[cr-india] Fwd: GoI-UN Initiative to Help Widen Community Radio Practice- Community Media & ICT News December 2006, Issue 3

[Frederick Noronha]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: CI Newdelhi <ci.newdelhi at unesco.org>
Date: 08-Dec-2006 18:07
Subject: GoI-UN Initiative to Help Widen Community Radio Practice-
Community Media & ICT News December 2006, Issue 3
To: ci.newdelhi at unesco.org

Community Media & ICT News (December 2006, Issue 3)

December 8, New Delhi

GoI-UN Initiative to Help Widen Community Radio Practice



A joint United Nations group in partnership with the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting, (MIB) India hold a two-day National
Consultation on Community Radio in New Delhi in the first trimester of
2007. This decision follows the Government of India's (GoI) nod to
community radio broadcasting in India on November 16, 2006.  A copy of
this policy is now available on the MIB website at:
http://www.mib.nic.in/informationb/CODES/frames.htm.



The Consultation will be the first in a series of activities including
regional workshops for building up the conceptual and technical
capacity of interested communities to set up community radio stations
in different parts of the country.



The Consultation is expected to be attended by community members
already engaged in grassroots community radio initiatives, community
based organisations, non-governmental organisations, government
departments, international organisations, as well as bilateral donor
agencies.



This activity will aim to raise awareness on establishing community
radio stations and aspects related to licensing procedures, management
and operations as reflected in the recently approved policy.



Resource persons from India, Asia and other parts of the world will
share their community radio experiences and models of best practice on
crucial aspects of community radio management, programming and
sustainability, as well as technical options, requirements and
maintenance. Participants will be encouraged to engage in discussions
that will help contextualise these practices to an Indian context.



A number of tools and manuals guiding community radio establishment
developed by UN Agencies in India in collaboration with civil society
organisations are available on the websites such as those of UNESCO
and UNDP. The National Consultation is also expected to give insights
into possible adaptation of such material to suit the local Indian
environment taking into consideration the rich linguistic and cultural
diversity of the country.



In May 2004, UNESCO and UNDP in association with the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting organised a multi-stakeholder
consultation that contributed to expanding the scope of community
radio policy in India. The upcoming National Consultation will
similarly develop guidelines for community radio broadcasting in
India.  Different stakeholders will therefore be engaged in the
formulation of these directives for discussion and adoption during the
sessions.  A kit of both self learning and group learning tools for
capacity building in this field will be made available.



UN Agencies in India have supported initiatives aimed at
community-centred communication.  UNDP supported the Kutch Mahila
Vikas Sangathan, a collective of over 10,000 rural women that works
for their social and economic empowerment, in setting up a community
radio network to expand outreach to women in remote areas of the
region. Community participation was central to this partnership while
as technical inputs and training for technical handling, production
and direction was provided by a professional audio-visual
communication agency. UNESCO supported the establishment of Namma
Dhwani in Budikote, India's first cable community radio station where
local communities produce content on a daily basis; has also assisted
the launch of a radio station entirely managed by local Dalit women,
in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh and continues to provide support
to other community radio and community multimedia initiatives in the
country.



________________________________________________________________________________

For further information contact: Jocelyne Josiah,  Adviser in
Communication and Information, or Seema Nair,  Coordinator, Community
Multimedia Centre Project  Asia, UNESCO New Delhi;
j.josiah at unesco.org;  s.nair at unesco.org



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