For the 14,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living at Tong Ping Protection of Civilians (POC) site in Juba, news and life-saving information circulates not by television or internet, but by boda boda. Broadcast from speakers attached to the backs of motorcycles, Boda Boda Talk Talk responds to IDP needs and addresses challenges in Tong Ping in an innovative, culturally-relevant manner. The Internews program delivers vital information on food, medical assistance, services for women, education opportunities, and family reunification. The program also provides a platform for people to share their views to camp management and incorporates drama pieces into its broadcasts.
The motorbike news service was a creative solution, recognizing that informing people living in displacement camps about basic needs such as survival, security, relocation, reintegration, and reconciliation is "not only a humanitarian imperative, but a fundamental right," according to the UNHCR's Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
For the majority of South Sudanese, print media is inaccessible as distribution is confined to the national capital and literacy rates are low. According to Internews, this reality makes radio "the most important and widely accessed source of information in South Sudan." A national media survey reported that 71% of individuals identified radio as their most important news source.
When violent conflict erupted in December 2013, people fled by the thousands onto U.N. bases throughout South Sudan. In the Tong Ping site, a new community, almost entirely of Nuer ethnicity, emerged. The dire humanitarian circumstances made it immediately clear that lack of suitable networks to disseminate life-saving information was impeding aid delivery, contributing to poor health and sanitation habits, and leading to growing tensions within the base. Agencies needed to share information critical to this new ...
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