This initiative draws on interpersonal communication to build the capacity of local reporters to cover stories - often in parts of the province where international journalists are not welcome. Trainees participate in an intensive workshop covering recording, script writing, and editing. (IWPR trainers are selected with local cultural attitudes in mind, and IWPR training materials are all tailored to meet the specific needs in each national or regional media space.) They then produce radio features on stories focusing on issues such as the plight of refugee families, helicopter noise pollution, the Taleban's collaboration with polio vaccine efforts, and Helmand's "first independent journalists' association".

To foster access to this information beyond a local audience, IWPR is offering the programmes on the Helmand Voices website. Visitors to this site may listen to the audio files or subscribe to the podcast in Pashto; they may also read Pashto and English transpripts. These programmes may be broadcast by radio stations and other electronic media free of charge.

Media Development.

According to IWPR, illiteracy rates top 70% in this province, so radio is by far the most important medium for broadcasting information and bridging the gap between the government and the governed.