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CONTENTS

Presentation of the President..............................................................................5

Presentation of the General Secretary...............................................................6

AMARC’s quadrennial strategic plan (2011-2014)............................................7

Outcomes in 2014: Transformation and development.....................................9

ADVOCACY PROGRAM: To promote and defend policy, legal and regulatory

conditions that enable community media to operate.................................................11

CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM : To promote knowledge sharing and

capacity building for community media sustainability.................................................19

CONTEXT EXCHANGE AND SOCIAL ACTIONS CAMPAINGS PROGRAM:

To reinforce the social, developmental and humanitarian impact of community

media.....................................................................................................................................25

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PRESENTATION OF THE

PRESIDENT

5

It is more than 30 years since we began our task of democratising the

media. Today we are witnessing changes in different parts of the world

in support of community radio with the introduction of new laws that

guarantee sector recognition, but it is not enough. We need a system that

guarantees media diversity, pluralism and the ability and willingness to

promote public debates, which is the basic rule of any democracy.

In the process of the afrmation of the freedom of expression as a social

law, legal science has found that Freedom of Expression is both, an individual

and social right. This implies the right to disseminate information and theright of others to receive it, and as a human right those who exercise it

should not be subject of any kind of discrimination. Freedom of Expression

is not only the right to express ones opinions, but it entails the right of

access to the technical tools required to exercise this right. This dimension

of individual and collective human right obliges the State to promote it,

because it is a right that allows public debate, which also allows different

point of views to be expressed and escape from their apparent neutrality,

putting at the disposal of the society discourses that express the existing

asymmetries of power while allowing the emergence of new forms of

deliberation as part of life in democracy.

To advance in the process of recognition of community radios, AMARC launched in 2008 the “Principles for a democratic

regulatory framework on community radio and TV”, a guide to implement regulations according with the international

standards of human rights. The text of the document full one of the recommendations of the “Statement on Diversity

in Broadcasting”, developed in December 2007 by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression

along with representatives of the OSCE on Freedom of Media and the rapporteurs for freedom of expression of the

OAS and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Right.

As stated by the different reports of the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Freedom of Expression, community

broadcasting must be “expressly recognised as a distinct form of media”, favoured by “fair procedures for obtaining

licences” and allowing this media sector access to advertising revenue.

Community media (radio and TV) share the mission to democratise communications. This is an area where civil society

organisations, whose objectives and management are non prot and different from the political or religious proselytism,

play a central role. These are stations that represent the interests of their community, whether this community is

dened as a geographical area or a broad social sector. They can work with high or low powers, with volunteers or with

staff. They are established as nonprot organizations, which does not stop implementing strategies for sustainability.

The property of collective and nonprot nature is essential to facilitate discussion and for setting ideas which question

the exclusive commercial approach that exists in the current media system.

María Pía Matta Cerna

President of AMARC


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In 2014, the World Association of Community Broadcasters(AMARC) had a period of transition and restructuring. After 10 years

of continuous management, there were changes affeting key staff of

the International General Secretariat and the organisation went -and

is still going through a governance revision process with the aim to

increase its effectiveness toward members, accountability towards

donors, its impact, but especially, in order to effectively respond to the

modernization challenges that the community media sector is facing

along with all the media sector in general.

On a global scale, over the past years, radio has changed. One of the

major reasons is the changing citizens’ environment during this period.

The public audience is surrounded by digital and mobile platformswhich make media more and more accessible. As a result, we have a

new world of all sizes screens: laptop, mobile phone, tablet, GPS.

While in some regions the community media sector could benet from cross-media approaches, in some others, Internet is still far from being

an accessible communication platform and radio remains the main information tool for local citizens. The community media sector is growing

and this is why, even in 2014, one of the main focuses of AMARC has been the political debate around access to airwaves, management of the

spectrum and regulatory issues in order to keep promoting and ensuring cultural and linguistic diversity, poverty reduction, peace building and

active citizenship.

In fact, the transformation period of AMARC corresponds to the historical transformation period we are living today, not only in technological

terms but also in terms of content analysis, from the Arabic spring to the global economical and nancial crisis. In this transformation

phase, most of the countries wanting to embrace democratic governance are moving towards with media laws reforms but, in some cases,

restrictions and unclear regulations are still limiting the development of community media (ex. MENA region, Central Eastern Europe, etc.)

In general terms, we noticed, in 2014, that the sector is still very often endangered by the lack of access to airwaves and clear regulatory

frames, lack of adequate nancial resources, lack of homogeneous professional paths, and a mere binary approach to communication rights:

new media/old media, public service/commercial broadcasters, digital/analogue, North/South, central/marginal etc.. In 2014, AMARC continued

to ll these dualities providing a third model to communication rights, challenging the global processes with local political lobbying, capacity

building, campaigns through local perspectives and methodologies.

