First Conference of Community Radio in Africa-Middle East and North Africa

Rabat 22-24 October 2007

Rabat Declaration

We the members of AMARC gathered in Rabat from the 22-24 October 2007 in the First Conference of Community Radios from Africa the Middle East and North Africa, invited by the Chair of Orbicom/UNESCO of Rabat, by the Ministry of Communications of the Kingdom of Morocco and by the UNESCO Office in Rabat, declare that we reiterate our support to all the recommendations of the Amman Declaration adopted by the 9th World Congress of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC 9) held in Amman, Jordan, in November 2006.

Recalling that declaration and considering the proceedings and exchanges in Rabat under the theme of « Sharing experiences for Development and Democracy Building from the Grassroots » in Africa and in the MENA region :

We start by recalling that we understand by Community Radio as: « a radio station that is the property and is controlled by a not for profit organisation whose structure allows members of the community to adhere and to participate in the management, exploitation and programming. The programming should reflect the diversity of the market the radio station is authorised to serve ».[1]

In reference to the mission of Community radio :

1. We call the governments in the two regions, of Africa and MENA, with urgency and to consider as a priority to :

Liberalise the legislative framework of the Media systems and to recognise the need for :
- A Pluralist and independent public broadcasting service;
- A commercial broadcasting service whose regulation encourages the respect of objectives of public utility;
- A community broadcasting service assimilated to a public interest, in the sense that it should conform to the recognised definition of public interest, with guarantees of independence at the editorial and institutional level, of pluralism and of diversity of contents;
A system of allocation of frequencies that encourages and enables the birth of not for profit community media in the two regions.
Regulation authorities that are independent from the government and of any power, thus guaranteeing the freedom of expression, pluralism and the diversity of Medias and contents.

2. We state unanimously in relation to the MENA Region :

That in the majority of the countries of the region, there is misunderstanding or lack of knowledge regarding the important positive impact of community radio in achieving development and democratic objectives;
That some pioneer experiences of community radios, in the region, may disappear because of diverse obstacles such as, the existence diverse forms of authoritarian public policies, the lack of regular and diversified sources of financing, and as the result of insufficient training and technical capabilities of community radio practitioners and even, in some cases, the insecurity that may surround the existence of citizen experiences and initiatives.
That in the majority of the countries of the region, the dominant form of expression media is the state monopoly of communication, thus inspiring policies that go against cultural and linguistic diversity, plurality of voices and words, and the independence of content producers;
That civil society in the MENA region often lacks awareness of the role played by community media in promoting the democratic and development values defended by the civil society. We notice nonetheless that in some countries of the region, civil society organisations are willing to engage in the community radio sector, in particular women movements and associations.
That even in the few countries where some experiences of community media have emerged, there remain many weaknesses such as :
- The access to radio station ownership by communities or associations;
- The communication capacities for content production;
- The diversity of the financing of their operations and of their activities;
- The participation of the communities deserved in the management of community media and in the production of contents;
- Secure and encouraging working conditions, especially in conflict and crisis contexts (Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Afghanistan…)
- The equal representation of all sectors of society, particularly women and youth;
- The solidarity and exchanges among the community media.

3. We state and we call for, unanimously with regards to the Africa Region :

That we, all members of AMARC, need to refer constantly to the African Charter of Communications;
That the African union(AU) should recognize community radio as a public service radio and encourage governments to give them necessary support and working conditions that are secure, particularly in conflict areas, such in the countries of the Horn of Africa;
That the African Networks and Institutions of Regulation of Communications should take into account the importance of community radios and of the need to promote enabling legislative and regulation frameworks;
That community radios, a guarantee of the right to information of their communities, should produce information programmes that respond to the interest of this communities, thereby increasing the capacity of the said communities to participate in the economic, social and political life of their countries;
That community radios request to donors, with insistence, to continue supporting them in a proper and consequent manner, including for five year periods. Such a support should seek to maintain community radio independence from government power, respect the interest of their listeners, that are the communities themselves and because their support to community media financing is the best way to guarantee such and independence.

