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AMARC
Africa
Quaterly
Bulletin
January/March 2012

No 8

Content
AMARC ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
l Amarc Africa Capacity Building Conference ; Enhancing the Impact of
Community Radio Broadcasters in Africa ...PP 2-3
n The Dakar Conference for Capacity Development :
AMARC Africa Dakar Declaration
l The Tunis Conference........P 3
l World Water Day 2012.......P 3
l International Meeting Community Radios: For a Citizen Information
5, 6, 7 and 8 December, Marrakech......P 4
AMARC AFRICA NETWORKS NEWS
l First Tunisia Community-Associative Media Conference Gafsa, March 12,
13, 14, 2012: The development of community-associative radios
in Tunisia is reinforced.......P 4
MEDIA AND RADIO NEWS
l UGANDA Community Radio in Education........P 5
GLOBAL EVENTS
l The UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio
(Rio+20)......P 6
l The 2nd Free Media World Conference on June 16-18, 2012
in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.......P 6
USEFUL LINKS...;....P 7

Published by AMARC Africa

Publishers:
Oumar SECK NDIAYE (President AMARC Afric)
Franklin HUIZES (Vice President)
Karamoko BAMBA (Treasurer)
Marcelo SOLERVICENS (Secretary General AMARC internationa)
Alymana BATHILY (Coordonnateur AMARC Afrique - alymanab@yahoo.fr)
Editor: Alymana BATHILY

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AMARC Activities and Event

Amarc Africa Capacity Building Conference ; Enhancing the
Impact of Community Radio Broadcasters in Africa
he event brought together more than 80 community radio practitioners and stakeholders to evaluate current project
& activities of the community radio movement in Africa in achieving MDG and development objectives on food security, water & sanitation, HIV-IDS, climate change adaptation & mitigation and good governance. n

The Dakar Conference for Capacity Development :

AMARC Africa Dakar Declaration
e the members of AMARC AFRICA representing
Community Radio stations and networks of
Community Radio stations in West, Central, East
and Southern African countries (Angola, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cameroun, Chad, Cote dIvoire, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia,
Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South
Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda).
Having gathered at the Capacity-building and Knowledgesharing Conference organized by AMARC Africa in Dakar,
Senegal from 24 to 26 January 2012 under the theme
Enhancing the Impact of Community Broadcasting in
Africa.
Meeting against the immediate context of the upheavals for
democratic rights collectively referred to as the Arab
Spring and of an international recession that is fundamentally caused by global inequity in the allocation of power and
resources.
Especially mindful of these ongoing events because of our
mandate as Community Radio stations to enable marginalized and vulnerable communities and groups to claim the
air waves as their communication resource for development and their rightful place in society.
Marking through this Conference the end of a three-year
project on Promoting Development and Good Governance
through Community Radio through which, with the support
of CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency),
selected AMARC member Community Radio stations in
Africa produced and exchanged programmes in partnership with civil society organizations on the burning crosscutting issues of HIV-AIDs, Water and Sanitation, and Good
Governance.
Having, through the evaluation of this and other social
action projects of AMARC, developed further evidence of
the singular and consistent impact of Community Radio in
effectively addressing the critical challenges facing Africa.

AMARC Africa Quartly Bulletin

No 8

At the same time appreciating in the face of these challenges the need for us to build ever greater capacity in all
respects,
We organized four workshops at this Conference on the
respective themes of Climate Change, Womens Participation, Production for Development, and Management
and Sustainability of Community Radio.
Focussing on the particular urgency of the impacts of
Climate Change and the threat it poses to the livelihood and
development efforts of the communities served by
Community Radio, and particularly of women in these communities.
Recognizing the need for Climate Justice, based on the
realization that the fundamental cause of Climate Change
lies outside Africa, even as its poorest communities experience its most severe effects.
We call on ourselves and other member Community Radio
stations to exert the necessary effort, and on partners to
extend support, to achieve the capacity-building required to
understand and communicate effectively on Climate
Change,
Thereby enabling Community Radio to accord top priority
and adopt a holistic approach to Climate Change and the
need for Climate Justice as a cross-cutting issue, permeating all our activities ranging from advocacy to programming
to networking.
And also thus ensuring in particular that local experiences
of Climate Change in Africa are communicated to the international community, for example, at Rio+20 and other
international platforms on Climate Change, to advocate for
urgent international action.
Further, mindful of the fact that women are among the key
drivers of development and yet remain among the most
marginalized in African societies.
We resolve anew to ensure the access of women to the airwaves and the continuing development of Community Radio
January/March 2012

