What we do
PACT Radio is an independent, radio production, broadcasting and training company, with more than 150 staff members on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border, working toward the resolution of conflict in the region.
PACT Radio’s approach is to train young, local journalists, both male and female, to report on the problems faced by people in the cross-border regions. PACT does not provide a forum for politicians or militants, instead it focuses on ordinary people, giving them an opportunity to talk and be heard.
PACT Radio’s headquarters is in Peshawar, with zonal offices in Swat, Quetta, Dera Ismail Khan, Khost, Kandahar and Jalalabad.
PACT Radio currently operates media training centres in three madrassas in Peshawar and Swat, and holds regular training courses in the cross-border region. PACT radio plans to open two maddrassa media training centres for each zonal office.
PACT Radio has reporters throughout the cross-border regions, from Chitral and Badakhshan in the north, to Helmand and Balochistan in the south, and in all seven of the tribal agencies.
PACT Radio’s reporters contribute to three programmes: PACT radio’s flagship “Da Pulay Poray” (Across the Borderline) programme, which deals with topical, social and cultural issues in the border regions, “Din-o-Dunya” (Religion and the World), a programme which looks objectively at the practice of Islam in today’s world and “Qavi Mumin” (Healthy Believer), which addresses health issues.
These programmes are syndicated to local radio stations in the cross-border regions. They provide a unique forum for ordinary people to examine their problems – particularly conflict related – and suggest solutions.
PACT Radio differs from most media organisations in that its journalism is oriented toward solving problems, not just highlighting them. The problems on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border are inter-related. It is PACT Radio’s belief that, ultimately, it is the people of the cross-border regions who must solve them.