Globalization, the growth of Internet and web-based information, are also having a direct and detrimental impact on minority languages and

linguistic diversity, as global communications and marketplaces require global understanding, choosing a language to facilitate communications

while displacing others. Following the actions undertaken in 2013, AMARC continued working to reinforce pluralism and diversity through

initiatives and high level meetings reecting around the theme of identity and cultural wealth through the use of minority languages. The

effective exercise of the right to communicate makes the languages of each people a form of exercise of the individual and collective identityright. In this frame, AMARC promoted the recognition of cultural sovereignty of all the populations, which allows the full participation in the

public space. For the redenition of the perimeter of this diversity, in 2014, AMARC was also committed to increase the social impact of its

members through cross-fertilization (conferences/ thematic seminars) and capacity building (workshops) initiatives.

The community media sector has the same values, but not equivalent approaches and continues operating differently across the World. Under

the unifying concept of community media, there are an ever increasing number of communication experiences intensely deep-rooted in their

cultural social environments. AMARC needed to adopt new methodological tools in order to respond to the expectations of its members

and to respond to this new media and political phase.

Although some of the planned activities, have been downscaled or postponed due to this internal transition period, the efforts for more

diversity, poverty reduction, social cohesion, active citizenship and pluralism within the global media landscape have been the unifying thread

of AMARC actions in 2014. Francesco Diasio

Secretary General of AMARC

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PRESENTATION OF THE

SECRETARY GENERAL


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AMARC’S QUADRENNIAL

STRATEGIC PLAN

(2011 - 2014)

Objective 1: To promote and defend policy, legal and regulatory

conditions that enable community media to operate

a- Policy research, advocacy and partnership for community media and

communications rights at regional and international level.b- Country level solidarity activities and partnerships including urgent action

alerts and strategic country level missions.

c- Participation and advocacy on media and gender equality at international

meetings.

Objective 2: To promote knowledge sharing and capacity building for

community media sustainability

a- Communications with members and stakeholders and strengthening of

AMARC network and organisational functioning.

b- Knowledge sharing on sustainability and good practice including training,

publications, exchanges and support for sector associations.

c- Strengthening the regional and international networks of the AMARC

Women International Network (WIN).

Objective 3: To reinforce the social, developmental and humanitarian

impact of community media

a- News and features services in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe,

including special reports from international events.

b- Social action on HIV/AIDS, health, environment, climate change, migration,

anti-racism, food security, water & sanitation.

c- Disaster prevention, mitigation and response to natural and human-madehumanitarian and emergencies.

d- Promotion of women’s rights and gender equality, including training and

guidance materials and broadcast campaigns. 7


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OUTCOMES IN 2014

TRANSFORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT


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OBJECTIVE I

TO PROMOTE AND DEFEND

POLICY,

LEGAL AND

REGULATORY

CONDITIONSTHAT ENABLE

COMMUNITY

MEDIA TO

OPERATE

ADVOCACY

PROGRAM

Policy research,advocacy and partnershipfor community media and

communications rightsat regional andinternational level

Participation andadvocacy on media

and gender equality atinternational meetings

Country levelsolidarity activities andpartnerships includingurgent action alerts andstrategic country level

missions


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In2014, one of the main focuses of AMARC

remains the political debate around access

to airwaves, management of the spectrum

and regulatory issues in order to keep promoting

the community media sector as a fundamental

element (along with public service and commercial

broadcasters) of media pluralism and thus active

democracy.

This objective has been pursued through the following

activities:

1. High level political meetings (UN agencies,

European Union, Council of Europe, National

political encounters), political lobby.

2. Regional Conferences (MENA Region, Asia-

Pacic).

3. Continuous watchdog activities aboutlegislations and media freedom.

The general impact related to these activities is

the following:

• Towards policy makers: increased

acknowledgement of the community media sector

among international institutions. Recognition of

the sector and its fundamental role for pluralism,

poverty reduction, inclusion, active citizenship and

cultural diversity. Behaviour change. New political

resolutions and recommendations.

• Towards Civil Society Organizations: increased

alliances for social sustainability mechanisms and

partnerships for new projects. Increased outreach

of CSOs through community media.

• Towards community media themselves and/

or other media outlets: Increased presence anddevelopment of the community media sector in

certain areas (i.e. MENA Region).

High level political meetings (UN agencies,

European Union, Council of Europe, National

political encounters), political lobby.

Tunisia: Follow up of regulatory

issues with HAICA

In 2014, AMARC continued its regular dialogue

with the Haute Autorité Indépendante pour la

Communication Audiovisuelle (HAICA) in Tunisia in

order to promote a favourable regulatory frame for

the community media sector.

UNESCO: World Summit on

Information Society (WSIS+10)

In June 2014, representatives of AMARC’s international

network participated as Moderator in the Report of

the of the Sub-Group on Community Media WSIS

Action Line C9 Media Geneva.

