UNESCO's International Programme for the Developmentof Communication (UNESCO-IPDC) has approved funds inthe amount USD 60,000 in contribution to theestablishment of the first ten Community RadioStations in India .
The funds are expected to supportcommunity radio stations especially in tribal belts,in collaboration with organizations such asAlternative India Development (AID). Support will beextended in specific areas of technology choices,advice, maintenance and technical training at thecommunity level with a view to the development of thecommunity radio movement and industry in IndiaThis is in follow up to the recent events that UNESCOhas been spearheading, such as the technicalexhibition and forum at the BES Expo 2007 as well asthe National Consultation for practicing and potentialcommunity radio operators in India supported by theUNCT (United Nations Country Team) and organised bythe Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.UNESCO is further consulting with its UN partners witha view to consolidating a joint funding approach toaccompany the Government's plan to support theestablishment of 4000 Community Radio stations by2008.
As part of its overall package of USD 242000 for itsNew Delhi office, IPDC has also approved a projectproposal submitted by One World South Asia (OWSA) forUSD 15000 for the reinforcement of a CommunityMultimedia Centre to serve the marginalized weavercommunities of Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh. A further USD 91000 was approved for communicationprojects in other South Asian countries namely,Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal while USD 76000 went tosupport regional projects submitted by Asian MediaInformation and Communication Centre (AMIC,Singapore), Asia-Pacific Institute for BroadcastingDevelopment (AIBD, Kualalumpur) and the New Delhibased International Federation of Journalists (IFJ,South Asia) IPDC is a major forum in the UN system designed todevelop free and pluralistic media with a globalapproach to democratic development.
Members of theBureau met 27-29 March last to evaluate 110 mediadevelopment project proposals from 80 countriessubmitted to them this year.In providing support to projects, the IPDC Bureau isguided by the four priorities of the Programme:promotion of freedom of expression and mediapluralism, development of community media, capacitybuilding of media professionals and promotion ofinternational partnerships.
Contact: Jocelyne Josiah ACI/NDL j.josiah@unesco.org ,Seema Nair, CMC Asia Coordinator, s.nair@unesco.orgLinks:UNESCO New Delhi
Contact: Jocelyne Josiah ACI/NDL j.josiah@unesco.org ,Seema Nair, CMC Asia Coordinator, s.nair@unesco.orgLinks:UNESCO New Delhi
(Source: Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India)