Gender Policy for Community Radio

This 5-page document, produced by the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), is intended to serve as a tool to ensure gender equality in community radio stations. It seeks to explain what gender equality means in community radio and how it can be achieved. It is designed to demonstrate the necessary measures that need to be taken to enable and encourage women's equal participation in all fields and levels of the radio station.

According to the author, community radio has an obligation to redress gender imbalances by facilitating women’s involvement at all levels of decision-making and programming, ensuring that women’s voices and concerns are part of the daily news agenda and are portrayed positively as active members of society, and supporting women to acquire the technical skills and confidence to control their communications. The policy was created based on the belief that community radio is part of a progressive social movement, and as such, stations should initiate and strengthen ties with progressive women’s movements. Stations also have an obligation to implement and enforce an ethical policy that includes respect for women and equality as one of its cornerstones.

The Gender Policy, which has been produced in a wide range of languages, consists of the following sections:

• Section I: Women’s access to the airwaves
• Section II: Women’s representation on air
• Section III: The special needs of minority women
• Section IV: Women’s representation at all levels of station management
• Section V: The use of appropriate technology
• Section VI: Funding and capacity-building for women’s radio