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The Tunis
Conference
ore than a hundred associative and community
media
representatives,
freedom of expression activists and
delegates from international organizations supporting media called for
the institutionalization of the right to
communicate for democracy in the region during the closing of the first AMARC Conference in Mashreq and
Maghreb on Community Media and the Arab Spring,
that was held in Tunis, on March 9 and 10, 2012. The

conference brought together representatives from associative radios and production groups of countries from all
over the region (Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Libya, Palestine
and Tunisia) and from all AMARCs regions, especially SubSaharan Africa. n

World Water Day 2012

his March 22, 2012, AMARC community radio network, in Africa Asia, Latin America, Europe and
North America, ensured the coverage of the World
Water Day 2012 under the theme, Water and Food
Security with local indigenous programs to develop
awareness on and solutions to the challenges to water
and food security.
AMARC Africa and FAO worked with community and rural
radios in 8 countries (Burkina Faso, Cote dIvoire, Ghana,
Guinea, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal) to produce programs
giving voice to highlight the experiences and concerns of
local communities regarding water and food production.
A 15 minutes program in English or French has been produced, broadcasted in each country and uploaded with its
script on the AMARC Web Site to ensure that a large
number of community radios, communicators and the
general public will be able to re broadcast or listen on-line
after the event. n

to promote gender equality at all levels

internally, within the Community
Radio stations; on-air, in the programmes they broadcast; and at the
level of the communities they serve
and the national and international contexts in which they operate.
In particular, we endorse the AMARCAfrica WIN Gender Policy and the
AMARC-Africa WIN Plan of Action
developed by this Conference for formal adoption by the AMARC
PanAfrican Conference in 2013 and
for communication to and implementation by all members even ahead of the
Conference.
We also highlight the emphasis in
these two documents on the revitalization or creation of WIN chapters at
every Community Radio station in
every country, on ensuring that at
least 30% of the staff of Community
Radio stations are women, on training
especially in leadership for women
Community Radio workers, on the fundamental importance of gender mainstreaming in all aspects of Community
Radio operations, through all of this
realizing a special commitment to the
inclusion and empowerment of marginalized women in particular.
Recognizing that its community-centered broadcast programmes are the
vehicles of Community Radio to support their communities in eradicating

poverty and achieving their other

development aspirations.
We renew our commitment to intensify our productions on key development
themes (in addition to Climate Change,
and among others, HIV-AIDS, agricultural development and food security
and the Millennium Development
Goals)
We also call for the training of
Community Radio staff in the production of such programmes, including
and especially participatory approaches that enable community members,
particularly the least voiced among
them, to drive the programme development process.
We also look towards other fora and
platforms, including fairs, through
which Community Radio stations may
share best practice.
Knowing that the impact of Community
Radio is directly linked to its sustainability and that such sustainability of
Community Radio has multiple dimensions, including most importantly
human resources, financial capacity
and environmental sustainability,
We actively encourage an integrated
approach to capacity-building and innovation covering all areas of the operations of Community Radio, specifically
singling out at this Conference areas
such as the use of renewable energy
for power and the utilization of ICTs,

AMARC Africa Quartly Bulletin

No 8

especially open-source platforms.

Knowing also from experience that
sustainability is enhanced by a collective and strong organizational development.
We call on AMARC and its member
Community Radio stations, along with
their development partners, to work
together to strengthen Community
Radio national networks and ensure
that they serve as effective hubs for
the coordination and capacity-building
of their members.
Underpinning the potential impact of
Community Radio is the national frequency and regulatory framework in
African countries. While some are
enabling, a few countries continue not
to recognize Community Radio or
where they do, to constrict its development in various ways, including withholding of, or inordinate delays in allocating, frequencies.
We urge African governments, their
regional organizations and their development partners to rectify this situation in keeping with their expressed
commitment to people-centred development, knowing that this is impossible to achieve without communities
having the Right to Communicate
through their own communication
resource, Community Radio. n

Dakar, Senegal, 26 January 2012

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International Meeting Community Radios: For a Citizen

