Broadcasts to foster dialogue and understanding among refugees and host communities, Moldova.
Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, UNESCO supported broadcasters in neighbouring countries, such as Teleradio-Moldova (TRM), to launch a series of programmes to aid Ukrainian refugees with support from the Government of Japan. Displaced Ukrainian media professionals were included in the broadcasts to better help refugees navigate their new lives in Moldova. Funded by the Government of Japan as an emergency project under the UN’s Regional Refugee Response Plan for the Ukraine Situation, UNESCO supported TRM to produce and broadcast programmes accessible to the displaced Ukrainians to help them settle and rebuild their lives in Moldova.
Daria Russu, host of TV Moldova 1’s 30-minute Ukrainian-language “Weekly” TV-programme, noted the challenge refugees face in accessing credible news in their mother tongue: “Ukrainian refugees have nowhere to get information about Moldova and they have nowhere to get information about the world in general. That is exactly why this project is needed, so they can get verified, truthful and complete information in their native language.”
Over the course of seven months, TRM broadcasted nearly 100 programmes for tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees in Moldova. These covered a wide range of topics, including health, education, housing and daily life in the host country. More than 200 refugees, national experts and humanitarian actors were interviewed, providing valuable insights and perspectives for the programmes.
A key component of the project was a baseline study on the media habits and information needs of the Ukrainian refugees, commissioned by UNESCO from its long-term partner, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Loreana Sacara, TRM’s Project Coordinator, highlighted that the programmes were designed based on the research’s findings: “The programmes early gathered a wide loyal audience both among the refugees and the local population. They were aired in the Ukrainian language with subtitles or voiceovers in Romanian”.
Center for Intercultural Dialogue 