Removing Barriers, Increasing Effectiveness - amarc

Community Radio is part of a political non-partisan communication process.Community radio is a social actor of the development process. Community radiocan initiate or accompany social change and carries responsibility to be effectivein facilitating civil society development and achieving development objectives anddemocracy building. The participation of community radio practitioners andstakeholders in social movements was indicated as an important factor inachieving increased social impact.Exclusion and marginalizing, particularly of women The participants identifiedexclusion of women as a key social challenge that can be confronted bycommunity radio. Gender equality is a societal challenge that needs to be tackledspecifically in Community radio if we want to achieve poverty reduction andfacilitate the achievement of development objectives. Gender stereotypes carriedby traditional media are obstacles to the exercise of women rights andempowerment and CR can effectively facilitate women’s inclusion and therecognition and exercise of women’s rights. CR needs to fight exclusion andmarginalizing by engendering CR both in terms of content and access to radiomanagement and in the use of technology.Community Radio Networks and knowledge sharing practices are rare. Eventhough community radio has become a global sector, interaction between regionsis rare and exchanges between CR are rare. Furthermore, systematic impactassessment across borders is almost non existent CR need to strengthen theirown networks and communications and to embed appropriate assessment tools,to document and disseminate good practices and to strengthen networkdevelopment through institutional capacity building and communications.AMARC Community Radio Social Impact Assessment 2007 Page 25 of 128