Washington, D.C., January 26, 2007 – Starting February 12, the Voice of America (VOA) begins a new daily radio broadcast in the Somali language to the Horn of Africa.

A group of Somali broadcasters at VOA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. will team up with freelance reporters in Africa and elsewhere around the world to provide millions of Somali speakers with accurate, up-to-date news and information.

"We look forward to joining the information community in Somalia," said VOA Director Dan Austin. "Providing accurate, objective, and timely news and information to the people of Somalia is vital during this critical time in the region's history," he added.

The new half-hour VOA program will air seven days a week and will include world news as well as news of Somalia and entire Horn of Africa region. The broadcast will also offer music and discussion features that will allow leaders and ordinary listeners alike to express their opinions on topics of interest.

VOA's Somali-language service is being funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of State. The new service will supplement VOA's current broadcasts to the Horn of Africa in Amharic, Afan Oromo and Tigrigna. VOA previously broadcast in Somali between 1992 and 1994.

The VOA Somali broadcast will air on AM, FM and shortwave radio at 1600 UTC (7:00 p.m. in Somalia) and repeats at 1700 UTC (8:00 p.m. in Somalia). The 1700 UTC broadcast will also air on HornAfrik (88.8 FM), a VOA-affiliated station. The programs will also be available live and on demand on the service's website.

Frequencies: 1600-1630 UTC: 13580 Khz, 15620 Khz, 1431 Khz

1700-1730 UTC: 13580 Khz, 15620 Khz

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 more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages.

For more information, please contact VOA's Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959 or via e-mail at publicaffairs@voa.gov.