World Radio Day is celebrated February, 13th. In El País' section on global development and human rights, Planeta Futuro, they have published an article written by NCID's Research Assistant David Soler on the study The Reach of Radio: Defection Messaging and Armed Group Behavior, led by NCID Resident Fellows Alex Armand and Joseph Gomes.

In this opinion piece, which can be accessed by clicking here, David tells the story of Sam Ouandja, who escaped from the LRA's hands. Thousands of kids like him are kidnapped by the terrorist group led by Joseph Kony and forced to kill. The investigation analyzes the effect of a radio program named The Voice Project. Sending messages spoken by family members, ex-combatants and local leaders, the program had the objective to convince combatants that they would be well-received in their community back home and that the amnesty law signed by the Government was being upheld. Results show that with one hour of transmission a day, fatalities reduced by 7%.s

The radio campaign also changed the group's strategy, which started doing more sabotages and less killings as they lost combatants. This way, they pretended to proof their power and gain resources to keep on fighting.