ACTIVIES AND OUTCOMES

ADVOCACY PROGRAM

OUTCOME

The new draft of the “Cahiers de charges” includes a

full recognition of the community media sector in

the new audiovisual Tunisian media landscape.

In September 2014, AMARC welcomed eight community

stations: Radio Campus (Grand Tunis, in French), Média

Libre FM (Grand Tunis), Djerid FM (Tozeur), Radio

Nefzawa FM (Kebili), Houna al Gasserine (Kasserine),

K FM (Kasserine), Radio Regueb (Regueb) and Dream

FM (Kairouan).

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OTTAWA: Participation to People’s

Social Forum (August)

In August, representatives of AMARC participated to

the People’s Social Forum, held in Ottawa the 20th

and 21st of August. It was the occasion to promote

a workshop on Community radio challenges (in

relation to digital switch over) as well as actively

participate to the workshop promoted by AMARC

partner El Jousssour on communication rights in the

MENA region.

UNESCO – Paris: World Radio Day

Committee (September)

The meeting was held at the headquarters of

UNESCO in Paris the 29 September. AMARC isamong the organizations taking part to the organizing

committee of the World Radio day together with

AER, UER/EBU, ASBU, COPEAM, Academia Espanola

de la Radio, UIT/ITU, URTI. During this meeting,

participants agre ed on themes, methodology and

implementation of the World Radio Day 2015.

MOROCCO: Participation to

World Forum of Human Rights

(November)

On November 27-29 representatives of AMARC

participated to the World Forum on Human Rights

held in Rabat. Prior to the Forum, AMARC contributed

to the discussion around the adoption of the Chart

of Free Media to be presented and adopted during

the forthcoming World Social Forum to be held in

Tunis in March 2015. More than 15 International

organizations took part to the preparatory work (El Joussour, Institut Panos Afrique de l’Ouest, Ciranda,

Ritmo, AMARC, CMS just to mention a few..)

OUTCOME

A set of recommendations in various sector

Enabling policy and institutional frameworks:

• Build cross-sectoral alliances to promote and implement law and policy reforms in respect to communication and

family farming.

• Bring national law and policy on rural communication services in line with agreed international standards.

• Provide formal legal recognition to create a regulatory environment for independent and pluralistic community

radios including simple licensing processes, equitable reservation of frequencies and robust funding possibilities.• Integrate critical analysis of women’s and men’s specic needs and priorities into efforts to develop rural

communication services including aspects such as tools, content, implementation and impact.

Investments and partnership opportunities:

• Work in partnership to build the evidence base for rural communication services.

• Urge governments to invest in reinforcing community-based communication service and up scaling good practices.

• Engage in multi-stakeholder partnerships, to embed communication in development initiatives/programmes.

• Ensure that access to infrastructure and services is affordable to rural communities, particularly to women and

youth.

Capacity development:

• Develop the capacity of rural actors at all levels, applying a diversity approach, to engage effectively in rural

communication processes.

o At the level of farmers: facilitate knowledge, condence and agency of women and men farmers to voice

their needs and concerns, claim their rights, interact and organize themselves.

o At the level of development professionals: develop collaborative learning strategies that link directly to and

are inspired by rural realities with special attention to gender, class, age and socio-cultural issues.

• Develop mechanisms and tools for coordination and partnerships ensuring that communication for development

principles are evident and operational, and that there is support for independent and pluralistic media.

Other Regional Conferences, experts meetings (MENA, Asia-Pacic, Latin America)

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Tunisia: Participation to the

conference “Les radios associatives

en Tunisie Les garanties de la

durabilité”

The conference, held in Tunis the 10th and 11th ofDecember was organized by CMS, Article 19 and

HAICA. During the 2 days, representatives of AMARC

took part to debates highlighting its perspective in

especially in relation to the technical aspects related

to frequency plan allocation.

Continuous watch dog activities about legislations

and media freedom

During the whole of 2014, in Latin America, AMARCcontinued the implementation of the Legislative and

Communication Rights program. Besides the National

advocacy initiatives led by senior professionals,

the program also published a regular watchdog

newsletter (weekly newsletter InfoDerechos) on the

state of freedom of expression, communication right

and audiovisual policies in the whole region. More

information here.

On the international level, AMARC assumed an activerole as a watchdog on freedom of expression and

communication rights.

Latin America: InfoDerechos.

Continue with the defense of

the right to communication and

freedom of expression

One of the objectives that has differentiate AMARCsince its creation has been the defense and promotion

of the right to communicate and to freedom of

expression. The bulletin InfoDerechos, an initiative of

the regional coordination of AMARC ALC, is a space

for information and discussion on these topics, with

their axes: diversity and pluralism, community radio

stations, the exercise of journalism, technological

convergence and attacks to communicators. Faced

with the continous attacks against freedom of

expression and the right to communication, far from

staying immutable, we protest, we debate and discuss

our role as representatives of the minority groups of

citizenship.

