Children’s Radio Foundation (CRF)

Children’s Radio Foundation (CRF) is a partnership-based organization that sees as a core part of its mandate to provide support, capacity building, project management systems, and clear pathways for CBOs, community radio stations included, to increase their impact on youth populations. All partner CBOs are provided with access to these support systems, and ongoing opportunities for organizational advancement. CRF was founded in 2006 and since its inception it has created a network of more than 1700 trained youth radio reporters across six countries in Africa, who broadcast on local and national radio stations and via social media.

What we do?

• IDENTIFY a local site, radio station and community organisation partners and assess their needs and strengths.
• TRAIN community members to work as mentors, and with their help, train youth to produce and broadcast their own radio shows.
• CREATE youth-produced radio shows that address important issues in the community, and stimulate dialogue amongst youth.
• SUPPORT projects with resources, production tips, monitoring and evaluation tools, and monthly newsletters.
• CONNECT youth through an online sharing platform so they can exchange content, interact and learn from each other.

In June 2017, CRF launched a project titled ‘’Promoting youth civic engagement and advocacy to build safer communities through youth-led radio initiatives at community radio stations across South Africa’’ (Building safer communities through youth-led radio initiatives in South Africa). The CRF runs this project in partnership with Gun Free South Africa and local radio stations. The overall objective of the project is to increase awareness and knowledge levels among young people around issues of violence (with a particular focus on gun violence) and crime within 18 individual communities across all nine provinces in South Africa. It also serves to provide platforms for youth to serve as leaders, advocates, and peer educators to reduce and prevent violence and crime and help contribute to safety within their communities. In partnership with Gun Free South Africa, youth and community stories will be used for parliamentary submissions to influence gun control laws coming under review.