How One Radio Show Changed the Conversation on Migration in The Gambia

“From an early age, the radio helped me feel connected to my community – the people, the food, the music, traditions and even religion,” Bintu Coker shares. In the early mornings, as the first roosters announced the morning and waves rolled in from the nearby Senegambia beach, the familiar jingle of her favourite show, Kinkiliba on Paradise FM 105.7, would drift through the house, marking the start of her day. 

Bintu was born a little over six months before the 22 July 1994 military takeover, a period that stifled press freedom and placed radio stations under tight control for the next 22 years in The Gambia. After several years, she learned about the regime’s clampdown on independent radio stations that had given space to public debate, but this did not fade her passion for radio and its vital contribution to shaping positive behaviours within communities.

“I understood early on that radio gives people a voice and can be a powerful tool for change, especially in The Gambia at that time,” she explains. “When some stations were shut down in the 2000s simply for giving people a platform, it only made me admire journalists more. It made me want to do that work myself.”

For over a decade, Bintu listened to radio as she commuted to school, and every show presented a new ‎opportunity to learn and get inspired. “For me, radio means more than a tool for entertainment. It’s a ‎medium for education, critical thinking and building relationships,” she shares. 

In 2017, as fate had it, Bintu enrolled at the School of Journalism and Digital Media at the University of The Gambia to pursue a bachelor’s degree in journalism. It marked a turning point in her academic journey and set the direction for her future career. “Two years into ‎my studies, I started working for QRadio, one of the commercial radio stations in the Greater Banjul ‎Area,” she says.

With a population of over 2 million, migration plays a significant role in Gambian society. Since establishing its presence in 2001 and becoming a country office in July 2017, IOM The Gambia has expanded its work across the country. At the same time, growing public debate and increased attention from the Government and development partners created space for more open, informed conversations about migration and the choices people face.

In November 2019, IOM launched a weekly programme, The Migration Hour, on QRadio to open up honest conversations about migration. The show explored safe migration pathways, the risks of irregular journeys, opportunities at home, migration health, and how mobility can contribute to development when it is well managed.

As a young student-journalist at QRadio, Bintu had the opportunity to host the show. ‎‎“Migration was becoming a hot topic in the country at the time, so it was an honour to be designated ‎as the host.”

The experience marked a turning point. What had started as curiosity began to feel like responsibility. Through the programme, she spoke directly with experts and returnees, listened to personal stories, and saw how easily misinformation could spread within communities. “Hosting the show strengthened my skills as a broadcaster,” she says. “But more than that, it deepened my understanding of migration and made me care about the issues in a very real way.”

In The Gambia, radio remains one of the most powerful tools for community engagement. It reaches ‎remote villages without internet, households without television, and individuals with low literacy. For ‎Bintu, this accessibility is exactly why radio still matters. ‎

‎“Radio can really help close the information gap,” she explains. “In places where internet access is limited or literacy is a challenge, it gives people information they can understand and trust. It’s affordable, it’s immediate, and when programmes are in our local languages, people feel connected to it.”

Between September 2020 and January 2021, Bintu’s path shifted in a way she had not quite expected, though she remained in communications. “I first joined IOM in The Gambia as an intern,” she says. “A few months later, I found myself working as a staff member for the same organization whose radio programme I had once hosted.” She smiles at the thought, still visibly proud of how far she had come.

As host of The Migration Hour, Bintu remembers one call that stayed with her. A young woman phoned into the programme and explained that an agent was arranging her travel abroad. But after listening to a survivor of trafficking share her experience on air, she began to recognize the same warning signs in her own situation. “After that, she decided not to go. That episode may have saved her life,” she says.

For the next two years, Bintu worked alongside more than 50 returnee volunteers as a Project Assistant under the Migrants as Messengers project, a peer-to-peer initiative that helps young people in West Africa make informed decisions about migration. Drawing on her background in radio and communications, she supported the volunteers in sharing their own experiences and reaching others with clear, practical information about safe migration through community outreach and radio.

Beyond migration, Bintu sees radio as something that helps people live together more peacefully. When different voices are heard – across ethnic, cultural, gender and generational lines – people begin to understand each other better. “Radio creates space for dialogue,” she says. “When people hear perspectives that are different from their own, it helps break down stereotypes and brings communities closer.”

On this World Radio Day, Bintu says radio remains as relevant as ever in The Gambia, especially as the country navigates complex migration realities and social change. “Listen, share and act,” she urges. “Use radio to stay informed, make safe choices and look out for one another. Every voice matter and we all have a role in building a safer and more peaceful Gambia.”