Information 5, 6, 7 and 8 December, Marrakech
n initiative of E-joussour, a community portal for the civil society
in the Maghreb and the
Mashreq, which is a project of Forum
des Alternatives Maroc (FMAS), and in
partnership with the World Community
Radio Broadcasters
Association (AMARC), and the support
of International Media Support (IMS),
more than sixty civil society activists,
journalists, bloggers, experts, trainers
and media professionals gathered in
Marrakech between 5 and 8
December, 2011 to examine public
service broadcasting and community
and associative radios, aiming to promote citizen journalism in Morocco.
Experts and coordinators of community media networks from around the
globe, particularly from Latin America
(Argentina, Brazil), Africa (Ghana,
Senegal, Niger, Egypt, Tunisia), the
Middle East (Palestine) and Europe
(France) conducted various workshops
that focused on the regulating and selfregulating legislative framework needed for this public service sector to
thrive, which will in its turn ensure the
democratization of the Moroccan
media landscape.
An initiative of E-joussour, a community portal for the civil society in the
Maghreb and the Mashreq, which is a
project of Forum des Alternatives
Maroc (FMAS), and in partnership
with the World Community Radio
Broadcasters Association (AMARC),
and the support of International Media
Support (IMS), more than sixty civil
society activists, journalists, bloggers,

experts, trainers and media professionals gathered in Marrakech

between 5 and 8 December, 2011 to
examine public service broadcasting
and community and associative
radios, aiming to promote citizen journalism in Morocco. Experts and coordinators of community media networks from around the globe, particularly from Latin America (Argentina,
Brazil), Africa (Ghana, Senegal, Niger,
Egypt, Tunisia), the Middle East
(Palestine) and Europe (France) conducted various workshops that
focused on the regulating and selfregulating legislative framework needed for this public service sector to
thrive, which will in its turn ensure the
democratization of the Moroccan
media landscape.
Resulting from an exchange of principles and internationally recognized
standards recommended by the

UNESCO, the African Charter of

Radios and the successful experiences
around the world, the Marrakech declaration on Community and Associative
Media was adopted by the participants
who agreed on the following points:
Resulting from an exchange of principles and internationally recognized
standards recommended by the
UNESCO, the African Charter of
Radios and the successful experiences
around the world, the Marrakech declaration on Community and Associative
Media was adopted by the participants
who agreed on the following points:
the need for a legislative and regulatory framework recognizing and facilitating a pluralistic 3tier broadcasting system with a public sector, a private sector and a community sector, an equal
access to the frequencies for all 3
sectors and an independent regulatory authority. n

AMARC Africa networks news

First Tunisia Community-Associative Media Conference Gafsa,
March 12, 13, 14, 2012: The development of community-associative radios in Tunisia is reinforced
rom March 12 to 14, more than 60 representatives
from Radio 6, the first Tunisian community radio,
Mines radio (Sawt el Manajem) of Gafsa, the three R
Internet radio from Rgeb, and other production groups projects from Kasserine and other towns gathered with radios
and production groups representatives from Morocco,
Libya, Egypt, Palestine and Jordan as well as with civil society groups representatives from Gafsa during the first training conference on associative radio in Tunisia.
The conference took on a highly interactive form on the initiative of participants, turning it into a space to share experiences and practices and paying tribute to the accumulated experience by the associative and community radios
world movement of the World Association of Community
Radio Broadcasters network.
The topics tackled included the evaluation of the legislatives
progresses in regards to freedom of expression in Tunisia
since the democratic revolution and in the lights of the international standards and the challenges of the insufficient
progresses regarding the facilitation of the establishment of

AMARC Africa Quartly Bulletin

citizen associative radios both in terms of access to equipment and in terms of getting radio broadcasting licences.
Participants also tackled practical topics linked to content
development in accordance with associative radios mission,
womens participation, the definition of the programming,
strategies in order to ensure the radios durability, deontology code of ethics elements and furthered as well the reinforcement of relationships between radios and Internet
radio production centers and with other countries of the
region and the world.
The first AMARC training on associative radio in Tunisia,
organized by radio Sawt el Manajem and AMARC, with the
support of Tunisian production groups and radios allowed
the concretization in plans of action the debate of the Arab
Spring and Community Media, held on March 9 and 10 in
Tunis, and relied upon the support and participation of the
Community Media Network from Jordan (CMN),
International Media Support (IMS), E-Joussour Portal and
with the financial support of Oxfam Novib, UNESCO and
EED. n

