From war zones to outer space, radio remains essential

Every 13 February marks World Radio Day, a celebration timed to the moment UN Radio first crackled to life 80 ago.

UN News teams have gathered stories from every corner of the world that reveal a simple truth: in places fractured by conflict, disasters or deep digital divides, radio remains a steady, reliable pulse – carrying information, reassurance and connection where other signals cannot reach.

From UN Radio to UN News

This enduring role is deeply woven into the history of the United Nations itself. Eighty years ago, as the world emerged from the devastation of the Second World War, UN Radio began broadcasting from modest studios at UN Headquarters in New York, reaching audiences with news bulletins and feature programmes in five languages, often transmitting entire Security Council proceedings.

L to R: UN Radio staff José Quijano-Santos, Luis Marron, Hernando Solano, Jorge A. Carvallo, Luis Carlos Sanchez, Osvaldo Lopez Noguerol, Beatrix Alcapra Cuellar and Guillermo Caram, record a special broadcast for Latin American radio networks.

Over the decades, iconic voices such as Edward R. Murrow, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn and Frank Sinatra helped narrate global stories, while listeners heard historic speeches from leaders including John F. Kennedy, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II.

That legacy evolved into what is now UN News, a multimedia platform publishing in 10 languages and connecting with audiences in more than 170 countries. It brings breaking news, interviews, live coverage and richer storytelling on the world’s most urgent challenges – and the efforts under way to solve them.

For all the transformations brought by new technology, one guiding principle endures: providing dependable information to the people who need it most, through audio formats that bridge both heritage and innovation.

Rebuilding radio broadcasting in Gaza

Nowhere is this mission more urgent than in conflict zones. In Gaza, before October 7, 2023, a total of 23 local radio stations operated across the territory. Following the war triggered by Hamas attacks on Israel, every station was destroyed.

Yet Rami Al‑Sharafi, director of Zaman FM, is working to piece broadcasting back together – a fragile but determined effort in the midst of profound damage.

Journalist Rami Al-Sharfi, is the director of radio at Gaza’s ZMN 90.60 FM radio station.

When UN News Arabic visited the station, he put it plainly: “Zaman FM has resumed broadcasting, and we are currently the only radio station transmitting FM frequencies from inside the Gaza Strip after this massive destruction.”

The need for reliable broadcasting is profound, particularly as Gaza faces the spread of diseases, the collapse of educational structures, and disrupted public services.

A crucial tool for peacekeeping

Across other conflict zones, radio serves as a steadying presence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Radio Okapi, has become a trusted voice since its creation in 2002 as part of the UN peacekeeping mission there, known as MONUSCO.

Broadcasting in French and four national languages, the station offers reliable information in regions of the country affected by violence and displacement, according to testimonies gathered by UN News French.

In Bukavu, deep in the country’s restive eastern region, one listener described how Radio Okapi “plays a key role in promoting peace by broadcasting information that is reliable and impartial,” noting that “when people want to be sure that information is true, they often turn to Radio Okapi.”

Radio Okapi and Radio nationale congolaise have made a commitment to broadcast didactic sequences on the main subjects of the primary and secondary cycle in the DRC during the Covid-19 pandemic

For many communities, the station is also a vital channel for civic participation and accountability. “It ensures that victims of war can express their suffering so that it can reach the authorities,” said another Bukavu resident.

The station’s influence extends beyond information, actively countering hate speech and strengthening social cohesion. In Lubumbashi, a listener credited Radio Okapi with helping “stop or reduce messages inciting hatred,” while praising programmes like Inter-Congolese Dialogue, which he said, “allow national cohesion to produce outcomes of peace.”

Lifesaving information in conflict zones

For refugees such as Bahati Yohane, now living in Kyangwali Refugee camp in Uganda, Okapi became a literal lifeline during escalating violence in DRC. In an interview to UN News Kiswahili, he said: “To be honest, if there had been no radio to tell us anything about security, we would not be alive in this world today”.

In the Central African Republic, radio continues to bridge isolation in remote and insecure areas. The UN Mission, MINUSCA, supports both its own station, Guira FM, and local broadcasters to strengthen access to trusted information.

Radio GUIRA-FM – 4 years anniversary

Through recent campaigns that put more than 500 radios into local hands, communities have not only improved the flow of reliable information but also curbed the kinds of rumors that can disrupt travel, trade and relations between neighbours.

These efforts revive a tradition that began decades ago, when UN News Kiswahili partnered with Radio Tanzania – now the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation – to air the weekly programme Mwangaza wa Umoja wa Mataifa from the 1970s through the 1990s.Former programme controller Edda Sanga remembers that “the program helped build hope and aspirations for many people,” offering stories of progress and practical solutions.

It became, she said, a programme “eagerly awaited” by listeners looking for reliable updates on peace, human rights, environmental issues and conflicts unfolding in neighbouring countries.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, is also a key partner for radio stations across fragile environments, helping them remain operational during crises and continue delivering life‑saving information. In Afghanistan, the agency backs 10 stations that broadcast guidance on basic services, reaching as many as 20 million listeners, about 40 per cent of whom are women and girls.

