"[...] It is too early to assess the full impact of media development efforts undertaken since February 2002, given the short timeframe and the absence of reliable audience surveys. Nevertheless, OTI and Internews deserve credit for adopting an innovative, cost-effective approach to media assistance that helped open up civic life in towns and villages across the country, while planting the seeds for Afghanistan’s first commercial radio market. Emphasizing sustainability and quality programming, USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) and Internews appear to have avoided pitfalls that have plagued projects in other postconflict settings. Internews carefully chose aid recipients, stipulated that the aid would be phased out, and organized training courses relating to core editorial and management skills. The main pillar of the assistance effort has been a loose network of community radio stations where journalists and business managers receive training, equipment, and a relatively modest level of funding. The network was launched February 2003 with a $327,897 grant from OTI. A subsequent grant was awarded to expand the network, which, by November 2004, had 25 community stations with a potential audience of 7.47 million Afghans, or 36 percent of the population. It is hoped that plans to add an AM component to the network will not prove too ambitious or burdensome for the stations. The community radio stations may sound amateurish at times, but they have helped raise community issues for public debate for the first time and held local authorities accountable. Other stations have provided an unprecedented arena for discussion of social concerns and formerly taboo women’s issues, including forced marriage and domestic violence." (Executive summary, pages ix-x)