THE 3RD REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON COMMUNITY MEDIA LAUNCHED IN JORDAN

Jordan, 25 Rabi’ul Akhir 1435/25 February 2014 (MINA) – The 3rd Regional Conference for the community radio networks was launched in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

The conference entitled “Our Independent Voices” is organized by Community Media Solutions with the participation of the Palestine News Network (PNN) and representatives for the six community radio networks.

The conference began with the participation of nine Arab countries including: Bahrain, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Oman, Algeria, Jordan and Libya, Palestine News Network (PNN) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

At the beginning of the conference, the Director General of the Community Media Network in Jordan, Daoud Kuttab, welcomed the audience and said that the conference aims at developing the idea of community media. Kuttab called the participants to work on developing the idea of the community media and to exert pressure on their countries’ governments to set rules that open the opportunity to operate these kinds of community radio networks.

Kuttab explained the “Our Voices” project, which is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, expressing hope that this project would continue and develop.

He added that the “Our Voices” project seeks to develop, stating that the work is now expanding to include more Arab countries. The participation of the community radio networks in this conference is proof of the importance of the project’s idea.

Kuttab also said that the Project’s administration has obtained the European Union’s grant to use the SIDA fund that enables the partner institutions from the various six countries to use the fund. All the countries can provide projects for the fund in order to develop the work of the community radio networks and to ensure its continuity. In addition, the civil society institutions may benefit from the fund, considering it a new achievement that may be added to the idea.

Dr. Amjad Al Qadi, President of the Audiovisual Commission in Jordan, also participated in the conference. He welcomed, on behalf of Jordan, the participant countries, the partner radio networks and the international institutions. Al-Qadi also thanked the conference’s administration for choosing Jordan to be the place where the conference took place, adding that Jordan is supporting the community radio networks. According to al-Qadi, one of the current issues that Jordan is working to eradicate is charging these radio networks because there is a perception that community radio plays a prominent role in the development of societies.

The Palestine Issue on Community Radio Networks

Al-Qadi called the representatives of the community radio networks to consider the issue of Palestine in the media, stressing the importance of making Palestine an important part of the programs of the radio community networks. He added that the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) has created a prize for best film on Palestine.

“We are happy to be part of the development of the community radio idea, which started in America in the forties, and then extended to Africa and Asia.” Director of CMSolutions, Steve Buckley said, “Now it’s being implemented in the Arab world within an international movement that aims at reinforcing the voice of the communities.”

Buckley added that, “Nowadays, we have dozens of community radio networks operating in the Arab world, but we still witness attempts to fight this idea in Syria, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen.” He pointed out that, “One of these radio networks was shut down in Kurdiya area in Syria, but due to international and civil community pressure it was re-opened.”

Buckley stated at the EU Summit that “we are in the presence of representatives from nine Arab countries who want to strengthen the economy of these radio networks. Therefore, we have established a private fund that after nine months raised the money to finance these projects.” Work is still underway on other projects.

He clarified that this fund would be open to establishing and supporting community radio projects, emphasizing the importance of the idea. He also thanked the Swedish development agency SIDA for their support and confidence in the community radio project.

Muna Barghouth, Representatives of SIDA, thanked all those who support this project in a region that is experiencing changes, adding that SIDA’s plan is to support and help development projects, human rights, respect for traditions of the countries, and creation of partnerships with civil society institutions.

She confirmed that the nature of cooperation in SIDA’s plan aims to promote economic development, equality, human rights, and good governance by supporting freedom of expression in the issues of youth and women in the community.

“We seek to build the capacity and support the emergence of networks that are transparent and accountable, and the media has an important role in doing so,” she continued. “These programs and community radio demand accountability, but they need to highlight and deliver the voices of the marginalized girls according to the code of ethics.

UNESCO representative in Jordan, Konstanza Farina, said that UNESCO had a privileged with the idea of the community radios, considering it an important issue because people express their opinions in front of high ranking officials. This is an important factor in the stability of a society, especially when relating to the technological revolution that will strengthen a community. Youth and women must be supported in their roles to initiate change rather than to be a targeted group of marginalization or mistreatment. The representative added that community radio is an important tool in terms of change, and praised the success of the project and readiness of the communities to cooperate with the project.

Representative of the World Association of Community Radios Sawsan Zaidah said that she was happy for the chance to meet with representatives of thirteen Arab countries working on a community radio project because it is a very positive way of making a difference. She added that the International Federation of Radio supports the spread of community radio in Arab countries, and stressed that the majority of countries at the conference supported this as well.

Zaidah confirmed that the conference represents an opportunity to review the media environment of the Arab community and states that it is a good opportunity for community broadcasters seeking to modify their laws but stresses that there is much more to be done to the bad laws that still exist.

A discussion has started between representatives of community radio networks and the conference’s administration about the form and details of the next stage for promoting the idea of the radio networks in the Arab counties. The conference will continue until February 28th, and will address the experiences of the community radio networks and the challenges faced in various countries, and will seek to establish more radio networks, especially in countries where there are no radio stations yet. (T/P015/P04/E01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)