Radio amateurs as national heroes

Outside conflict areas, radio’s quiet strength becomes even clearer during climate‑driven emergencies. As storms or floods knock out phone lines and internet connections, radio signals frequently remain the last dependable link to the outside world.

Eloísa Farrera/CINU México

Jesús Miguel Sarmiento, with the call sign XE1EW as a radio operator, presides over the Mexican Federation of Radio Experimenters

In Mexico, amateur radio operators were recognized as national heroes following the 1985 earthquake, when traditional communication systems failed entirely.

Today, the Mexican Federation of Radio Amateurs coordinates the National Emergency Network, due to its ability of transmitting vital information during hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.

During Hurricane Otis in 2023, operators quickly improvised communication systems under extreme conditions. As Federation President Jesús Miguel Sarmiento Montesinos told UN News Spanish, “They turned copper wires into antennas, used their equipment and batteries, and immediately began transmitting, reporting on the situation in the affected areas, the extent of the flooding, and whether the areas were accessible or inaccessible”.

An inclusive platform

Radio also serves as a powerful force for accessibility and inclusion. In India, Radio Udaan was launched in 2014 as the country’s first online station operated entirely by visually impaired presenters and staff. Today, it reaches 125,000 listeners across 120 countries, addressing disability rights, education, technology and social inclusion, and challenging stereotypes through fashion shows, singing competitions, matchmaking, talent hunts and other community‑driven programmes.

UN News Hindi spoke with Founder Danish Mahajan, who explained that his lived experience as a visually impaired person helps shape programming tailored to audience needs.

An Online Radio Station Giving Voice to India’s Visually Impaired.

He highlighted the importance of UN News content, noting, “Whenever there is a programme, discussion, or special UN commemoration related to disability, the themes, dialogues, and inspirational talks produced by the United Nations greatly benefit the community”.

Mr. Mahajan also sees new opportunities through artificial intelligence, AI, describing it as a “game-changing technology” capable of expanding accessibility through tools such as smart glasses that help visually impaired individuals make sense of their surroundings.

Empathy that algorithms can’t replicate

Artificial intelligence is transforming the global audio landscape. In China, these shifts are unfolding at remarkable speed, with the podcast audience already exceeding 150 million and expected to grow further.

UN News Chinese heard from Professor Sun Shaojing of Fudan University that audio content is becoming deeply woven into daily life – from electric vehicles navigating crowded cities to smart devices accompanying moments of solitude.

The UN Global Digital Compact aims to bring together governments and industry to ensure that technology, like AI, works for all humanity.

He notes that AI‑generated news presenters and synthetic voices are becoming increasingly common, offering accuracy, efficiency and multilingual reach on a scale once unimaginable. Yet within this technological precision, Professor Sun identifies a paradox: the very imperfections of human speech – the pauses, hesitations and emotional textures – are what give voice its soul.

“When reporting on disaster scenes, affected individuals, their suffering, and their needs, AI would lose many of the emotional and empathetic dimensions that require human compassion and connection. It would not achieve the same depth of emotional impact or resonance”, he said.

Demand increases for radio communications in outer space

Even beyond Earth, radio continues to underpin communication and discovery. From the moment the first satellite broke through the atmosphere in 1957, radio waves have carried the quiet work of exploration, becoming the unseen bridge behind space communications, Earth monitoring and navigation.

As space exploration accelerates, these frequencies are becoming even more critical. Alexandre Vallet, Chief of Space Services at the International Telecommunication Union, ITU, told UN News Portuguese that satellites equipped with highly sensitive sensors rely on ITU’s protected spectrum bands to accurately track the accelerating impacts of climate change.

A satellite, as seen from space, tracks over South America.

He explained that expanding lunar plans by major space powers – including proposals from the United States and China to build permanent bases – are likely to drive a steep increase in radio‑communication needs. That surge, he warned, could threaten the Moon’s Shielded Zone, protected under a 1970s ITU treaty to preserve the lunar silence essential for studying the universe’s earliest moments.

“For the next conference on the radio regulations, at the end of 2027, we will discuss establishing for the first time a regulatory framework for radio spectrum management on the moon. So, this will include finding a good balance between the need for communication links and also the need to protect the spectrum for scientific purposes,” he said.

Looking ahead, the rapid transformation of the space economy will only deepen humanity’s reliance on radio spectrum. Mr. Vallet added that emerging industries such as space tourism, orbital manufacturing, space mining, and even data centers beyond Earth will depend on reliable radio-based communication channels.

A signal that endures

Across conflict zones, disaster response, accessibility efforts, digital innovation and even the far reaches of space, radio continues to demonstrate its quiet but remarkable strength.

Amid a world overwhelmed by images and accelerating technology, these invisible waves endure as a reminder that the simplest forms of communication often hold the greatest power to inform, protect and unite.