VOA Director Danforth W. Austin says, "This program is going on the air at a critical time, as the people of southern Sudan prepare for the January 2011 referendum on whether to remain a part of Sudan, or become an independent nation." Austin says, "In order to make such a monumental decision, people need to hear from all sides. VOA will continue its tradition of providing balanced, comprehensive and independent reporting on this and other issues that are important to Sudanese, at home and in the diaspora."
<!-- IMAGE -->The 30-minute English language program airs Monday thru Friday and will be available on shortwave, FM affiliates, and the Internet. It will offer the targeted audience in southern Sudan news of the country, region, and the continent.
Program manager John Ogulnik says Monday's premier show will feature complete coverage of the visit to the United States by Salva Kiir Mayardit, the First Vice President of Sudan and President of the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan.
In addition, VOA has an interview with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on his foundation's efforts in Sudan to eradicate Guinea Worm disease, and the significant progress made so far.
The program is funded by the U.S. State Department's Office of the Special Envoy to Sudan.
Visit the Sudan in Focus website at: www.voanews.com/sudan.
The program, which airs from 1630 to 1700 UTC, can be heard on three Shortwave frequencies: 12015 KHZ (25 meter band), 9675 KHZ (31 meter band), and 13825 KHZ (22 meter band).
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 125 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages and are intended exclusively for audiences outside of the United States.
For more information, call VOA Public Relations at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail askvoa@voanews.com.