4. In relation to the participation of international organizations

We state that the international organisations and donors do not engage in a constant and consequent manner in accompanying the birth of community media or in the consolidation of the few experiences that exist in the MENA region;
We state that there is lack of information on the programmes and activities supporting community media by those international organisations;
We call upon the International intergovernmental organisations and all the UN system to call upon the governments of the MENA region to include into their legislative and legal frameworks the community media sector and to promote all types of support to grassroots communications;
We call upon the follow-up instances of the World Summit on The Information and knowledge Society to call upon governments to effectively incorporate in their national strategies for knowledge societies, the concept of community media;
We call upon the governments of the MENA region to act, in reference to the media sector, to effectively implement the European-Mediterranean Charter in terms of the promotion of cooperation programmes, within the framework of a « social, cultural and human partnership » for a mutual dialogue, mainly between the North and the South of the Mediterranean
We call upon the governments in the two regions, Africa and MENA, to consider the community media as an essential tool for achieving development objectives, in the struggle against poverty, for the democratization of society and of its media landscape;
We insist that community media should benefit from legal and political guarantees of their independence in managing its financial resources and in setting up their programming;
WE call upon AMARC to support at the international level, at the regional level as well as at the national level the advocacy initiatives of the civil society that seek to legalise and promote community media in the broadcasting landscape of Africa and MENA; to consolidate the professional, technical and ethical capacities of the community media actors;
We propose in that respect, that AMARC develops online training through its website, and contributes or supports the initiatives on this field by its members and partners. This programme will be useful to all members of the organisation and particularly for the growing MENA network;
We call upon all participants to the Rabat conference and all AMARC members to consolidate, mainly through electronic means (forums) the experience exchange, training, documentation, and programming, among the members of AMARC in general, and particularly between the Africa and the MENA region.

Statement by the 1st AMARC Africa and MENA Conference of Community radios Regarding the Situation in Palestine Rabat 22/24 October 2007

AMARC protests the actions of the Israeli army of temporarily occupying the frequencies (using very powerful transmitters on the same frequencies) of Palestinian radio and TV stations.
AMARC station member Al Najah University Radio’s frequency was technologically overtaken on the 25th of February 2006 and on June 28th 2007. These actions are immoral and a gross interference in the editorial independence of these stations. Such actions cause emotional damage to the regular listeners of the local station and we call on the Israeli army to refrain from carrying out this action.

