AMARC LAUNCHES EVALUATION PROCESS OF THE COMMUNITY RADIO MOVEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Lima, Peru, May 26, 2006. The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) launched the Latin American component of the worldwide participatory evaluation process of the community radio movement leading to the AMARC 9, the World Conference of Community Radio Broadcasters, to be held November 11-17 in Amman, Jordan.

The Asia-Pacific Roundtable has already been held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The AMARC Africa Roundtable will be held July 5, 2006.

In a two-day Roundtable, held in the facilities the Peruvian "Coordinadora Nacional de Radios" on May 24-25, and entitled "Community radios and Social Change in Latin America and the Caribbean", representatives of community radios, production centers, community television, civil society organizations, academics, evaluators and communication for development stakeholders in the region, initiated a participatory evaluation process that will combe regional Roundtables, on-line discussions, national workshops, questionnaires, accumulated knowledge and experience gathering and programme evaluations.

The Round Table started by reviewing the general situation of CR and the challenges facing Latin America and Caribbean societies. There were present representatives of organizations and networks working with AMARC LAC, radios and national representations of 18 countries and the heads of AMARC LAC programmes (among others, Gender, capacity building and ICTs, communication rights, Pulsar News Agency, management and environment) reviewed the obstacles created by discriminatory legal frameworks and reflected on the impact of CR in the region. The participants also discussed the participatory management of community radios and the analysis of the communication project of CR in addressing the needs of the peoples of the region.

The participants also explored lines of action, and the perspectives for AMARC LAC and its contribution to the strategic plan of AMARC 2006-2010 and the participation in AMARC 9. The Latin American Roundtable documents will contribute to the AMARC LAC regional evaluation and to the ongoing discussion process in AMARC and will be posted in the coming days in http://www.amarc.org.

Pia Matta, AMARC LAC Vice-president called for "a strong participation of the region in the coming Ninth World Conference of Community Radio Broadcasters AMARC 9, in order to share the knowledge, experiences, learning and perspectives from the oldest community radio movement". The Roundtable also counted on the participation of Elizabeth Robinson in representation of the International Board of AMARC.

To participate in the evaluation or to register in the World Conference of Community Radio Broadcasters, AMARC 9, please visit www.amarc9.amarc.org .
For further information send inquiries to AMARC regional offices or to amarc9info@amarc.org