Community Radio Toolkit

A new version of the online magazine is out with the following features:

Community Radios in Disaster Management and Prevention

News from the World Social Forum

AMARC Women International Network Perspectives

Amplifying the Voices of the Poor and the Excluded through Capacity Building, Social Campaigns and Network Development of Community Radios

The Struggle for the Recognition of Community Radio

News from Community radio Network.

Resources

The International Secretariat

New updates on the webpage of the AMARC International mission in Haiti
at: http://www.amarc.org/haiti

Please find :
Videos from Jane Regan on
SAKS headquarters interview with Sony Esteus.
Radio Zetwal Peyizan at Leogane, interview with the director.

Notes from Francesco Diasio about the mission.

Audios: ( http://www.amarc.org/index.php?p=haiti_solidarity_podcast )

1. Francesco Diasio  about the objectives of the AMARC Mission in Haiti (French)
2. Sony Esteus on the situation in haiti (French)
3. Jane Regan about her firts impressions and the community radios needs (English)

Please if you have solidarity messages to the community radios in Haiti
send to: secretariat@si.amarc.org

Thank you

The National Lottery Awards 2010 have launched. Any project that has
received Lottery funding in the last 15 years can be nominated for the
Awards.

The Awards have seven categories, each reflecting an area of Lottery
funding: Sport; Heritage; Arts; Environment; Voluntary/Charity, Health
and Education.

Entries will compete in a public vote with shortlisted projects going
through to the finals where the winners in each category will be
announced on a special BBC1 TV show later this year. Winning entrants
will receive a ?2,000 cash prize to spend on their project

For more information on nominating a project visit the National
Lottery website or telephone 020 7324 4366. Nominations are open until
Friday 12 February:

http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/

Today, 21 January, the European Commission and the Spanish Presidency
of the EU are launching the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty
and Social Exclusion with an inaugural conference in Madrid hosted by
the Spanish Prime Minister Jos? Luis Zapatero and European Commission
President Jos? Manuel Barroso.

Here are some of the aims of the campaign:

• Encourage involvement and political commitment from each and every segment of society to participate in the fight against poverty and social exclusion, from the European to the local level, whether public or private;
• Inspire each and every European citizen to participate in the fight against poverty and social exclusion;
• Give voice to the concerns and needs of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion;
• Engage with civil society and non-governmental organisations that fight poverty and social exclusion;
• Help deconstruct stereotypes and stigmas attached to poverty and social exclusion;
• Promote a society that sustains and develops quality of life, social well-being and equal opportunities for all;
• Boost solidarity between generations and ensure sustainable development.

Source: http://www.2010againstpoverty.eu/news/news/news10.html?langid=en

More information: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=637

Update #2, 21/01/10
For more information visit: http://www.amarc.org/haiti

Headlines

• SAKS office (PP) destroyed, staff alive and well, contact re-established by email and phone
• REFRAKA office (PP) destroyed, staff alive, one injured
• At least 12 community radio stations assessed to be strongly or severely affected
• First AMARC/SAKS Urgence-Haiti international mission to arrive
• Port-au-Prince 24/01/10
• Immediate priority to assess worst affected areas including Grand Goave,
• Petit Goave, Leogane
• Unprecedented response in offers of support from international community radio movement

Detail

SAKS (Sosyete Animasyon ak Kominakasyon Sosyal) - office (34 rue
Dalencourt, PP) was totally destroyed, re-established telephone contact on
18/01 with Sony Esteus, Executive Director SAKS and Vice President AMARC,
all staff reported as alive and well, re-established email contact with
Sony on 19/01. Communications remain difficult and intermittent. Seeking
to establish temporary office.

REFRAKA (Haiti Community Radio Women’s Network) - office (36 rue
Dalencourt PP) was totally destroyed, one member of staff, Marie Guyrleine
Justin, reported as injured.

Community radio stations - 12 stations identified as being in strongly or
severely affected areas including 6 AMARC members - Radyo Saka (Grand
Goave), Radyo Zetwal Peyizan (Leogane), Radyo Echo (Petit Goave), Radyo
Kominote Klofa Pye (Vallue, Petit Goave), Radyo Flanbo (Cayes Jacmel),
Radyo Kominote Bel Ans (Belle-Anse) - and 6 other community radio stations
identified - Radyo Boukman (Cite Soleil, PP), Radyo Kenskoff Inter
(Kenskoff), Radyo Men Kontre (Petit Goave), Radyo Azuie Inter (Fond
Parisien), Radyo Fondwa (Fondwa) and Radyo La Vallee Jacmel (La Vallee,
Jacmel). Radyo Fondwa report of building destroyed and two staff died.
Reports of Radyo Saka journalists involved in local relief organisation.
No other news from the above despite repeated attempts to contact by phone
and email.

Of 40 other community radios in Haiti, a further 8 are nearby and may have
experienced moderate effects and/or are in areas where significant numbers
of people are seeking refugee. AMARC has prepared a list of 20 community
radio stations to prioritise with immediate attention to worst affected
areas outside PP.

See http://www.amarc.org/haiti for a map, impact assessment, and contact
details for the radios.

International mission - Preparation underway in Santo Domingo. For the
first mission we have a team of 5 people: Eduardo Garcia (UDECA/Radio
Santa Maria/ALER) and Adoniz Mendez (Radio Santa Maria) are in Santo
Domingo and assisting with logistics (transport etc). Francesco Diasio
(Amisnet/AMARC-Europe) and Jane Regan will arrive in Santo Domingo on 23
January. Sony Esteus is in Port-au-Prince and arranging local logistics.
This is an assessment mission with some basic repairs capability and small
items including one emergency replacement FM transmitter, repair kits,
reporter kits, netbooks.

The mission is scheduled to travel into Haiti on 24 January and will aim
to coordinate with other media support organisations in PP on 25 January,
before commencing assessment visits outside PP. Objectives to assess the
status of the community radios and their personnel, to assure (where
possible) their integration into the humanitarian information network
(including basic repairs and basic guidance on humanitarian relief
reporting), to assist re-establishment of  SAKS community radio support
centre.

Immediate priority is to travel outside Port-au-Prince to a cluster in
some of the worst affected areas - around Leogane, Grand Goave and Petit
Goave - where there are 5 community radios. After that, to visit other
clusters of radios in areas badly affected -  including La Vallee Jacmel,
Cayes Jacmel, Fondwa, Belle Anse, Grand Saline, Kenscoff, Fonds Parisien
and Verette - then return to Port-au-Prince.

The first assessment mission is to be completed by 2 Feb but Francesco
will remain in the field to provide additional support to Sony/SAKS and to
prepare the ground for further incoming support.

Unprecedented international media solidarity - initial mission is a
multinational effort with mission team volunteers from US, Italy,
Dominican Republic and Haiti, supported by AMARC offices in Montreal,
Buenos Aires, Rome, Kathmandu and with partners and supporters including
ALER (Latin America), Amisnet (Italy), FMYY (Japan), BHN (Japan), Austin
Airwaves (US), Combine (Indonesia), UDECA (DR), Radio Santa Maria (DR),
Radio Enriquillo (DR), Free Voice, Open Society Institute. Offers of
technical support and international volunteers have been received from all
continents. BHN, a Japanese communications NGO with extensive emergency
experience, are sending two technical experts to arrive Haiti 23 or 24
Jan, for initial assessment with potential follow-up to provide community
mini FM radio station, distribution of radio receivers, simple community
address system with loudspeakers and microphone. Combine, Indonesian
community media NGO with experience in Aceh and Yogjakarta, have offered
technical expert with disaster relief communications experience and FM
broadcast equipment. Austin Airwaves (Texas) have offered an international
volunteer to bring and install a complete FM broadcast unit including
antenna. Free Voice have offered to provide emergency replacement
equipment and technical assistance. Free Voice and Open Society Institute
providing joint financial support to initial emergency response.

For further information follow:

http://www.amarc.org/haiti

Contacts for first mission:

Francesco Diasio
+39 3939674999
fdiasio@amisnet

Jane Regan
jane@janevregan.org

In Santo Domingo
Eduardo Garcia
Radio Santa María: 809 573 2722 y 809 573 3900;
Cell: 809 284 3680.
egatamayo@codetel.net.do

In Port au Prince
Sony Esteus
SAKS / AMARC Haiti
509 3701-5029, 509 3409-5029
saksht@yahoo.fr, sonikoeste@hotmail.com

AMARC International Secretariat (Montreal)
Marcelo Solervicens, Secretary General
secgen@si.amarc.org

AMARC Latin America and Caribbean (Buenos Aires)
Paula Castello, Projects Coordinator
paulacastello@amarc.org

AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, calls on
community radio broadcasters worldwide to rally in support of the people
of Haiti, following the massive earthquake that has killed thousands of
people and destroyed essential infrastructure.

It is estimated one third of the country’s 9 million population have
been affected, tens of thousands have died and many more are injured and
without adequate medical support. The earthquake has caused extensive
damage to communication systems and other vital services. Among the many
people directly affected are community media workers and their families.

AMARC is conducting an urgent assessment of the status of community
broadcasting in the areas affected and is working to mobilize resources
and technical assistance. AMARC estimates that at least 12 community
radio stations are located within the zones that have suffered the most
severe earthquake destruction. The full extent of the impact is not yet
known.

AMARC is calling on community broadcasters to support the international
relief effort by organizing airtime appeals and other activities, and to
provide direct assistance to community broadcasters affected by the
earthquake, including equipment donations and financial support.

Even before this catastrophic disaster, Haiti faced enormous problems of
transport and communications infrastructure, access to electricity and
high rates of illiteracy. Community radio has developed, since 1992, as
an essential part of Haiti’s communications landscape, reaching the
poorest communities and enabling their participation in development.

Community media have a vital role to play in times of emergency and
disaster. The restoration of communications infrastructure will be an
essential priority of the humanitarian emergency response effort. AMARC
will be working, in partnership with local community radio organizations
in Haiti, to support the reconstruction of community broadcasting services.

For contact details of the major relief agencies and to make offers of
equipment, technical support or other assistance for community radio in
Haiti please visit http://www.amarc.org/

From the CommunityMedia.eu website:

Representatives of the non profit media sector voiced their views about a draft decree on the audiovisual sector on a public hearing hosted by the Catalan government (Generalitat de Catalunya) and the media regulator, the Audiovisual Council of Catalunya (Consell Audiovisual de Catalunya), at a meeting held in Barcelona on 10 December 2009. Community Media Forum Europe’s Board member Núria Reguero (first speaker on the left in the picture, with the Consell de l’Audiovisual de Catalunya’s adviser, D. Comas and the Catalan Assembly for Social Communication’s representative, L. Bergés) was invited to comment on the decree’s contents, together with speakers from the Catalan Association of Social Communication, during a round table devoted to the third sector’s view. Other round tables were organised representing the Government, the academy and the commercial sector points of view.

The Decree’s draft on non profit media services (Projecte de Decret sobre els serveis de comunicació audiovisuals sense ànim de lucre a Catalunya) aims at introducing the possibility to grant licenses to these media, putting them on the same level as the public and the private sectors. The regulation will be applicable – from the second half of 2010- to media projects from non-profit associations and foundations representing communities currently without access to public and commercial media, that should be open to the participation in management and content production processes to the communities they will serve. Representatives of the community media sector did ask to include important aspects in this draft decree including:

• give priority to the reserve a number of frequencies for the non-profit sector, especially for the oldest operators, who have broadcast since more than 30 years;
• measures of support the sector’s activity through grants, as well as the exemption from the broadcasting license fee;
• eventual programming obligations and simplified administrative procedures that bear in mind that the stations will be mainly staffed by volunteers’, and with limited resources.

Besides the possibility to cover regional as well as local areas, the sector also pointed out the potential problems that could affect the sector if the economic, party or religious institutions were granted with these newly proposed licenses.

The private sector representatives did voice their opposition to the decree appealing to the radio spectrum’s saturation and holding as a responsible for this situation the public sector, which owns a 64% of the frequencies in Catalonia. In respect with this argument, the Government and the media authority underlined on the importance of recognizing the non-profit media sector as the third pillar of the media system as a condition to guarantee a truly democratic and plural media system.

The Catalan Minister of Culture and Media, Joan Manuel Tresserras (first from the left in the picture, with President of the Catalan Audiovisual Council, Ramon Font, on the right), informed that the sector’s regulation was an objective to be accomplished at the present legislature which was motivated for two reasons: to grant the right to communicate and to distinguish the non-profit sector from commercial stations acceding illegally to the radio spectrum, with the latter to be prosecuted and fined.

The forthcoming decree on non-profit media services develops the articles 70 and 71 of the Catalan audiovisual law (Llei 22/2005, de 29 de desembre, de la comunicació audiovisual a Catalunya), the first of its recognising the sector across Spain.

On the same day, also an event for the Spanish community media campaign claiming for the right to communicate, which is not granted on the forthcoming Media General Law, LGA). Further information and audiovisual materials are available on the campaign’s website.

For the fourth year in a row, Radio 1812 will bring together migrant groups
and radios from around the world to celebrate International Migrants Day on
18th December.

Last year, 175 radio stations produced, broadcasted and shared programmes on migration, turning the event into a successful opportunity to make migrants’
voices heard across the world.

This year, 70 radio stations from 28 countries already confirmed their
participation (see below). We will be adding the names of the participants
on a special map which you will find on the home page of the Radio
1812 site.

On the site, you will also find special content which you can re-broadcast,
such as reports on the Global Forum on Migration and Development in
Athens and the Youth Forum in Assilah (French version only).

We are looking forward to welcome you (again) as a participant in this
unique happening.

Please let us know as soon as possible if you want to take part by writing
to the Radio 1812 team at radio1812@december18.net

*To date, we received confirmations from radios in the following countries:
Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Mexico, Moldova,
Morocco, Netherlands, Paraguay, Romania, Senegal, Spain, Thailand, United
Kingdom, Uruguay, and Venezuela. *

A delegation of community radio journalists of the radios members of the
World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, (AMARC) covers the
United Nations International Conference on Climate Change (COP-15), in
Copenhagen, December 7-18.

Broadcast live:
Spanish from 17h00 to 17h30 (GMT)
English from 18h00 to 19h00 (GMT)
French from 19h00 to 20h00 (GMT)

Community Radio stations are invited to download the audio files from
the COP-15 website and broadcast them in their radio stations.
Please visit: http://www.amarc.org/index.php?p=AMARC_cop15_2009_podcast

Here some suggestions:

Recording of the press conference
At the COP15 entitled : « Gender CC – Women For Climate Justice : Gender
into climate change »
By: Sandra Lori Petersen.
Interview to Sabina Voogd - OxfamNobib
The role of OxfamNobib in Africa, and her impressions of the conference
By: Ricardo Costa.

The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, AMARC brings
together a network of more than 4,000 community radios, Federations and
community media stakeholders in more than 15 countries. The main global
impact of AMARC since its creation in 1983 has been to accompany and
support the establishment of a world wide community radio sector that
has democratized the media sector.
For further information visit our website http://www.amarc.org

Kate Lamble, Station Manager Roundhouse Radio writes:

“A month back we had an interview with Ed Vaizey, the shadow minister for culture which touched on the importance of Community Media and funding. I thought it might help the debate, the link is below”

http://www.roundhouseradio.org.uk/listen/344-Arts-Attack—-Ed-Vaizey-Interview.html