Studio Yafa, the multimedia programme created by Fondation Hirondelle for Youth in Burkina Faso, organized a training course for 22 directors of partner radio stations. The training took place in Ouagadougou from 2 to 6 December. This workshop focused on the financial autonomy of radio stations and their security. The trainers were the President of UNALFA (Union Nationale de l'Audiovisuel Libre du Faso) and the Representative of Fondation Hirondelle in Burkina Faso, who supervises Studio Yafa.
The first four days of training allowed the trainer, Charlemagne Abissi, President of UNALFA, to work with participants, heads of local radio stations from various regions of the country, on the tools to be put in place to increase the financial autonomy of these local media. Among the topics covered: the identity of a media and the respect for its editorial line, marketing analysis of the programming grid, community anchoring, the tension between associative and commercial logic, the key elements of setting up a project, the monetization of media, advertising packaging, etc. The directors of Studio Yafa's partner radios received a technical manual produced by Fondation Hirondelle, with numerous management and resource generation tools. The fifth day of the training, led by Denis Vincenti, Representative of Fondation Hirondelle in Burkina Faso, was devoted to basic safety training. In particular, it provided an opportunity to discuss risk analysis and threat mitigation for radios. A module was also devoted to safety in motion, and behaviour during travel. This training was organised as part of the Studio Yafa project, funded by the Swiss and Swedish cooperation agencies.Photo: ©Kalidou Sy / Fondation Hirondelle — A journalist from Studio Yafa in the studio in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.