Coinciding with the celebration of International Women’s Day, KASMO(FM) 89.1, Somalia’s first independent community radio station, will officially debut in Mogadishu on March 8.
Deko Osman, the executive director of the NGO Women for Relief and Development Actions, was the first Somali woman to have her voice broadcast over the air on the station, which went on the air Jan. 1. WARDA manages and runs the station in order to promote women’s rights in the African nation.
UNESCO’s International Program for the Development of Communication supports KASMO and the establishment of other community radio stations to promote “free, independent and pluralistic media,” according to the organization’s website.