Bar-Kulan means meeting place in Somali. The station first went on the air from studios in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010, a time when the security situation in Somalia, and, in particular the capital Mogadishu, made it difficult to set up shop there. Bar-Kulan first saw the light of day thanks to a partnership between Okapi Consulting and the United Nations Trust fund for Somalia – A UN entity established to support the African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia – AMISOM.