Community radio stations continue to play their part not only in the dissemination of important information but equally in their efforts to develop their communities.

The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (nbc) has the highest audience in the ||Kharas Region, with Kaisames FM and Hartklop FM the most listened radio stations in the region.

 ||Kharas FM is the only community radio station in the region that broadcasts to the three main towns in the region.

The station is mostly run by volunteers who broadcast eight hours a day.

And according to station manager Monalizile Basson, despite its significance, the radio station remains underfunded.

"There is no fund allocated to community radio stations to uphold them and keep them running because community radio stations, as much as they are community and run by boards, are very expensive to run, starting with volunteers to upkeep the daily run and the internet, the rent for the electricity, which is very expensive, and then community radio stations have to run through advertisements."

Through community radio stations, residents are provided with a platform to participate and share information relating to their immediate surroundings and circumstances.

"The theme for this year, Radio and Peace, could not be more fitting because we are faced with so many issues in our society and in our lives, both nationally and internationally. We are still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19, and a lot of people are dealing with depression, anxiety, mental health illnesses, and so forth, and radio as a medium has been able to foster real-time conversations on air about all these issues that we are dealing with," said Belinda Appolus, a radio personality at ||Kharas FM.

"There are people that stay in remote areas such as villages, and they don't really have access to other social media platforms, but I believe that they do have access to radio, whereby they can still get all the important information from radio," added Shane Swartbooi, a presenter at ||Kharas FM.