No 8

January/March 2012

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Media and radio news

UGANDA

Community Radio in Education

adio has always been considered the cheapest and

main communication tool across various communities,
but access to these tools was very limited to the rural
communities.
Radio, was a common tool and well known to the people but
community radio broadcasting was a new initiative the community had never heard of, that is; local people had never
thought of getting involved in making and presenting programmes themselves.
Since establishment in 2003, Nakaseke community radio
has served as a knowledge portal for the poor underserved
communities, broadcasting programmes ranging from agriculture, health, education, community development, gender
issues, entertainment and many others.
The Radio operates under Nakaseke Community Multimedia
Centre, which is located at Nakaseke Town Council headquarters, Nakaseke district; a newly created district located
about 75 km north of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.
The centre was established in 1997 as part of a series of
pilot initiatives to introduce, test, disseminate and assess
the impact and viability of CMCs in Africa.
Education, as one the stations main programme focus, and
considering the low literacy levels and poor performances in
the district, Nakaseke Community radio together with primary teachers from government and private schools started a special programme (The Radio Quiz Competition) aiming at uplifting the standards of the pupils for better performance.
The programme targets schools from Nakaseke district,
which has a total of 95 primary schools (both government
and private), and 13,401 pupils, with a 1:75 teacher - pupil
ratio.
These schools are scattered in different localities, making
transport to the station difficult, hence limiting their participation, but the radio bridges the digital gap by reaching out
to the rest of the pupils.
The Radio Quiz Competition runs live every Sunday over the
community radio. Three schools are hosted, each school
represented by two pupils in a live question and answer session, conducted by a panel of examiners (teachers). The winning schools advance to a next round and the process continues up to the final stage.
Winning schools are usually awarded accordingly with
prizes, mostly scholastic materials, these given by listeners
(parents), NGOs/CBOs and some local leaders. The
Nakaseke Radio has also provided a trophy for the wining

AMARC Africa Quartly Bulletin

No 8

school.
This years competition attracted 45 primary schools. Five
schools were in the final, which was held on Sunday, 23rd,
October, 2011 at Nakaseke Community Multimedia Centre.
St. Joseph Kiziba R.C won the trophy for the third year running, collecting 57 points.
Since establishment in 2006, the competition has helped in;
Promoting confidence among the learners.
Uplifting the academic standards in Nakaseke district and
Uganda at large.
Enabling teachers from government and private schools to
share views and ideas related to performance uplifting.
Enabling teachers to evaluate their teaching.
Promoting competition among the learners which in the end
helps them succeed
Exposing the pupils to the outside environment other than
the class and school only.
Other achievements
Pupils who participate in this program always pass with flying colors; now for six years since establishment, the
involved pupils have scored first and second grades.
Confidence among learners has been developed
Reading and listening skills have been promoted among the
learners
Pupils have also benefited from the free computer trainings
every year provided by Nakaseke Telecentre.
Community Involvement
The (radio quiz) programme is run by teachers and principals of the different schools with the help of the radio staff.
These teachers set questions, examine pupils and also provide more correct answers and explanations to questions
that the pupils fail. School heads also provide transport for
their children to the station and back.
Local NGOs and CBOs have also been very influential in this
programme, as they have always provided presents
(scholastic materials) that are awarded to best performers,
sometime buy air time for the quiz sessions, and some have
provided full and half bursaries to best performing pupils.n
(http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pdf/
AMDI/uganda/amdi_uganda5_radio.pdf)
By SSENABULYA James - Journalist
January/March 2012

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Global Events
The UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio (Rio+20)
he 3rd United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development developpement (UNCSD, CNUD in
French CNUMAD in Portuguese) will be
held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on 2026 June, 2012.
The Conference is generally referred to
as Rio+20 because it will take place
20 years after the 1st United
Conference on Sustainable Development referred to as Eco92 or the Rio
Earth Summit.
That first conference has adopted the
agenda 21 which introduced in the
world agenda such topics as : sustainable development , biodiversity
and the concern for the climate. It also
allowed countries of the South to
organize and advocate for their development.
The second Conference on Sustainable
Development, Rio+10, was held in
2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
According to the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), for
the sustainable development agenda to progress, Rio+20 should in prior-

ity take into consideration the following

points:
1) The dialogue needs to be inclusive the environmental community, the
social community, the private sector
and other partners should be involved
actively.
2) The integration of the environmental, social and economic pillars while
engaging diverse actors - from energy
companies to community groups should be visibly included in the action
plan. The Secretary Generals initiative
on Sustainable Energy for All is a good
and important example for this.
3) To tackle complex and interrelated
global challenges, countries need fair,
effective and responsive institutions
and governments capable of identifying,
implementing, and financing policies
and programming for sustainable development. The role the UN can play on
this in partnership with the international community should be emphasized.
4) Our ability to act is also dependent
on adequate financing. Global capital
and local resources must be mobilized

and used catalytically, if we are to

make good on our commitments for
sustainable development and transition to climate resilient and low-carbon
models.
5) Stepped up south-south and triangular co-operation as well as technology with innovators are essential for our
success.
6) Even as we begin the conversation
about what the post-2015 development framework will look like, every
effort must go into achieving the
Millennium Development Goals we currently have - sustainably and equitably.
7) Better measures such as a new
sustainable development index or a set
of indicators expanding on the Human
Development Index will be needed to
reflect more holistically the value we
ascribe to human development and the
environment.n
http://www.undp.org/content/un
dp/fr/home/ourperspective/ourpe
rspectivearticles/2012/03/22/
on-the-road-to-rio-building-

