AMARC Africa Round Table Community Radio

AMARC Africa Round Table Community Radio & its Social Impact: Removing barriers, Increasing Effectiveness

The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) is organizing the Round Table Community Radio Social Impact: Removing barriers, Increasing Effectiveness, the third in a series of regional roundtables. The Roundtable will be hosted by the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), an held in Abuja, Nigeria, on the 5th of July 2006 and will bring together community radio practitioners, advocates, NGO and Donors in order to assess the social impact of community radio in Africa.

The key topics to be discussed by the participants to the Roundtable are:

* Community Radio in Africa Review.

The review will place community radio in the context of poverty reduction, fighting exclusion, developing accountability, the emergence of new ICTs, and its contribution to international development goals. It will focus, in particular, on learning that can improve the effectiveness of community radio in achieving development goals.

* Community radio Impact Assessment.

Assess community radio impact in poverty reduction and to develop tools for community radio impact assessment in Africa. This will include also the generation of new and the review of existing impact assessment material at community, country, international and thematic level that can contribute to the development of the knowledge base and advocacy materials on the impact and effectiveness of community radio;

* AMARC Effectiveness Evaluation.

Engage community radio leaders and stakeholders in a participatory and interactive process contributing to an evaluation of AMARC s effectiveness in relation to its mission and goals and informing its future priorities and strategies. The review will seek to better define expectations of community radio and communications for development stakeholders towards AMARC as a global network and sector lead body.

The AMARC Africa Roundtable is part of the worldwide ongoing evaluation of the CR movement being implemented by AMARC in all its regions that will culminate in the AMARC 9 World Conference to be held in Amman, Jordan from 11-17 November. The first Roundtable was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 5. The second Roundtable for AMARC ALC was held in Lima, Peru, 24-25. All stakeholders are invited to participate in this process adding value to the discussion and facilitating knowledge sharing. The discussion will also provide AMARC an opportunity to learn about your work and to find ways of supporting each other.

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1983, serving the community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the international, national, local and neighbourhood levels.

Grace Githaiga
AMARC Africa Vice-President

For further information visit http://www.amarc.org or contact:
Michelle Ntab, Regional Director AMARC Africa: regionald@amarcafrica.org
Marcelo Solervicens, Secretary General AMARC:
Email. marcelo.solervicens@amarc.org