Tigray is one of the largest regions in Ethiopia with a population of 5 million; among these numbers nearly a half million are settled in the capital city, Mekelle. In the past decade, different media institutions in the country have been given autonomous right to establish community based FM stations in their own native language to provide basic information for their community. Due to this, and the significance of the media, Mekelle FM 104.4 was established in 2009 so as to address social and economic issues of the community in Mekelle and surrounding areas. The radio covers a radius of approximately 100km, reaching about 1.8 million people at a time.
 
Media plays a pivotal role in realizing good governance, overall economic, social and political development of a society. To meet the media's full potential in a society, a well-equipped media house and well trained journalists are mandatory. While there have been improvements in the capacity of the technical and administrative staff, there are still huge gaps in both. Due to the lack of materials and resources necessary to provide quality media production, our journalists’ capabilities have been hampered.
 
Mekelle FM 104.4 has been involved in capacity building programs, conducted by various partner organizations including: Mekelle University, Mekelle Institute of Technology, Internews Ethiopia, and Panos Ethiopia. Accordingly, Mekelle FM 104.4 has benefited greatly from the short-term training courses that have been given to journalists and editors by the above mentioned organizations. However, radio journalists in particular need a significant amount of digital recording and editing training. Through this project, Mekelle FM 104.4 will gain support to further strengthen the capacity of the institution. Journalists and technicians will be given further training on the use of digital media equipments, including editing suites, radio script writing and its methodology.