AMARC also seeks the inclusion of all voices in

the media. That is why the principles to ensure the

diversity and pluralism in the broadcasting services

and audiovisual communication lead the nature of

the bulletin InfoDerechos. Also, this is a space that

looks to inform about the media laws that in some

countries are created and in other they are modiedwith the back facing the population. Also it denounces

the media monopolies that exist in the region and

difcult the transparency of information.

The bulletin is concerned about the constant

agression to journalists and communicators in

the exercise of their work. Beyond the protection

programs, the commitment of the countries and

the recommendations to the potential victims, it is

important that citizens know that the persecution,

threats and killings of journalists happen in mostlypoints of the planet, so we should all stay vigilant and

demand the assurance of the integrity of professionals

and the impartiality of media.

It is then that InfoDerechos works as a tool for the

defense of freedom of expression and for complaining

about violations of the right to communication, which

is inherent in all people.

OUTCOME

Watchdog on freedom of expression in Latin

America and on international level. Sensitization of a

wide audience of subscribers (single users, other NGOs

and CSOs) to the weekly newsletter InfoDerechos.

Multiplier effect through community radios.

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Europe: call for MEPs to supportcommunity radio as a tool for the

protection and promotion of

regional minority languages

AMARC Europe highlighted the needs of community

media and, especially, those broadcasting through

European Regional languages during the meeting of

the Intergroup for Traditional Minorities, National

Communities and Languages that took take place onThursday 16 January 2014 in Strasbourg. The meeting

was facilitated by Basque MEP Iñaki Irazabalbeitia, of

the European Free Alliance group.

The meeting opened with an intervention by Dr.

Davyth Hicks (Secretary-General European Language

Equality Network, CEO Eurolang), Sally Galiana

(President of the European Association of Community

Broadcasters – AMARC Europe) and Isabel Lema

(AMARC working group on minority languages).

In the meeting the following points were highlighted:

• The existing legal framework that protects and

promotes the use of European Regional Languages.

• The current situation of the Third Media Sector

in Europe, which is endangered in most countries

despite of the European recommendations.

• The lack of support by national and regional

authorities in most European countries, that

means that the sector struggles to survive withvery little resources and support.

• Requests to support minority languages and local

cultures through community media.

MED NET project: Morocco, Egypt,

Palestine and Tunisia

With the support of this Med Net project, AMARCEurope has set up a little radio studio and organize

trainings in Morocco with the idea of encourage the

civil society of Tanger and the north of the country to

express themselves and create the information they

need.

In Egypt, AMARC has collaborated with the

promotion of participatory democracy, participatory

decision making processes and development within

Egyptian society, with the aim to ght corruption andpromote good governance and pluralism.

In the Palestinian chapter, despite the good wills and

a vibrant non prot sector, the dialogue between

organizations and Palestinian Authority Institutions is

almost non existent. Moreover, the limited amount

of nancial resources and the difculties related

to the daily life represent a strong impediment to

cross fertilization activities between organizations

themselves.

In Tunisia, one of the most happiest consequences of

the work done by different organizations, including

AMARC, was the decision of the Independent High

Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HAICA)

to grant eight new licenses for the establishment and

operation of community radio channels. This decision

of the Council of HAICA placed Tunisia as frontrunner

in the Arab states in terms of audiovisual regulations.

These eight community stations were Radio Campus

(Grand Tunis), Média Libre FM (Grand Tunis), DjeridFM (Tozeur), Radio Nefzawa FM (Kebili), Houna

al Gasserine (Kasserine), K FM (Kasserine), Radio

Regueb (Regueb) and Dream FM (Kairouan).

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CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

E

ven if the community media sector share the same values, the approaches and possibilities

varies from one country to another. Communication experiences are extremely connected

to their social, political, economical and cultural environment.

The community radio movement is also facing a lot of changes related to the development

of new technologies, democratic transformation in some countries but setbacks, restrictions

and limitations in other cases. Some of these challenges have to be met differently depending

on the situation. In 2014, AMARC deepened its action towards members, strengthened its

approach towards international institutions.

1. Continue working with international institutions

in order to guarantee the presence of the community

media sector in the political debate about freedom of

expression and pluralism, as fundamental elements for

active citizenship.

2. Continue working with regulatory authorities

on a national scale in order to adapt international

conventions and declarations into a more coherentcountry level environment.

4. Increase and strengthen watchdog activities

in all regions in order to monitor the gap between

international standards and national practices about

freedom of expression.

3. Engage and reinforce the dialogue and alliances

with national and international stakeholders (other

NGOs and/or CSOs) in order to increase the impact of

the political lobby initiatives.

