhile, the Voice of America (VOA) will on 12 February begin a new daily broadcast to the Horn of Africa.

The half-hour programme would be aired in Somali and would include news of Somalia, the Horn of Africa and the world. VOA director, Dan Austin, said they looked forward to joining the information community in Somalia.

“Providing accurate, objective and timely news and information to the people of Somalia is vital during this critical time in the region’s history,” Austin said.

The US Department of State gave a grant to fund VOA’s Somali programme.

The new service would supplement VOA’s current broadcasts to the Horn of Africa in Amharic, Afan, Oromo and Tigrinya. VOA previously broadcast in Somali in 1992 and 1994.

The VOA Somali broadcast would air on AM, FM and shortwave radio at 1600 UTC at 7 p.m. in Somalia. Repeats will be at 1700 UTC at 8 p.m. in Somalia.

The 1700 UTC broadcast will also air on HornAfrik 88.8 FM, a VOA affiliated station. The programmes would also be available live and on demand on the service’s website.

VOA, which first went on air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the US government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

VOA broadcasts to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Its programmes are produced in 44 languages.

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