Although an agreement was signed permitting UNMIS to operate a radio, the Khartoum government has continually resisted the mission's efforts to access the country's airwaves.

"The government has been reluctant to allow the UN to broadcast in Khartoum, saying we only have a mandate for the South," said Leon Willems, chief of UN Radio. "Even though the Status of Forces Agreement clearly states that the UN can install and operate radio stations."

According to Mr. Willems, radio is sorely needed in fulfilling the UN's mandate to educate Sudanese people about the country's peace agreement. Some 85% of people in areas of Southern Sudan and over half the country's entire population are illiterate.

UNMIS began talks with the Government of Sudan (GoS) about the radio in October, 2004, but waited until January of this year to receive a radio frequency for operations in Khartoum and Juba (Southern Sudan). Despite repeated requests, however, the GoS Ministry of Information has yet to authorize UNMIS to broadcast from Khartoum.

In February of this year, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) invited UNMIS to begin broadcasting in the South, granting it land and access to facilities. But the Khartoum authorities continued to resist, claiming the GoSS did not control broadcasting in Southern Sudan.

Fortunately for Miraya, the GoSS was equally insistent about its authority over radio licenses, stating that the country's interim constitution gave it concurrent powers to the GoS in the field of broadcasting. The GoSS granted UN Radio FM frequency 101 for its entire territory in May, and "Radio Miraya" was formally launched in Juba on 30 June.

UN Radio plans to expand its transmission to all of Southern Sudan by the end of 2006, Mr. Willems said. "The idea is to eventually cover Sudan with FM relay stations in population centres, with production houses in Khartoum, Juba and Darfur, once the UN has a mandate there."

He admits that broadcasting in Southern Sudan is far from easy. Miraya must build transmission towers all over the South and use generators for power, since cities have inadequate supplies. In Juba, the mission has decided to bypass local electricity until it reaches higher levels, rather than overwhelm the already weak system.