On one special Monday in November Radio Ada hosted a celebration of community radio advocacy with longtime Ghana community radio supporters Deutsche Welle Broadcasting Network, those who were able to join the celebration included DW managing director Peter Limbourg, DW managing director for Africa, DW managing director for the academy, Okor high priests, the founders of Radio Ada, representatives from over 10 community radio stations, the Volta Revival Foundation, ye katsemi (brave womens collective) , and the Kewunor Advocates.

The celebration included vibrant cultural drumming and dancing, many moving speeches by radio founders, historians, DW members; and a play put on by Ye Katsemi (the brave womens collective) to demonstrate what is happening at the Songor Lagoon concerning salt winning and Atsiakpo (illegal salt mining).

One member of Radio Ada- often referred to as ‘mommy radio’ because of her part in helping to create a community radio network- spoke about the history of community radio in Ghana, sharing that since 1999 starting with the creation of three radio stations including Radio Ada, 26 community radio stations have been established in Ghana. She said this is a nice achievement, but that they were at all happy with it. She continued, saying, there are over 400 radio station is Ghana, but that when community radio stations apply to get on air, they are often denied, and that is exactly the opposite of what should be happening, because community radio is the only broadcast communication which can truly give a voice to the voiceless- and mostly small rural communities need exactly that in order to engage with their countrymen and government.Additionally, she closed with a call for help ( which was reiterated by multiple speakers) that the Ghana law prohibiting community radio from extending beyond 5 kilometers is unreasonable, and asked that the minister of information consider that communities are connected and almost always larger than 5 kilometers, and if community radio is to provide access to information to the people within and across adjoining communities for the purpose of building solidarity, creating positive change, and promoting an active democracy; the law must be changed to reflect such important aspects of community radio. The theme of the celebration surrounded how community radios have been advocating for human rights in correlation to the environment. Since July many community radio stations engaged in a program to report and share information regarding their communities in English, and DW radio also acted as a receiver for stories.This project crated an effective network of information sharing, with some radio stations contributing more than 100 stories in the short 4 month period. Over 26 radio stations participated in this project and DW network gave out awards to the most successful participants, specifying areas of successful advocacy. For example one radio station was able to successful advocate for a community to get proper toilets, because their reporting showed that women were at risk due to public defecation. They worked with the community to create stories and interviews which convinced the government to allow for the construction of public toilets in the community. The celebration ended with hugs, handshakes, and bows, before departing to our various offices to continue the good work. #communityvoices#communityadvocacy#communityinvolvement#deutscheWelleBroadcastingNetwork#DeutscheWelle#communityradio#kewunor#kewunorAdaGhana#hilton300roomhotelAdaGhana#humanrightsadvocacy#hiltonadaturtlebay#AdaturtlebayTrasacco#Adaturtlebay#AdaGhana#Adadevelopment#Adaestuary#AdaEstuary#NGOhumanrights#radioadvocacy#WestAfrica#Africa#AdvocacyinAfrica#communityadvocacyinafric#adaradio#radioada#VoltaRevivalFoundation#voltariverestuary#Songorlagoon#songorada#saltmining#atsiakpo#illegalsaltmining#haphazarddevelopment#Trasaccoestatesdevelopmentcompany#Trasaccoconstruction#Trasaccoadaturtlebay#Trasacco#YeKatsemi#Bravewomenscollective#AdaturtlebayGhana