Congratulations to Mavic Cabrera Belleza of Isis International, who was with
us in the trenches of the Tokyo regional conference, for her election as VP
for women, in the first AMARC Assembly to be held in Asia.
This was also the opportunity for the Asia Pacific section of AMARC to be
formed! Congratulations again!
We should link up with AMARC Asia Pacific on WSIS work...
> English
> World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
> PRESS RELEASE
>
> March 11, 2003
>
> Community broadcasters demand right to radio spectrum
> THE Eight World Assembly of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC8), held in
> Kathmandu, has insisted the radio spectrum be recognised as part of the
> global commons with guaranteed access to community broadcasters.
> AMARC 8 brought together 260 delegates in Kathmandu, representing more
than
> 2000 community broadcasters. The AMARC Assembly is a four yearly gathering
> and the major global forum for the community media movement. In a final
> declaration (the Kathmandu Declaration), the Assembly called on
governments
> to give community media first access to the radio airwaves.
> Kathmandu Declaration
> The Kathmandu Declaration draws attention to the threats posed by rampant
> militarism, accelerated privatization of the world's basic resources,
> religious fundamentalism and extreme capitalism. The Declaration
recognizes
> the right to communicate is in great jeopardy while many countries are yet
> to sign the United Nation Charter on Human Rights more than 50 years after
> its creation.
> The Declaration endorses the African Charter on Broadcasting and calls on
> all nations and governments to create and implement legislation that
> provides community access and ownership to the airwaves with particular
> attention to the rights of women, children, the disabled and other
> disadvantaged groups
> International Charter
> Delegates to AMARC 8 also agreed an International Charter on Community
> Media. The Charter marks the coming of age for AMARC as a global movement
> representing community broadcasters worldwide. It is the culmination of
> discussions and debate which began in Milan at the AMARC 7 Conference and
> continued at the AMARC 8 Conference in Kathmandu.
> The Charter is based on the belief that radio as the most affordable,
> egalitarian and accessible communication technology, should be harnessed
to
> carry forward the need for social justice and the creation of a better
> world.
> AMARC Asia Pacific
> AMARC 8 was the first time the event had been held in Asia and also led to
> the establishment of an Asia Pacific section of AMARC whose office is to
be
> located in Kathmandu and will be directed by a new regional body of AMARC.
> Elections
> Elections were held at AMARC 8 for the new International Board of AMARC
> which will oversee the organisation for the next four years. The new
members
> of the AMARC International Board are as follows:
>
> President - Steve Buckley (UK)
> Deputy President - Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki (Kenya)
> Treasurer - Elizabeth Robinson (USA)
> Vice President for Women - Maria Victoria Cabrera-Baleza (Philippines)
> Vice President for Africa - Yaya Sangare (Mali)
> Vice President for Asia/Pacific - Bharat Koirala (Nepal)
> Vice President for Latin America - Maria Suarez (Costa Rica)
> & the Caribbean
> Vice President for Europe - vacant
> Vice President - George Christensen (The Gambia)
> Vice President - Frieda Werden (USA)
> Vice President - Stanley Stanis Kaka (Papua New Guinea)
> Acting Secretary General - Michelle Ndiaye Ntab (Senegal)
>
> Resolutions
> At the end of the conference, 22 resolutions were carried. These include
the
> condemnation of the war against Iraq, condemnation of the conflicts in the
> Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast; facilitating ownership
of
> communication by women; and a call on governments of Africa to open the
> airwaves to marginalized and excluded sections of the countries'
population.
>
> AMARC 8 and the World Summit on the Information Society
> AMARC 8 took place at the same time as the Preparatory Committee for the
> World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva. The Kathmandu
> Declaration was transmitted to the closing stages of WSIS preparatory
event
> where AMARC representatives and partners lobbied successfully for the
> recognition of community media as an essential component of a
people-centred
> information and communication environment and for inclusion of the Africa
> Broadcasting Charter into the draft WSIS Declaration.
>
> During the WSIS meeting, AMARC was represented by community radio
producers
> from AMARC Africa who recorded stories from the WSIS proceedings. These
and
> other programmes will be aired on Radio Voices Without Frontiers, AMARC's
> broadcast campaign platform to mark the United Nations Day Against Racism
> and Discrimination on 21 March 2003.
>
> ENDS
>
> For further information contact Shingai Nyoka at AMARC Africa at:
> comofficer@global.co.za or go to www.kathmandu.amarc.org
>