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Saturday, August 9, 2008

[ALOCHONA] Community Radio

Community Radio arrives, at last
 
by Shafiq Rahman
 
Community Radio is finally taking off in Bangladesh. The government has already declared 116 organizations eligible for setting up Community Radio stations. The final go-ahead will come from the Home Ministry which is at the moment scrutinizing the selected organizations' background. If there are no further obstacles, the Community Radio's may go on air in December.

Earlier the government invited applications from organizations interested to set up Community Radio stations. A whopping 400 organizations, mainly NGOs and some government departments and research institutes, submitted applications. After screening, the government finally approved of 116 organizations.

AHM Bazlur Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of the NGOs Network for Radio and Communications (BNNRC), terms it a milestone achievement. He believes Bangladesh will make big strides towards development and democracy through the Community Radio. Today Community Radio is considered the best tool for bridging the huge gap between the info-rich and the info-poor, Rahman observed. Kamrul Hassan Monju, Executive Director of Massline Media Center (MMC), who along with Bazlur Rahman has been at the forefront of the decade-long advocacy campaign for Community Radio, is also very excited at the recent developments. Community Radio will play a vital role in escalating development initiatives. It will act as a link between the disadvantaged communities and local administration.

The Community Radio campaign took off in 1996. When the government announced that it was awarding licenses for private organizations to set up radio and television stations, 26 organizations applied for establishing FM radio while MMC sought permission for establishing Community Radio. However, bureaucratic dillydallying and a sense of suspicion on the part of the government about Community Radio, deprived MMC from getting a license, says Monju.

Things began to turn for the better after the incumbent government came to power. It was quite positive about the Community Radio issue from the very outset. And finally the government declared the Community Radio Installation, Broadcast and Operation Policy 2008 on 12 March 2008. The policy opens up the opportunity to establish Community Radio stations. As a technology, it is cheap and something the poor in Bangladesh can afford, Monju said.

Another organization that played a crucial part in making Community Radio a reality in Bangladesh is the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). As in different parts of the world, UNESCO Dhaka undertook various awareness raising events, seminars, workshops and lobbied with the government to boost the largely civil society led campaign for Community Radio that finally resulted in the approval of Community Radio by the government. UNESCO also brought out a pamphlet and developed programs for Community Radio with a bid to make people in the rural areas understand what Community Radio is and how it can change their lives.

UNESCO's Communications and Public Relations Officer Shamim Ahsan points out that in many developing countries of Latin America and Africa and recently in South Asia, Community Radio has proved to be a strong medium of communication as far as giving disadvantaged rural communities access to information is concerned. Community Radio's greatest aspect is that it enables communities to address crucial social issues at a community level, such as poverty, social exclusion as well as empowers marginalized rural groups and catalyzes democratic processes and development efforts, Ahsan says.
When asked about the possible challenges, Ahsan admits that there are some, including those of political interests that might try to establish control over the Community Radio stations to further their respective agenda. "But if the people of the community can be involved with the radio in a way that they feel they are the owners, they won't allow any unwanted interference," he adds.
 

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[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
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