UN Radios in Peacekeeping Operations: Insights from Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire

In the 1990s, the UN started deploying so-called UN radios in some of its peacekeeping operations. The first of these radio stations – Radio UNTAC in Cambodia – went on air in 1992. Since then, the UN has set up more than a dozen UN radios to support its peacekeeping operations. Yet, there is a lack of contemporary empirical research in this field. Peacekeeping operations often take place in countries with poorly developed and disrupted media landscapes. In this context, UN radios are sometimes the only non-partisan media source available. They provide the local population with reliable information about the peacekeeping operation, the peace process, and other relevant issues. Against this backdrop, it is not surprising that some UN radios became the largest and most popular broadcasters across the country. However, UN radios are not without controversy: What is the exact role of UN radios? What impact do UN radios have on peace and the local media landscape? And what happens to UN radios when a peacekeeping operation ends? To pursue these research questions, I have investigated the UN radios in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire. My empirical research is based on document analysis and key informant interviews with (former) UN staff and local experts in the fields of mass communication and peacebuilding. It draws on a (re-) constructivist approach. The preliminary results reveal that UN radios have significantly contributed to peace and domestic media development in the respective countries. Notwithstanding, UN radios also face certain challenges: While they formally represent a strategic communications tool of the UN, they are often perceived as de facto public broadcasters. However, UN radios are bound to the UN’s peacekeeping mandates and do not act independently. In addition, UN radios bear the risk of "capturing" the local media market and undermining media diversity. Moreover, there is no best practice for UN radios when a peacekeeping operation ends. In the 1990s, UN radios were usually packed up and removed at a peacekeeping operations end, which could leave behind a sudden void in the domestic media landscapes. Therefore, more and more voices called for the continuation of UN radios beyond a peacekeeping operation’s end. As a result, some of the UN radios have been handed over to domestic or regional entities: The UN radio in Sierra Leone, for example, was transferred to the Sierra Leonean Broadcasting Cooperation (SLBC). The handover of UN radios to domestic or regional entities can bring numerous advantages, in particular the continuity of professional and comparatively independent content that can contribute to democratization and sustainable peace. On the other hand, it can involve practical challenges that endanger the quality of the radio stations. These challenges include securing financial sustainability and independence from state influence. In the case of SLBC, for example, independence from state influence was not achieved and the radio station is now regarded a mouthpiece of the Sierra Leonean government.