Freetown — The West Africa Democracy Radio (WADR) started broadcasting Monday 14 November 2005, a statement from the media outfit states.

" The station will broadcast from its studios in Dakar, Senegal, on 17555 KHz on Short Wave to the whole of West Africa and beyond, and on 94.9 FM in Dakar. In the near future, it will broadcast online, and also through local community radio partners in the Mano River Union (MRU) countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

These partners will also generate some of its broadcast content," the statement states.

The release continues that for this phase, which ends on 1 January 2006, WADR will broadcast for two hours in English and French starting at 07:00 GMT and will focus on the Mano River Union countries.

It has already set up offices in Monrovia, Conakry and Freetown. The offices will generate news and other materials that promote dialogue and democracy in the region. WADR will later expand to bring onboard other West African countries including Chad and Cameroon.

The station will air programmes on news and current affairs as well as magazine programmes on good governance, health, agriculture, gender, youth and sports with a view to promoting peace and human security, transparency and accountability in governance, regional economic integration, and social and cultural development amongst the peoples of the region.

A brainchild of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), WADR is conceived to be the hub of a West African network of public, private and community radio stations, creating an avenue for networking between the radio stations and a channel for dialogue among the peoples of the respective countries they serve.