Children in The Gambia on December 9th, 2007 took over the airwaves of The Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) and the Brikama Community Radio to celebrate the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB). It’s an annual event launched by UNICEF in 1991 to promote children as a theme and active participants in broadcasting.

Each December on the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting, youths worldwide from the UNICEF family of broadcasters write, report, produce and present programs that allow them to express their thoughts on the issues that affect their lives. This year’s theme being “the World We Want”,  children were encouraged to voice their thoughts and concerns on making the world fit for children.

The UNICEF Country representative in The Gambia said: “It was a great pleasure to be interviewed by the young journalists and broadcasters.

In fact, I have noticed that each year, children of The Gambia become more inspiring in their presentations. UNICEF commends GRTS for creating an enabling environment that allows children to actively participate and express themselves. We hope their dedication to children’s programming carries on beyond ICDB, so that children throughout the country benefit year round”.

By winning the West and Central Africa Regional Prize, for the ICDB 2007: “Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS”, GRTS became a nominee for the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) Award. The Award is co-presented yearly by UNICEF and The International Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences, during the Academy’s International Emmy (R) Awards Gala in New York.

Fatou Sanneh Ceesay and Lang Dibba are the Principal Producers, Children’s Television at GRTS. Last month in New York, Mr Dibba joined six other regional winners from Bangladesh, Brazil, Germany, Kenya, Syria and Thailand, all recipients of the best work produced for the 2006 ICDB. The international award went to Thailand and The Gambia won the West and Central African Regional Award, which was received by Mr Dibba during a special ceremony held at UNICEF Headquarters in New York City.

“It was The Gambia’s second consecutive victory for the region in the past two years. Children are very talented and intelligent and there is nothing more important than providing the future generations with a conducive environment to grow to their full potential and raise their country to the ranks of leading countries in the African continent and the world”, Madame Min - Whee Chang, UNICEF Country Representative in The Gambia explained.

Citing the performance of the Gambian children in this year’s ICDB activities as well as the victory in the 2007 Regional Award, Ms Chang said “it’s the world’s most reputable academy’s recognition of the  Gambian children’s good quality of broadcasting, which  is a tremendous achievement”.