Swedish delegation visits Jordan Valley Radio station

AMMAN — Swedish Ambassador Helena Gröndahl Rietz and a delegation from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) visited Sawt Al Ghwar, a community-based radio station in the Jordan Valley, last Friday.

The visit, part of an overview of development in the region, was organised by the Amman-based Community Media Network and the National Society for Rehabilitation which is hosting the station, according to a statement sent to The Jordan Times. 

The station, which is broadcast on the Internet (aghwar.fm), is hoping to get an FM licence, the statement said. 

Fathi Hwemel, director of the society, said having a locally owned community radio station was a long-time goal. 

“Our community has yearned to have a media vehicle that can truly reflect the problems and aspirations of the people in the southern Jordan Valley.”

Rietz expressed the importance of diplomats getting out of the capital to see and experience problems facing local communities, according to the statement.

Ahmad Ouni, mayor of Southern Ghor Municipality, noted that this was one of the few times that diplomats have travelled south of the Dead Sea to meet local communities.

Arwa Awni, a volunteer, told the delegates that she joined the project because of her passion to help local communities and to use media to empower people and to get their ideas to decision makers.

An agreement was signed after the visit to support the nascent radio station. Daoud Kuttab, director general of the Community Media Network, signed a memorandum of understanding with Hwemel that will include support in training and exchange of programming, the statement said. 

Sawt Al Ghwar is part of the Sida-funded Aswatona project launched in 2012 by the Community Media Network in seven Arab countries. 

The programme includes support for the establishment of community radio stations, and activities aimed at improving the enabling legislative and administrative environment for community broadcasting in the MENA region.