By Tafadzwa Chigandiwa
Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS) has hailed all its community radio initiatives for playing a crucial role in transmitting and informing the marginalised communities in and around Zimbabwe during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Speaking during an interview with Bustop Tv, ZACRAS spokesperson, Vivian Marara said community radio intiatives under their organisation have contributed in educating communities about Covid-19.
“Community radio initiatives under ZACRAS have been promoting access to information on Covid 19 in marginalised and underrepresented communities in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Marara added that through the aid from the European Union (EU) and UNESCO, ZACRAS has managed to expand into the region.
She also mentioned that this support have helped them in promoting and sharing Covid-19 information with other community radios, particularly from the East and Southern Africa, thereby enforcing regional collaborations too.
“Through support from UNESCO and EU,ZACRAS has also gone regional through strengthening regional collaborations and promoting information sharing between East and Southern Africa based community radios as they are reporting on Covid 19.”
In addition, she revealed that they are working on capacity building interventions to focus on security and safety both online and offline and to promote the use of digital platforms to create content.
“Furthermore, we are implementing capacity building interventions focusing on online and offline safety and security and use of digital platforms for creative content creation.”
In spite of all the activities they have carried out ZACRAS is facing network challenges and that has become their biggest obstacle.
