Radio Literacy and Life Skills for Out-of-School Youth in Somalia

In countries emerging from long-term conflict, attention is frequently tightly focused on reconstructing primary education and on getting school-aged children into school. The needs of young men and women who have missed out on education during the conflict are frequently neglected. This paper identifies a number of the difficulties faced by organizations trying to address these needs, including the problems of working with different political entities and groups involved in the conflict and their differing, often opposing, educational aims. It then looks in detail at one innovative radio-based approach which has been developed for teaching literacy and life skills in Somalia. It reflects on the experiences of those involved in this programme and reports a number of benefits and implications for those considering using radiobased approaches in areas of conflict.