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OBJECTIVE 2

TO PROMOTEKNOWLEDGE

SHARING AND

CAPACITY

BUILDING FOR

COMMUNITYMEDIA

SUSTAINABILITY

CAPACITY

BUILDING

PROGRAMIncrease and

strengthen watchdogactivities in all regions inorder to monitor the gap

between internationalstandards and national

practices about freedomof expression

Strengthening theregional and internationalnetworks of the AMARC

Women InternationalNetwork (WIN)

Knowledge sharingon sustainability and

good practice includingtraining, publications,exchanges and support

for sectorassociations


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In2014, AMARC committed a lot of efforts to

increase the social impact of its members

through networking, mentoring, knowledge

sharing (conferences/ thematic seminars) and capacity

building (workshops) initiatives.

The general impact related to these activities isthe following:

• Increased capacities of community radio

practitioners in the eld of humanitarian relief,

food security, social change.

• Increased gender balance (at all levels,

management, journalistic, technical) within the

community radio sector.

• Improved awareness of CSOs about communitymedia and external communication opportunities.

• Improved relationships between CSOs and

community media.

• Quantitative and qualitative reinforcement of

the AMARC network.

Seminar on women’s situation in

the community radio movement

AMARC Asia Pacic and the Association of Community

Radio Broadcasters on Nepal (ACORAB) organized

a joint program to mark International Women’s Day

2014 on March 8, 2014. The seminar was attended by

women leaders as well as community radio advocates

to take stock of women’s situation in community

radios and to discuss how the gender movement

can be advanced better in collaboration with

community radio broadcasting.

Empowering women through

community radio

In 2014, AMARC Asia Pacic partnered with the

Association of Community Broadcasters of Nepal

(ACORAB) to organize a capacity developmentworkshop.ACTIVIES AND OUTCOMESCAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAM

OUTCOMES

Several letters of appreciation from NGOs have been

sent, stating the positive effects of the initiatives.

« The Jagaran Media Centre (JMC) and members

of the Dalit community of Nepal that are working

in community radios express our appreciationto AMARC Asia Pacic for its efforts in building

capacities of Dalit community broadcasters.

JMC, ACORAB and AMARC have in the year 2014

signed an MOU to promote the access and role

of dalit community in community radios. In this

regard, the training program organized by AMARC

Asia Pacic is extremely helpful in enhancing the

capacity of dalit women broadcasters in producing

gender sensitive radio content. »

Mr. Rem Bishwokarma, President Jagaran MediaCentre, JMC.

OUTCOMES

• 51 women from 50 community radios trained to

prepare more effective radio programmes using

gender sensitive language, proper script and

interview techniques, and digital editing

• Empowerment of audiences (with a focus on

women) from 30 districts of Nepal by increasingmedia pluralism and alternative gender sensitive

programming via 60 programmes produced by

trained women community radio broadcasters.

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South Asian Seminar on

community radio

The consultation was a platform to bring together

policy makers, academicians, community radio

broadcasters, civil society representatives and key

stakeholders in the community radio sector of

various South Asia countries to meet and discussthe challenges and opportunities available to jointly

develop the sector in the region. The consultation had

the objective to:

• Identify specic issues and problems related to

community radio that cut across national boundaries

in South Asia.

• Discuss ways of strengthening the movement for

communities’ access to airwaves.

• Explore various strategies for forging regional

cooperation in the eld of community radio.

• Establish a South Asian Network for Community

Media (SANCOM).

• Provide recommendations for further development

and closer cooperation of the community radio

sector in the region.

Regional Virtual Consultations on

Communication, Community Mediaand ICTs for Family Farming.

Africa, Asia Pacic, Latin America, August

25-September 12, 2015: Online consultations

To help propel family farmers’ voices forward,

the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

and the World Association of Community Radio

Broadcasters (AMARC) hosted a series of regional

virtual consultations open to developmentprofessionals, community media practitioners, rural

development agencies and the private sector alike.

The participatory discussions opened on the August

25, 2014 and continued into September, focusing on

“Communication for Development, community media

• Empowerment of women community radio

broadcasters through their involvement in program

production, radio management and participation in

AMARC’s global campaigns (ex: 16 Days of Activism

to End Gender Based Violence, International

Women’s Day, etc.) Trained women were invited

to prepare programmes related to climate change.• Development and strengthening of a network of

community women broadcasters in Nepal and

networking with the women wing of ACORAB.

• Advocacy to ensure an equal access for women to

the airwaves and to all level of decision making in

community radio.

• Translation of the Gender Policy for Community

Radio (GP4CR) in Newari, Magar, Tamang, Thakali

and Tharu.

OUTCOMES

5 recommendations:

1. There are opportunities to learn from the policies

and challenges from each countries.

2. There is a need for policies to be afrmative

and supportive of promoting engagement withother social movement, inclusions of marginalized

communities, address issues of gender and

discrimination.

3. Policy environment in India is moving towards

supporting peer learning and peer review and

also exploring effectiveness of community radio

stations.

4. It may be useful to undertake discussions to

support policy building in countries that don’t

have a policy or have an ‘interrupted’ communitybroadcasting movements.

