Vesta Radio programmes which support citizen action at the local level
As part of the component "The media and communication," specifically the initiative "Local is primary" of the OSCE Mission in B&H, Vesta Radio will produce four radio programmes which will be based on real-life examples of ordinary people. The programmes will give a short description of the problem, then focus on the citizens' achievements and the benefits citizens gain from taking action in their communities, in cooperation with other communities or municipalities.
Through the medium of Vesta Radio, Association Vesta has for the last eight years actively promoted citizen-initiated activities in the area of northeastern B&H.
The topics of the radio programmes that will be broadcast on Vesta Radio:
• Information for health - the citizens of Tuzla, as well as some other towns in B&H, launched an important campaign on June 5th 2009 for receiving timely information on the state of the environment in their places of residence. Among other request, they will demand that the municipality appoint contact persons who will be available to the citizens and who will be able to provide timely information on air quality, findings of the inspection, illegal waste dumps, etc. It will be interesting to observe and cover through the media the way these citizens will secure the fulfillment of their requests, and also to what extent they will secure it.
• Let's eliminate bullying among children - This programme observes the improvement of the curriculum for the purpose of reducing bullying among children in primary schools of the Tuzla Canton on the initiative of citizens and non-governmental organizations. The process started in 2007, resulting in the Programme of measures for the prevention of bullying among primary-school children, which was supported by the competent Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Sports of the Tuzla Canton. Vesta Radio will give strong media support for the initiators and ensure civil dialogue with the decision-makers.
• Water for all - This programme will illustrate one of the numerous examples of partnership action between citizens and the administration of the Tuzla Municipality. Applying the principle "1 KM for 1KM," the citizens and entrepreneurs in the Solina local community invest their own funds for the co-financing of the reconstruction of the water supply network in the Solina local community, while the Tuzla Municipality provides the remainder of the necessary funds. In this way, the citizens have the opportunity to propose their own priorities for capital investments and create an environment they would like to live in.
• Let's develop the Municipality together - This programme will promote a participatory approach to the strategic development planning of the Tuzla Municipality. Citizens in all local municipalities have had the opportunity this year to actively contribute to the Tuzla Municipality Regional Plan, and strong interest is evident for all debates. In addition to promoting the approach, this programme will observe how many of the citizen suggestions in all local communities were taken into account by the Municipal service for regional planning.
All programmes will be delivered to the Office of the OSCE in B&H, and will be broadcast on air of Vesta Radio in October 2009.
