Citizenship · Media
PACT 2 — Active Citizen Participation
From January 2025 to October 2026, Radio Capsa FM produced monthly content on local development and citizen participation in the Gafsa governorate for the media component of the PACT 2 programme. From July 2025, four citizen journalists from the region joined the production: of the 45 pieces in total, 23 are their reports, mostly filmed in localities the media rarely cover, such as Lalla, Métlaoui, Medhilla and Borj El Akarma.
Context
PACT 2 aims to strengthen citizens' participation in defining and implementing local development projects in Tunisia. Within the consortium, Fondation Hirondelle leads the media component and entrusted Radio Capsa FM with covering local life and the programme's projects in the Gafsa governorate. Localities far from the regional capital, such as Lalla, Hmila, Métlaoui, Medhilla, Borj El Akarma and El Graa, get little media attention, even though their residents have concrete demands on water, health, cleanliness and infrastructure. The project set out to open the airwaves to them and build bridges for dialogue between citizens and officials.
Objectives
- 01Produce a monthly piece on citizen participation and local development, approved by the PACT 2 editorial team before broadcast.
- 02Give visibility to the programme's projects and to residents' expectations, and build bridges for dialogue between citizens and officials.
- 03Bring citizen journalists into production, with editorial support.
What we did
- January 2025First contract with Fondation Hirondelle begins; first report on the launch of PACT in Gafsa, with the coordinator and the Lalla and Sahib support teams
- February – March 2025Report, then an "À la Une" programme, on Aïn Sultan in Lalla, a rural area with neglected development potential
- 1 July 2025The "citizen journalists" amendment takes effect: the first three young people from the region start producing
- September 2025Coverage of the PACT-funded renovation of Lalla primary school and the "14 Janvier" school in Borj El Akarma
- December 2025Report on the closure of the illegal dump at Sidi Ahmed Zarroug, the last production under the 2025 contract
- 1 February 2026Second contract begins; "À la Une" programme on progress of the PACT project in Lalla
- April – August 2026A fourth citizen journalist covers solar energy, the environment and the demands of Borj El Akarma and Medhilla
- June 2026Follow-up on the works at the Borj El Akarma public park, a PACT project
- October 2026Final production, on "Pink October" at Gafsa University Hospital; project ends on 31 October
Results
Source: project closing report (the station's quarterly production reports and the citizen journalists' production reports).
What changed
- A regular on-air presence on local development for nearly two years, with 45 pieces in total.
- PACT achievements were followed on the ground: renovation of the Lalla and Borj El Akarma schools, the public park, solar energy in Medhilla.
- The airwaves opened up to marginalised localities and their demands on water, health, cleanliness and infrastructure.
- Women's initiatives (designers, a beekeeper, an urban farmer, artisans) featured prominently in the productions.
- A first group of citizen journalists was trained; one of them kept producing for a full year.
- Ties grew stronger between the station, local support teams, local councils and associations.
