Researchers from the Navarra Center for International Development (NCID) at the University of Navarra were awarded a grant from the Ramón Areces Foundation to study the extent to which radio is effective in getting armed groups to change their behavior and at reintegrating combatants into society.

For two years, Alex Armand and Joseph Gomes will analyze how to convince someone who has already taken up arms to abandon them. First, they aim to measure the effectiveness of messages that aim to increase desertions and to encourage people to generate income through peaceful activities, as an alternative to income obtained from violent activities. They also seek to measure the impact of these messages on armed groups’ overall strategy.

The scope of the radio: desertion messages and armed groups’ behavior will focus on the insurgency of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an extremist organization operating mainly in northern Uganda and involved in one of the largest armed conflicts in Africa. "Messages of desertion transmitted through radio have been used there since the beginning of the century," Armand and Gomes explain.

The insurgency in Uganda

They point out that FM radio has been used to combat armed groups, such as the LRA, in remote areas because of its ability to cover large areas and its low cost. The researchers will explore the success of programs such as “Going Home,” which was initiated by radio stations in northern Uganda in the early 2000s.

This program includes interviews with combatants who have surrendered, personal messages from families or community members, news about the conflict and logistical information on how to safely surrender. In addition, it aims to disseminate the credibility of the general amnesty law that applies to the LRA in Uganda.

Alex Armand and Joseph Gomes aspire to determine whether desertion messages have contributed to reducing violence and, if so, explore which ones have worked and which have not.

The Navarra Center for International Development is part of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS), the humanities and social sciences research center at the University of Navarra. The NCID seeks to promote viable solutions to situations of extreme poverty in developing countries. Through applied research, it delves into chronic social problems associated with poverty, such as corruption and violence.