5. Deepen the understanding around ownership of

community radio and operations; plan for spectrum

usage and, in case of spectrum auction to possibly

protect community radio from such an eventuality,

issues advertisement for sustainability.

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and ICTs for family farming and rural development’’.

Participants were invited to share their regional

perspectives, using the platforms Onda Rural in Latin

America, YenKasa Africa and ComDev Asia. The aim

of the virtual consultations is to highlight regionally

relevant contributions of communication for

development (ComDev), community media and ICTs

to family farming, to identify main trends, challenges

and priorities for rural communication services

in support of family farming, as well as to discuss

common approaches to promoting communication

for rural development.

From September 22 to October 6, 2014, E-agriculture

hosted the global virtual consultation with the

support of FAO. AMARC suggested some experts on

community media to participle to the global virtual

consultation.

Network development for

increased effectiveness of AMARC

Interventions

Rome, Italy, October 27-28, 2014: AMARC Annual

International Board of Directors Meeting +

Reinforcing access to the media in

order to empower the excluded

and make their voices heard

MENA REGION

The situation of independent media in the MENA

region is achieving success on several fronts. Above

all, the issue of liberalization of media became more

popular among all the layers of society.Nevertheless,

generally speaking, civil society and media remainunder pressure. The experience of democratic

transitions in other countries shows that media

are a key factor in any process of transformation,

in especially independent media which plays a role

in shaping public opinion and giving a voice to the

voiceless.

In Tunisia AMARC continued working for the

reinforcement of the community media sector

through capacity building and advocacy initiatives.

Both these components had an inception phase

at the end of 2014. The capacity building element

consisted in the set up of an academic course with

CAPJC (Centre Africain de Perfectionnement des

Journalistes), lasting 4 months, on Journalism and

management within community Media. The second

element consisted in the organisation of 2 public

events to be held in 2015 (the rst on regulatory

issues in the Maghreb and Mashreq region, the second

on “identity” of community radios).

In December 2014, AMARC also gathered all the datarelated to a study / research on the development

and sustainability of community broadcasting. The

objective of the study is to assess the current state of

community broadcasters in Tunisia, in especially after

the recent granting of new community licences. The

diagnosis also aimed at identifying the professional

needs of the Tunisian community radio sector in

order to ensure its sustainability: journalistic practices,

technical side, design of programming, advocacy,

management . Data have been collected through aeld mission (December 2014) and questionnaires

lled by radio stations.

The research gathers a set of of different issues

and perspectives: qualitative and quantitative

data, testimonies, identication of key players,

and recommendations. The study will be ofcially

presented in 2015.

MED NET - Civil Society and Media Development”

is implemented by COSPE Italy – AMARC in Europe,

Palestinian Youth Union (PYU) – Palestine, Egyptian

Association for Community Participation Enhancement

(EACPE) – Egypt, Association Liberté et Développement

(ALD) - Tunisia and the network Chabaka in Morocco. The

main objectives of the project are to support civil society

to create an environment conducive to dialogue, human

rights and democratic participation in the Mediterranean

region and to strengthen CSOs and independent media

at regional level in their role of people’s representation,

information, lobbying and advocacy for democratic reformsand freedom of expression and association.

OUTCOMES

Evaluation of the challenges faced by the

organisation following the vacuum left by the departure

of the previous Secretary General, evaluation of

the challenges faced by community radios (access,

development, thematic issues). Denition of lines of

action for 2013-2014. Decision making process

about the World Conference and General Assembly.

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Security and peace-bulding

In November 2014, AMARC Africa organized a

workshop on the theme of security in Abidjan, Côte

d’Ivoire. Journalists from 4 countries (Côte d’Ivoire,

République centrafricaine, Mali, Senegal) participated

and produced audio programmes related to peace-

building. This workshop aimed to build capacity of

journalists on important issues and give them technicalsupport to increase the quality of programming.

Research and academic sector

Farming for the future

Communication efforts to advance family farming

AMARC authored a document published by the

FAO in 2014. Abstract: ‘’Today, family farming is

the predominant form of agriculture in the world.

Communication lies at the core of the process of

change that involves family farming. Smallholder family

farmers and rural communities require aaccess to

information and communication to make their voices

heard and change their lives for the better. This implies

including communication for development (ComDev)

as part of agricultural and rural development policies

in order to promote dialogue and participation,

harnessing the potential of new ICTs (such as

mobile phones, the internet and

computer-based applications) in combination with

local media (such as community radio). This document

has been prepared to inspire reection on the role of

communication in advancing family farming. It provides

examples of ComDev approaches applied to farming

and rural development with special attention to the

experiences generated by farmers’ organizations.’’

