Photo L-R: (centre) Mohammed Abdulrahim, Abir Sarras, Chaalan Charif, (back) Mahnaz Khudamurad, Karima Idrissi, Nicolien den Boer, Michel Hoebink, Omar Elkeddie, (front) Ibrahim Jadelkarim and Abdel Ragad. Missing from the photograph: Khalida Zaman and Mohammed Amezian.

The main aim of Radio Netherlands Worldwide's Arabic website is to build a bridge between the Arabic-speaking world and the Netherlands/Europe.

In the current polarised climate, with the West and the Arabic world each seemingly talking mainly to themselves via their own media, there is a need for independent voices encouraging dialogue. It was for this reason that RNW started radio broadcasts in Arabic in 2008, to accompany the Arabic website which already existed.

Who are we?
The editorial team comprises 12 people from all parts of the Arabic-speaking world (from Morocco to Libya, from Sudan and Iraq to the Palestinian territories) plus Dutch people with wide-ranging knowledge of the Arabic world. The team has an extensive network in the Arabic-speaking community in the Netherlands at its disposal.

What do we do?
On the website and in our radio broadcasts we make Dutch and European developments and ideas visible in the Arabic world. The contributions of our editorial team are often cited by leading Arabic media.

At the same time we communicate the viewpoints of the Middle East and the Arabic-speaking community in the West by contributing material to various RNW desks which target other language areas.

What are our distinguishing features?
We provide independent, reliable news which focuses on the Maghreb region and the Middle East. We have news, commentaries, analyses and reports about the Netherlands, plus a platform for debate about all the topics which are talking points in the Arabic world. About Islam, for example, in the context of which we air moderate voices hardly ever heard in the Arabic media.

Our programmes and our site
The radio programmes and the website www.hunaamsterdam.nl provide news reports, current affairs, a daily review of the Dutch press and background and in-depth interviews and reports. There are also commentaries and columns inviting audience reactions which are also important to our media partners. We devote a great deal of attention to the position of Arabic-speaking migrants in the Netherlands. The radio programme, that is broadcast during the evening, is analytical and thoughtful.
Listen via shortwave and WRN satellite, or via podcast and audio streams on the website.

Other projects
The Arabic radio broadcasts were launched in Rabat (Morocco) by Rotterdam's Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb. RNW asked prominent Moroccans to discuss stereotypes during a debate about ‘Moroccan brats and disrespectful Dutch’.

For whom?
We are targeting educated Arabic speakers between the ages of 20 and 40, opinion-makers, students and young professionals, as well as interested members of the public in search of information. In 2008 we had an average of 50,000 visitors a month to our Arabic website, nearly 600,00 a year.

Why?
The gulf between the Arabic world and the West seems to be growing ever wider. The Arabic world needs independent moderate voices encouraging rapprochement and dialogue. RNW provides a platform for thought-provoking programmes. RNW also regards it as its duty to provide its audience with as realistic as possible a view of society in the Netherlands and Europe. Because of the large numbers of Arabic-speaking migrants here, we focus to a large extent on the multicultural society in the Netherlands. The position of the Netherlands as a world centre of international justice means that we also devote considerable attention to human rights and international law.

Our ambition
We aim to reach more listeners and visitors to our website in the Arabic world, largely through intensive cooperation with local media partners. We want to provide people with food for thought through our columns, commentaries and reports. Our ambition is to develop into an influential and lively platform for discussion in the Arabic world.