FM100 to air radio drama on MDGs

By ELIZABETH MIAE
THE Population Media Centre-PNG (PMC) has partnered with Kalang Advertising Ltd (KAL)-FM100 for the broadcast of the millennium development goals (MDG) radio drama series for a two-year period commencing next February.
A broadcast agreement contract was signed last Friday between the two parties.
PMC is an implementing agency to the United Nations and is responsible for the production of the MDG radio campaign involving two long running radio drama series.
One drama will be in English and the other will be in Tok Pisin.
Both dramas will be aimed at raising awareness and encouraging citizen participation in the promotion and delivery of the MDGs.
They are written to reflect the realities of life in PNG and will feature character role models that the audience can follow over time and learn from.
The dramas will address issues such as gender equality and women’s empowerment, education, environmental protection and poverty eradication.
“By first engaging audience in riveting, dramatic stories, the programme is able to not only deliver important social and health messages to the public at large, but to motivate them to change their attitudes and behaviours on the issues of common social interest,” PMC director of communications Katie Elmore said.
The project will involve the airing of 208  episodes of 20-minute radio drama segments and other FM100 materials. 
The radio dramas will be aired on FM100’s “Family Show” on Tuesday and Thursdays between 8pm and 10pm where the show will be called the Live, Love, Laugh Family Show.
According to the radio station’s management, the show is a pioneer project targeted for families and is one of the most listened to programmes, according to the statistics.
It said with the inclusion of the radio series drama, which is both entertaining and educational, would take the show to new heights.
The project concept was developed and funded by PMC at a cost of K220,000.
“The 208 episodes of each drama series was written by local scriptwriters who received training from international experts from both Hollywood and the developing world,” she said.
KAL’s business operations manager Bonner Tito said they were grateful that PMC chose PNG as one of its pilot projects  in the Pacific to run the programme, adding that it was important as MDGs should be achieved  by different countries by 2015.