AMARCLab: AMARC’S

documentation centre

In 2014, AMARC also developed a documentation

centre called AMARCLab, a virtual gateway to the

know-how in radio broadcasting, education and

inclusive development. Open to the public, it is

possible to nd on site and online, to borrow or

download, a wealth of material on various subjects

related to communication, radio, media pluralism,

solidarity and international development, gender

equality, communication legislation, etc. Many audio

documents produced by community radio stations

around the world are also available for listening

and downloading. In addition, communication and

radio specialists are on site to answer questions and

facilitate the search of the public. This project is stillbeing improved and the team is working on a new

way to better feature the documents and facilitate

the access for the public.

OUTCOMES

In the four countries (Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia and

Morocco), a study about the relationship between

CSOs and Independent media has been carried out.

A regional strategy has been outlined, with the aim

to foster alliances and an enhanced coordination at

regional level between CSOs and independent mediain their efforts to promote popular participation and

democratic reforms. Identication of themes for

joint strategy in the Mena Region: advocacy and

positive actions to improve the legislative and

administrative environment for the legal protection

of journalists; journalism training; drafting of a code

of ethics for the profession of journalist.

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CONCLUSIONS AND

RECOMMENDATIONS

T

hrough the capacity building program, AMARC pursues the reinforcement of the

community media sector around the world, strengthen its network of members and

reinforce partnerships with other CSOs with the aim to increase the impact of nonprot broadcasters for social change.

In 2014, the response of members to the training sessions and gatherings remained very

positive as radio practitioners are always open to learn. In many regions, community stations

have integrated a “lifelong learning process” in their practice.

1. Reinforce the partnerships and networking betweencommunity media and other CSOs.

2. Closely follow up the improvement of production

capacities of the members and the network.

3. Foster the dialogue with the academic sector;

4. Promote the professionalism of community media

through specialized training sessions;

5. Foster the debate about gender issues.

6. Reinforce the presence of AMARC in the academic

sector.

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OBJETIVE 3

TO REINFORCETHE SOCIAL,

DEVELOPMENTAL

AND

HUMANITARIAN

IMPACT OFCOMMUNITY

MEDIA

CONTENT

EXCHANGE AND

SOCIAL ACTION

CAMPAIGNS

PROGRAM

News and featuresservices in Latin America,Africa, Asia and Europe,including special reports

from internationalevents

Strengthening theregional and internationalnetworks of the AMARC

Women InternationalNetwork (WIN)

Social action onHIV/AIDS, health,

environment, climate change,migration, anti-racism, food

security, water &

sanitation

Promotion ofwomen’s rights and

gender equality, includingtraining and guidance

materialsand broadcast

campaigns


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International Day of World’s Indigenous Peoples (August 9). For this Day, AMARC’s

mobilized its members on minority languages and cultures. We received 20

programs in various languages for a total of 13h20:32sec of air time.

AUG

9

OCT

16World Food Day (October 16). 7 programs selected from the international

campaign on nutrition were featured on the World Food Day thematic page of

AMARC for 2h41 of air time. Also, informational links and publications were

promoted in AMARC’s network.

NOV

23

International Day to End Impunity (November 23). AMARC mobilized its network

via social media and members lists and called them to stand in solidarity with

journalists worldwide who fall victims of violence.

16 Days of Activism to End Gender Based Violence (November 25 – December

10). We received 30 programs in various languages for an estimated total of 7h53

of air time.

MAY

3/17

World Press Freedom Day (May 3 2014): We received 2 programs for an

estimated total of 1h17 aired time. Furthermore, AMARC’s President, Mrs. Maria

Pía Matta, was named amongst the 100 information heroes by Reporters without

Borders.

International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT) (May 17 2014):

We received 23 programs for an estimated total of 10:37 aired time.

MAY

AUG

Radio Aurore based in Bertoua, Cameroon, produced a three-part serie in French

on family farming and food security as part of the activities of the International

Year of Family Farming. Many participating radios decided to reinterpret the

episodes in local language in addition to broadcasting the episode in French to

accommodate their audience. This project received the nancial support of the

High Commission of Canada in Cameroon.

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Throughout the year, AMARC, via a partnershipwith the Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations (FAO), has been deeply

involved in Communication for Development

initiatives. in the frame of the International Year of

Family Farming. AMARC produced, broadcast and

facilitated a number of programmes on the theme

of food security. This partnership ensured that rural

population received relevant information through

community radios.

Promoting family farming through

community radio

The AMARC - FAO project for promoting family

farming is underway as part of the 2014 International

Year of Family Farming. During the reporting period,

actions took place in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The main activities of the project were:

1. Coordination and management of three online

platforms to promote communication fordevelopment (ComDev) initiatives in the above-

mentioned regions. These platforms serve as

references point for ComDev and community

media practitioners. In Asia, ComDevAsia

(English) documents experiences, promotes

knowledge sharing and joint initiatives. In Latin

America, Onda Rural (Spanish) focuses on ICTs,

community radio and rural development. In Africa,

YenKasa Africa (bilingual English/French) aims to

enhance knowledge and experience sharing incommunication in support to agriculture and rural

development in the continent. The coordination

activities of the platforms include regular

research of contents, facilitation, networking and

development of contacts, animation and posting

of relevant contents on a weekly basis. Contents

include regional news and events, good practices,

case studies and multimedia materials such as

photos, videos or radio programs.

