Refugee show lights up Serbian screens for 10 years
News Stories, 30 September 2011

BELGRADE, Serbia, September 30 (UNHCR) – A decade is an eternity in television, especially for a programme targeting a niche audience – refugees in Serbia. But as the UNHCR-produced show, "A Time to Decide", entered its 10th year recently, it found itself with over a million viewers, not just in Serbia but also in the greater Balkans region.

The weekly programme was conceptualized several years after the 1991-1995 wars in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which resulted in one of Europe's biggest refugee crises since World War II. Recognizing the reconciliatory role of mass media in the post-conflict western Balkans, UNHCR decided to use TV to fill the information gap in the national media and raise awareness about the hardships faced by the displaced people. More...