De Volkskrant: ‘Radio Dabanga’s Broadcasts Can Make the Difference Between Life and Death…’

06/08/2025 13:00 

AMSTERDAM

Presenter Ibrahim Jadelkarim in the Radio Dabanga studio in Amsterdam (Photo courtesy Shirin Abedi / De Volkskrant)

The war in Sudan is often referred to as a “forgotten conflict.” A three-page news feature in the respected Amsterdam-based Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant today, highlights how, for millions of Sudanese, Radio Dabanga is “a beacon”, where access to independent news is “a matter of life and death”.

In the feature, journalist Marjolein van de Water, who reports on asylum, migration, and multicultural society, interviews Radio Dabanga Editor in Chief, Kamal Elsadig, as well as other journalists and presenters in the Amsterdam newsroom. The article is illustrated with photographs by Shirin Abedi.

“Radio Dabanga is the only source of independent news for millions of Sudanese. The question is for how long. Funding is drying up, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to connect with people in the hunger- and war-torn country,” the article intro says.

“The war in Sudan is a ‘forgotten conflict,’ with Western media and politicians making relatively little mention of it. This is partly due to the fact that the West has virtually no vested interest in Sudan. It does not supply weapons to warring parties and maintains no close or economic ties with the country,” the article laments.