Promoting Community Media in Africa

"In recent years, there has been a gradual liberalisation of media and a growing phenomenon of community media in African countries. However, many of the existing or emerging community media do not possess the economic, technical and human resources required for sustainability. In its communication strategy and programme for Africa, UNESCO [the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization] accords priority to encouraging and supporting the creation and sustenance of such media which help to expand the possibilities of more and more people gaining access to the media, participating in the communication process, receiving and imparting news and information and articulating their needs, views and opinions on issues which impact their lives. It is in the perspective of the priority given to community media that UNESCO, in collaboration with the Government of Uganda, organised a regional seminar on promoting community media in Africa in Kampala in June 1999. The principal purpose of the seminar was to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences about approaches to developing community media and to formulate strategies for promoting and enhancing the development of community media in African countries.

In preparation for the seminar, UNESCO commissioned a number of papers and case studies to provide a background for the deliberations. These papers described the development of community media in West, East and Southern Africa. There also described the experiences in South-East Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. In addition, there were five case studies of country-specific experiences in developing community media in Africa. This publication presents the edited texts of those background papers and a synthesis of the proceedings as well as recommendations of the regional seminar."

Contents:
Introduction - S.T.Kwame Boafo

1. If Community Media is the Answer, What is the Question? - Alfred E. Opubor
2. The Development of Community Media in East and Southern Africa - L. Muthoni Wanyeki 
3. The Development of Community Media in English-speaking West Africa - Kwame Karikari 
4. The Development of Community Media in French-speaking West Africa - Yao Ahade 
5. The Development of Community Media in South-East Asia - Louie Tabing
6. The Development of Community Media in the Caribbean - Colin H. Cholmondeley 
7. The Development of Community Media in Latin America - Vicente Brunetti
8. Case Studies - Ruth O. Ochieng, Mfundo Majozi, Jean-Pierre Ilboudo, Jennifer Sibanda 
9. Regional Seminar on Promoting Community Media in Africa: Synthesis, Proceedings and Recommendations