Childrens Radio Foundation
Amplifying Youth Voices Across Africa
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
African youth today are burdened by a difficult past and an uncertain future, characterised by persistent inequality, poverty, violence, and unemployment. As a result, youth are often alienated and perceived as problems to be solved. The stigma associated with being young, coupled with the often-cultural adult views regarding young people's abilities and contribution to society, may further undermine their participation and feelings of inclusion. Though African youth have the potential to play a vital role in the transformation of the continent, the conventional adult approach is failing to see youth as stakeholders who should be consulted in social and political operations. This results in young people often being left to find their own spaces for expressing their identity and forging their own means of participation. Positive trajectories would involve promoting the participation of young people in community life be it: sports, cultural, civic, religious, or community organisations
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Young Reporter Network
We have established a national Young Reporters Network (YRNin South Africa. Youth at 18 community radio stations across the country broadcast programs on a wide range of issues and share their content beyond their community through SoundCloud. Tackling topics like gender based violence, HIV/AIDS, teen relationships, education and politics, these 268 youth reporters broadcast youth -friendly, local content in 11 languages, reaching over 1.6 million listeners each week.
International Programs
CRF has been building partnerships with local NGOs for almost ten years, jointly running training programmes and drawing on each other’s expertise in various issues. In 2015, to help scale our work outside of South Africa cost-effectively, we have taken this model of collaboration further by having local NGO partners implement all in-country CRF project activities. This adheres to our vision of an ethical model of development where projects are locally informed and run, rather than managed from elsewhere. The typical implementing team includes an in-country National Project Manager assisted by National and Regional Coordinators. CRF’s role remains instrumental in securing and managing funding, and in providing support and guidance during the lifespan of the project. We believe that this model of development allows for our local partners to build their own capacity so that they are better equipped to take on their own projects in the future.
With 26 sites throughout Liberia, Zambia, DRC, Ivory Coast, and Tanzania, the international program includes 445 youth reporters.
From indigenous people’s rights, to LGBTI-related issues, from climate change to the rights of communities affected by energy projects, the issues tackled by CRF’s international projects are diverse but topical and context-specific. The concept of youth livelihoods is a common thread and a strong human and child rights component often places them high on funders’ agendas.
CRF’s in country implementing partners:
· Agents of Change Foundation (Zambia)
· Secteur Média (Democratic Republic of Congo)
· Mwanza Youth and Children’s Network (Tanzania)
· Radio Gbarnga (Liberia)
· Association des Scouts Catholiques (Ivory Coast)
Where we work
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Children’s Radio Foundation uses radio to create opportunities for youth-led dialogue, participation, leadership, and active citizenship in communities across Africa. Our work is guided by a vision of young people shaping their own futures and strengthening themselves, their families, and their communities.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The Children's Radio Foundation methodology uses media training and production as a means of building life skills among youth. Through radio, opportunities for youth dialogue, participation, leadership, and active citizenship is created. By providing youth with the tools and skills to produce radio, young people are mobilised to engage in productive dialogue about the issues they face, and work together to improve their lives and communities. The programme has been designed to be low-cost and community-driven, adapting to the needs and constraints of targeted youth. All projects follow a cycle of development to encourage sustainability and local ownership.
The young reporters exhibit increased confidence, communication skills, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. They take on important leadership roles in their communities, serving as peer educators of the airwaves.
A team of content specialists create monthly production materials that allow youth to create a wide range of broadcasts around the issues relevant to them. Weekly consultations are held with all project site stakeholders, including youth reporters, mentors, and radio station management. A solid mechanism of regionally based support and training has been created to enable the projects to perform at optimal levels, and for youth to produce well informed shows that can have a considerable impact on their target communities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Children's Radio Foundation is led by a close knit group of individuals representing diverse backgrounds and identities, from across South Africa and the world. Our educational backgrounds and work experience span the fields of development, finance, public policy, communications, media, the social sciences, etc. We bring our different perspectives and abilities to our work to accomplish our mission. And we are empowered by local non-profit and radio station partners across the sites where we work, which help us to carry out our mission on the ground.
Speaking in local languages and in a youth-friendly style, our youth reporters interview community members, host debates, and bring out local perspectives in their weekly youth-targeted programs. Their broadcasts and outreach activities utilize peer-to-peer communication strategies, integration with social media, and long-term issue driven campaigns to amplify youth voices and concerns, share vital information, and improve youth livelihoods on the local level. In rural and urban communities across Africa, radio is a powerful communication medium and information sharing tool.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
With 72 projects across six countries in Africa, the Children’s Radio Foundation (CRF) uses radio to create opportunities for information sharing, dialogue, leadership, advocacy and community building among youth. CRF partners with radio stations and community-based organizations, training youth to create well-informed interactive radio programs that are broadcast live on local stations. Our reporters take on critical issues that affect youth in their community, including access to health services, climate change and the environment, education, gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS, and human rights.
Over the past five years, CRF has trained over 2,000 youth radio reporters (ages 13-25) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ivory Coast, Liberia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, and reaches an estimated 15 million listeners. In addition to building the capacity of radio station partners to support and sustain youth radio projects, CRF has developed an expansive strategy for using youth produced radio to share key messages that raise awareness around social issues, advocate for policy change, and create pathways of opportunity and access for youth.
In the future, we aim to continue and expand the reach of our youth radio programs. In addition, we are launching a podcast company to bring African youth stories to global audiences, creating new programs to assist our youth reporters in continuing their education or pursuing careers in media and journalism, and designing open source toolkits and policies to share our best practices with other organisations,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Childrens Radio Foundation
Board of directorsas of 01/09/2020
Ms Linda Barnett
No Affiliation
Term: 2015 -
Linda Barnett
Children's Radio Foundation
Elizabeth Sachs
Emerita Chair
Charlotte Bannister-Parker
Children's Radio Foundation
Edmund J. Burns
Burns, Kennedy , Schilling and O'Shea
Gina Christensen Florescu
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Suzanne Karotkin
SK Gifts
Peter Mason
United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Kholofelo Molewa
Calderon Principal Investments
Edward Mortimer
Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice
Bill Siemering
The Wyncote Foundation
Dana DiPrima
Farmgirl Productions
Eileen Kamerick
Nick Bowers
Adé Adegun
Pamela Michaelcheck
Board member, Emerita
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No