2. Implementation and monitoring of Family Farming

Awareness Campaign: this campaign started on

January 27, 2014. It had a global phase in the rst

part of the year and entered a regional phase in

the second

part of the year

(starting in July). The

audios produced are

available on AMARC’s website

and on the regional platforms

ComDevAsia, Onda Rural and YenKasa Africa.

The campaign targeted farmer’s organizations and

rural populations in Asia Pacic, Latin America andAfrica. The objective was to use community radio

as a platform to share information with the farming

community and get it involve in discussions regarding

the role of family farming in economic and social

development. In the global phase, 12 programs were

produced for an estimated total of 1h38 (please nd

list in Annex). In the regional phase, 9 programs were

produced for an estimated total of 3h42.

Development, distribution and promotion of radio

and web based content for the Second International

Conference on Nutrition (ICN2)

In preparation for the Second International Conference

on Nutrition (ICN2) held from November 19 to 21

in Rome, Italy, the World Association of Community

Broadcasters (AMARC) called upon community

radios everywhere to share their stories about food,

nutrition and agriculture.

Easy access to communication about healthy eating

habits, sufcient nutrition and the development of

family farming and sustainable agriculture is critical

and must not be overlooked in the battle against

world hunger. Regions most severely affected by

hunger and malnutrition often rely on community

radio as the most efcient way to reach as many

people as possible. The objective of this campaign

was to improve public education on the topic of

nutrition, food and agriculture, facilitate access to bestmanagement practices and encourage the sharing of

COMMUNICATION

FOR

DEVELOPMENT

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scientic knowledge. 42 audio pieces were submitted

by journalists and producers from community radios

from around the world for this campaign. Some

themes were common even if the way the producers

presented the information differed. Here is a list of

some of the themes explored by community radios

who participated:

• Food security.

• Malnutrition.

• Hunger.

• Environment.

• Women’s right.

• Urban farming.

The programmes received show the diversity of the

community radio. None of the stories are repetitive;

they all serve to show and tell how we related tofood, agriculture and nutrition in different parts of the

world. It is interesting to note that the productions

are reective of the social, political and economical

situation of the country where they are produced.

During the reported period, those campaigns

reached listeners worldwide, through our members

that participated in the campaigns, but also through

our website where other AMARC members and

the general public streamed and/or downloaded the

programmes.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Include academic research, associations, civil

society organizations (CSOs) among the ordinarysources of information of the media outlet itself;.

2. Open the programme schedule to facilitate direct

contributions of CSOs.

3. Facilitate the linkage between global topics and

local strategies.

4. Develop a mentorship system with community

radio producers and journalists;

5. Develop stronger partnerships with CSO and tie

awareness campaigns to issues spearheaded by

CSOs.6. Reinforce a pro active attitude with CSOs.

OUTCOMES

• Better access to information.

• Improvement of knowledge and best practices

sharing.

• Implementation of regional networks.

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AGENCIA PÚLSAR OTHER

CAMPAIGNSThe main objective of Agencia Púlsar is to motivate

all the stations members of AMARC in Latin America

and the Caribbean to collaborate reporting daily and

constantly the main processes that occur in theirrespective countries, while respecting the information

line that Púlsar has.

The thematic areas are: the protection of the

environment, the gender equality, the defense of

human rights, the right to communicate, the cultural

exchange, the economical inequality, the peace

process, the militarization of the continent, the

consequences of neo-liberal policies, the situation of

migrants... among others. These are the issues that

lead the news agenda, and they are accompanied by

a number of social actors who are not usually shown

by mainstream media. Agencia Púlsar seeks to give

voice to the indigenous peoples, social movements

and organizations, trade unions, sexual minorities,

alternative media and radios, etc. In this way, it is

possible to cover the news in an impartial manner,

taking into account all the voices that are involved in

the same case.

Another strategy to address the journalistic issues is

to do a follow-up on the news. That means analyze

the development of the event, nding its reasons. Sothe same news is being addressed for several days to

understand and go further on the matter.

AMARC, the Association of Community Radio

Broadcasters of Nepal (ACORAB) and the Jagaran

Media Centre (JMC) initiated on March a jointcampaign against caste based discrimination, especially

against the dalit people of Nepal. Under this initiative

community radios all over Nepal have started to

broadcast programs and social announcements against

caste based discrimination. AMARC has ensured that

the issue of discrimination and specially that of caste

discrimination is discussed in all of its national and

regional consultations so as to ensure high level of

visibility and engagement.

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Annualreport2014 Ok

Documents

Transcript of Annualreport2014 Ok