The 2nd Free Media World Conference on June 16-18, 2012 in

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
he Free Media Forum is a project
initiated by a workshop held during
the World Social Forum held in
Dakar, Senegal on February 2011 with
the participation of media rights and
civil society organizations from all over
the world.
The Forum was called for by a workshop on the Right to Communication
which adopted the above Declaration
of the Assembly on the Right to
Communication, referred to as the
Dakar Charter:
We, actors in the field of alternative
information as well as citizen activists
who use communication as a tool for
social transformation:
Note that, in a global context:
information is held in a stranglehold by
political, economic and industrial forces
and is manipulated by the governments
and States;
4freedom of expression is being
denied, thwarted or repressed;
4there is little or no guarantee for an
unfettered access to information for all
citizens;
4a violent repression is unleashed
upon citizens and actors in the field of
information;
4information is being commodified and
standardized;
4there is an increasing distrust by
public opinion regarding information

conveyed by the mainstream media.

We also note, particularly in Africa:
4an almost total absence of laws
favouring citizens access to information;
4freedom of expression and freedom
of the press being undermined by
repressive laws;
4hindrances and restrictions, if not
outright censorship, placed upon communities who wish to establish community media.
At the same time, we see new perspectives opening up, in the face of this
disturbing situation:
4a greater awareness and ability by
citizens to participate in the production
and circulation of information in order
to promote social justice;
4the emergence of alternative media
and the stepping unto the stage of citizens who contribute to social and political change, as evidenced by recent
events in Tunisia and Egypt.
We declare that the right to communicate is a fundamental right and a common good of humanity.
We commit ourselves to:
4defend, support and promote all initiatives that ensure and extend the
right to communication and information
as a fundamental human right;
4building advocacy for a legislative and
regulatory framework for public, alter-

AMARC Africa Quartly Bulletin

No 8

native and community media, including

ensuring among others a better right
to airwave-access and broadcasting
options;
4recognize and protect the actors and
activists involved in information and
communication around the world;
4create and strengthen synergies
between all actors and activists working towards social transformation;
promote accessibility and popular ownership/mastery of media and information/communication technology by all
citizens, without restriction of gender,
class or origin;
4promote mechanisms for ongoing
communication between the various
actors, participants and organizers of
social forums, including the extended Social Forum as well as the various experiences of shared communication.
4support the development and
strengthening of community and alternative media;
4combat censorship and guarantee
freedom of expression on the Internet;
4work towards the elaboration of a
model that ensures the viability, sustainability and independence of the
alternative media;
4give a central place to issues of communication rights in the thematic
spaces of social forums.

January/March 2012

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Action Plan:
4Center our information campaigns
and awareness-raising activities on key
issues that are on the international
agenda (Rio+20, G8, G20, Palestine
Forum, Durban, etc.).
4Organize a World Forum of Free and
Alternative Media in 2012, as part of
the WSF process.
As actors of communication, we clearly state our support for the Tunisian
and Egyptian peoples, we call on their
governments to lift censorship and to
stop the repression against all citizens
and actors in the field of information.
We also call on all actors of social
change and to unite our forces in the
struggle for the right to information

and communication, without which no

change is possible.
Participating organizations which latter
signed the above Declaration include
organizations from all the continents,
including AMARC, Ritmo(France),
Ciranda (Brasil), Alternatives Maroc
and Ejouisseur (Morrocco).
The Dakar Workshop also decided to
call for a World Forum on Free Media
just before
the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to be held in Rio de
Janeiro on 20-22 June 2012.
Representatives of organizations from
Africa and from the Machrek region
which participated in the Dakar
Workshop met fist in Marrakech,

Morocco, on December 11, 2011 and

in Tunis, Tunisia, on 11March, 2012
and decided to participate in the World
Forum on a common platform.
A third meeting of the African and
Machreki group of representatives is
scheduled to take place in Marrakech
on April 24 to 26, 2012 with the
objectives of adopting the proposed
common platform to be presented at
the World Forum.
A Facebook Page is open on the above
address to facilitate a conversation on
the proposed platform. n
https://www.facebook.com/groups
/367656146601514/

Useful Links
n World Water Day 2012
www.fao.org/getinvolved/ENG
n AMARC :
www.amarc.org/dakar_conf_2012/dakar2012/ENG
www.amarc.org/mena_2012/Tunisia_2012/ENG
www.amarc.org/Marrakech_2012_ENG
n www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/trust/pdf/AMDI/Uganda
n www.un.org/fr/sustainable future

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