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	AMARC \| November 2007 First Conference of Community Radio in Africa-Middle East and North Africa Rabat 22-24 October 2007 Rabat Declaration We the members of AMARC gathered in Rabat from the 22-24 October 2007 in the First Conference of Community Radios from Africa the Middle East and North Africa, invited by the Chair of Orbicom/UNESCO of Rabat, by the Ministry of Communications of the Kingdom of Morocco and by the UNESCO Office in Rabat, declare that we reiterate our support to all the recommendations of the Amman Declaration adopted by the 9th World Congress of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC 9) held in Amman, Jordan, in November 2006. Recalling that declaration and considering the proceedings and exchanges in Rabat under the theme of « Sharing experiences for Development and Democracy Building from the Grassroots » in Africa and in the MENA region : We start by recalling that we understand by Community Radio as: « a radio station that is the property and is controlled by a not for profit organisation whose structure allows members of the community to adhere and to participate in the management, exploitation and programming. The programming should reflect the diversity of the market the radio station is authorised to serve ».[1] In reference to the mission of Community radio : 1. We call the governments in the two regions, of Africa and MENA, with urgency and to consider as a priority to : Liberalise the legislative framework of the Media systems and to recognise the need for : A Pluralist and independent public broadcasting service; A commercial broadcasting service whose regulation encourages the respect of objectives of public utility; A community broadcasting service assimilated to a public interest, in the sense that it should conform to the recognised definition of public interest, with guarantees of independence at the editorial and institutional level, of pluralism and of diversity of contents; A system of allocation of frequencies that encourages and enables the birth of not for profit community media in the two regions. Regulation authorities that are independent from the government and of any power, thus guaranteeing the freedom of expression, pluralism and the diversity of Medias and contents. 2. We state unanimously in relation to the MENA Region : That in the majority of the countries of the region, there is misunderstanding or lack of knowledge regarding the important positive impact of community radio in achieving development and democratic objectives; That some pioneer experiences of community radios, in the region, may disappear because of diverse obstacles such as, the existence diverse forms of authoritarian public policies, the lack of regular and diversified sources of financing, and as the result of insufficient training and technical capabilities of community radio practitioners and even, in some cases, the insecurity that may surround the existence of citizen experiences and initiatives. That in the majority of the countries of the region, the dominant form of expression media is the state monopoly of communication, thus inspiring policies that go against cultural and linguistic diversity, plurality of voices and words, and the independence of content producers; That civil society in the MENA region often lacks awareness of the role played by community media in promoting the democratic and development values defended by the civil society. We notice nonetheless that in some countries of the region, civil society organisations are willing to engage in the community radio sector, in particular women movements and associations. That even in the few countries where some experiences of community media have emerged, there remain many weaknesses such as : The access to radio station ownership by communities or associations; The communication capacities for content production; The diversity of the financing of their operations and of their activities; The participation of the communities deserved in the management of community media and in the production of contents; Secure and encouraging working conditions, especially in conflict and crisis contexts (Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, Afghanistan…) The equal representation of all sectors of society, particularly women and youth; The solidarity and exchanges among the community media. 3. We state and we call for, unanimously with regards to the Africa Region : That we, all members of AMARC, need to refer constantly to the African Charter of Communications; That the African union(AU) should recognize community radio as a public service radio and encourage governments to give them necessary support and working conditions that are secure, particularly in conflict areas, such in the countries of the Horn of Africa; That the African Networks and Institutions of Regulation of Communications should take into account the importance of community radios and of the need to promote enabling legislative and regulation frameworks; That community radios, a guarantee of the right to information of their communities, should produce information programmes that respond to the interest of this communities, thereby increasing the capacity of the said communities to participate in the economic, social and political life of their countries; That community radios request to donors, with insistence, to continue supporting them in a proper and consequent manner, including for five year periods. Such a support should seek to maintain community radio independence from government power, respect the interest of their listeners, that are the communities themselves and because their support to community media financing is the best way to guarantee such and independence. 4. In relation to the participation of international organizations We state that the international organisations and donors do not engage in a constant and consequent manner in accompanying the birth of community media or in the consolidation of the few experiences that exist in the MENA region; We state that there is lack of information on the programmes and activities supporting community media by those international organisations; We call upon the International intergovernmental organisations and all the UN system to call upon the governments of the MENA region to include into their legislative and legal frameworks the community media sector and to promote all types of support to grassroots communications; We call upon the follow-up instances of the World Summit on The Information and knowledge Society to call upon governments to effectively incorporate in their national strategies for knowledge societies, the concept of community media; We call upon the governments of the MENA region to act, in reference to the media sector, to effectively implement the European-Mediterranean Charter in terms of the promotion of cooperation programmes, within the framework of a « social, cultural and human partnership » for a mutual dialogue, mainly between the North and the South of the Mediterranean We call upon the governments in the two regions, Africa and MENA, to consider the community media as an essential tool for achieving development objectives, in the struggle against poverty, for the democratization of society and of its media landscape; We insist that community media should benefit from legal and political guarantees of their independence in managing its financial resources and in setting up their programming; WE call upon AMARC to support at the international level, at the regional level as well as at the national level the advocacy initiatives of the civil society that seek to legalise and promote community media in the broadcasting landscape of Africa and MENA; to consolidate the professional, technical and ethical capacities of the community media actors; We propose in that respect, that AMARC develops online training through its website, and contributes or supports the initiatives on this field by its members and partners. This programme will be useful to all members of the organisation and particularly for the growing MENA network; We call upon all participants to the Rabat conference and all AMARC members to consolidate, mainly through electronic means (forums) the experience exchange, training, documentation, and programming, among the members of AMARC in general, and particularly between the Africa and the MENA region. Statement by the 1st AMARC Africa and MENA Conference of Community radios Regarding the Situation in Palestine Rabat 22/24 October 2007 AMARC protests the actions of the Israeli army of temporarily occupying the frequencies (using very powerful transmitters on the same frequencies) of Palestinian radio and TV stations. AMARC station member Al Najah University Radio’s frequency was technologically overtaken on the 25th of February 2006 and on June 28th 2007. These actions are immoral and a gross interference in the editorial independence of these stations. Such actions cause emotional damage to the regular listeners of the local station and we call on the Israeli army to refrain from carrying out this action. WADI e.V. \| tel.: (+49) 069-57002440 \| fax (+49) 069-57002444 http://www.wadinet.de \| e-mail: