MBN’s networks provide accurate and objective news and information including in Iraq and Syria which are at the heart of the ISIL crisis. Their team of courageous professionals are actively reporting on the devastating impact of the extremist group and measures to counter it.

Stories resonate with audiences as made clear through the networks’ online engagement. Nearly 150,000 users read or shared an item on ISIL funding. A piece about ISIL recruiting people through the Internet solicited nearly 1,000 Facebook comments.

Learn more in Countering Extremism.

MBN brands include Alhurra Television, Alhurra-Iraq Television, Radio Sawa, and Afia Darfur along with Alhurra.com and RadioSawa.com. With contributions from reporters on-the-ground, MBN produces programming at its headquarters in Northern Virginia, and in Washington, D.C., Baghdad, Dubai, Beirut, Cairo and Jerusalem. MBN is funded through, and operates under, a grant agreement with the BBG.

Alhurra and Radio Sawa are regularly cited in the Arabic press, increasing the impact of the networks’ unique brand of objective and accurate news. For example, Radio Sawa’s interview with the Kuwaiti Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs on Iran’s role in fighting ISIL was quoted by Alwasat, Al Nahar, and Kuwait News. Alhurra’s interview with the Libyan Prime Minister was quoted in scores of media outlets including Yahoo Maktoob, Al Arab, Akhbar Libya, Al Ahram, and Al Youm.

MBN has an Iraq-specific channel providing local news, discussion and cultural programs to an Iraqi audience. Alhurra-Iraq TV is affecting change in the daily lives of Iraqis. Learn more in Growing Impact on page 13.

In 2014, both Alhurra and Alhurra-Iraq celebrated their 10th anniversary.

Learn more in Growing Impact.

Airing on FM and AM across the region with eight distinct streams, Radio Sawa is the most popular radio network in the region. It attracts young audiences by playing contemporary Arabic and Western music along with news and in-depth current affairs programs such as Sawa Magazine, Free Zone and Ask the World Now.

In 2014, Alhurra launched a new program, Our Neighborhood, that follows inhabitants of different neighborhoods within Cairo, as they share their lives with viewers; both their challenges and the triumphs. The unscripted documentary delves into the stories of the people it profiles and shows how they interact with their neighborhood while striving to achieve a personal ambition.