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| VOA Deewa staff at their 10th anniversary celebration |
VOA Deewa (Light) began broadcasting in Pashto on August 25, 2006,
with only five minutes of radio daily. Today, the service produces nine hours of
radio broadcasts per day, three of which are radio on TV, including a popular
call-in show for women, Adorable Woman, that has "given a voice to half
the population of the region," according to VOA Deewa Service Chief Nafees
Takar.
VOA Director Amanda Bennett commended the service as a vital communications
link with the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan Provinces in support
of freedom and democracy during the rise of the Taliban, and through the
challenges this volatile region faces today. "This is a small but mighty
service. This speaks to its creativity and bravery, and especially its work that
brings women out of the shadows," said Bennett.
"They are serving one of the most difficult areas and most complicated
areas of the world, where violence and extremism are a daily occurrence," said
VOA South and Central Asia Division Director Akbar Ayazi.
VOA Deewa radio and television provide news and information to
a potential audience of more than 50 million Pashtuns. The region lacks local
independent sources of information on regional, international and U.S. news.
With a military narrative, jihadi agenda and extremist groups dominating the
region's state and private media market, VOA Deewa is a respected source of
objective and accurate news and information via digital platforms,
direct-to-home satellite, radio and the Internet.