Operation Enduring Freedom

Shindand Air Base, Afghanistan –Members of the Afghan National Police load their vehicle to help Radio Azadi, a very population radio station in Afghanistan, distribute radios to the local population, so they can hear the news and be connected to the rest of the world. Much of Afghanistan is illiterate and radio is one of the main ways the Afghans can learn and see outside of their villages. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jared E. Walker/ RELEASED).

Operation Enduring Freedom

Radio Azadi and Afghan Air Force begin distribution of 20,000 radios for local Afghans

Published Oct. 8, 2010
By MC3 Jared Walker
438th AEW PAO

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Over 11 million Afghans over the age of 16 cannot read or write. So radio has become one of the major source of news, because few Afghans having access to newspapers, magazines or internet.

With the help of Radio Azadi, a program started eight years ago by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to help build a peaceful and democratic Afghanistan, programs regarding youth issues, woman rights and democracy are getting out the local populations. Radio Azadi has become one of the most popular sources of news in the country.

Around the time of the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections, Radio Azadi began to distribute 20,000 solar powered, hand-cranked radios throughout Afghanistan. The distribution of the radios to Kandahar, Her'at and Mazar-e-Sharif were completed by the Afghan Air Force in their newest fixed wing aircraft, the C-27 Spartan. Members of the Afghan Air Force and NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan will move those radios to forward operating bases via Mi-17 transport helicopters for distribution to remote villages by Radio Azadi.

Radio Adazi is located in Kabul, Afghanistan and provides broadcasts 12 hours a day in both Pashtun and Dari with distribution being on FM, AM and the internet. More than 7.9 million Afghans listen to Radio Azadi weekly.

The purpose of the radio distribution is to help the Afghan population, especially in rural and isolated villages, become more informed. Another objective is to show Afghan citizens that the Afghan authorities and the international community care about their welfare.

Matthew Warshaw, the Managing Director of the Afghan Center for Socio-Economic Opinion Research, stated that next to friends and family, radio is the most important source of information for a majority of Afghans and that with 80 percent of the population living in rural areas, radio is their connection to the world.