Mbandaka, 21 February 2012 – Radio Okapi, the radio of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), held in Mbandaka from 15 to 20 February, a refresher training workshop for community radio journalists of Equateur province. The NGO Fondation Hirondelle, Radio Okapi's technical partner, helped to set up the training program.

For nearly a week, trainers focused on radio news writing and reporting techniques. The training program concluded with a presentation by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) on the electoral process, in particular on the evaluation of the 28 November 2011 presidential and legislative elections, as well as the stages ahead.

Fifteen journalists from six community radios of the province and from the Mbandaka branch of Radio Okapi took part in the workshop, which provided both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. These six community radios will now be part of Radio Okapi's network, and contribute regularly to the different productions of the UN radio.

The workshop participants expressed their satisfaction with the training received, as well as their wish to see this experience repeated in the near future.