"The 52-page report summarised here is the result of the three-year partnership between UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and the Communication for Social Change Consortium in piloting the C4E approach in five least-developed countries: Mozambique, Madagascar, Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. The report present
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s key learning from the information and communication needs assessments conducted in these five countries, funded by a grant from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF). The implementation of the C4E approach consisted of: (i) information and communication assessments to identify the information and communication needs and identify gaps in meeting those needs; (ii) review of the media context based on the existing research at the national level; (iii) programme interventions informed by the findings of the assessment to ensure economically poor and marginalised groups' participation in decision-making processes. Experiences and lessons from testing the C4E approach in Madagascar and Mozambique in 2007-2008 enabled further refining of the C4E approach and informed the information and communication assessments carried out in Ghana, Lao PDR, and Nepal. As a result, the concept of C4E also widened: from an initial conception as part of UNDP's Access to Information work primarily geared to meeting the information and communication needs of the people through specific media strategies - to an approach that promotes inclusive participation, empowerment of economically poor and marginalised people, and accountability of the state to its citizens. These aspects of C4E, thus, make it an integral part of broader democratic governance and development work." (Summary at the "Communication Initiative" website)
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"There are various risks at the local level. On one hand, Nepal lies on a seismically active zone and has a fragile geological structure and, on the other hand, proper policies, government access to rural and remote places, and public awareness and knowledge are lacking. There is an urgent need for
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all sectors to address disaster related issues. Awareness campaigns should be conducted for the initiation of comprehensive disaster risk management. The mass media has to raise its voice on the frequency and intensity of disasters, vulnerabilities, risks, rights, and responsibilities and shape mainstream disaster risk reduction (DRR) programmes into development efforts. The disaster management (DM) cycle should be considered while news and information are collected. Voices of affected communities need to be captured and experts consulted. Information should be provided capturing the voices of communities, experts, civil societies, and government authorities. To make information more accessible, programmes should be catchy, attractive, and entertaining. When does a particular disaster occur? What possible impact can it have? Which community and economic class is eff ected? What are the causes? Such questions and issues have to be considered while preparing reports and terminologies have to be accurate. Media personnel can also focus on disaster preparedness and possible disaster risk reduction measures." (Executive summary)
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"There are many examples in Nepal of radio programs helping in peace building. A few of these examples are included in this book. The personal stories of the radio producers are as interesting and inspiring as the examples of positive impacts their radio programs had in their societies. Success stor
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ies like these boost our confidence with working in peace building." (Publisher's Note, page 1)
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"This guidebook offers instructions for strengthening the organisation of community radio stations, in order to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. The all-embracing essentials of community radio station management, ie, governance and programme/financial/technical management, are discussed i
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n detail. Aspects of these organisational tasks are human resource plans, resource mobilisation, fundraising, accounting, maintenance of equipment and the determination of a clear broadcasting policy. But not only advice for practical matters is given: The publication further discusses the underlying mission, vision and goals of organisations, which are viewed as not sufficiently thought through by many community radio stations, yet crucial for their survival. The guidebooks' step-by-step lists, tables and forms, in part taken from existing community radio stations like Radio Sagarmatha in Nepal, are particularly useful, as they show how theoretical and abstract manuals can be turned into practice." (commbox)
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"This article uses the example of a mobile mixed-media platform – a converted three-wheeled autorickshaw – in Sri Lanka in order to explore whether and how content-creation activities can enable marginalised communities to have a voice. It draws upon research into participatory content-creation
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activities conducted in 15 locations across India, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The main findings are: the need to pay attention to context when thinking about what might be locally appropriate, relevant, and beneficial in terms of participatory content creation; the benefits that can be gained from creatively reaching out to and engaging marginalised groups and encouraging a diversity of voices; the usefulness of locally produced content for generating local debate around local issues; and the benefits of encouraging participation at all stages of content creation, so that content is locally meaningful and might lead to positive social change." (Abstract)
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"Martin Chautari (MC) has been researching various aspects of Nepali media for almost a decade now. In this study, MC’s focus is on one of the major components of the media sector in Nepal, namely, media training, a subject which has so far been neglected by academics and other researchers. In thi
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s study, we focus on various aspects of the current practices of media training in Nepal: institutions involved in media training, training curricula, trainers, trainees, as well as the financial aspects of the training business. Though the research was largely concentrated in the Kathmandu valley (the capital of Nepal) where a majority of the media training providers are located, field research was also carried out in six other urban centers—namely, Nepalgunj and Dhangadi in western Nepal, Butwal and Pokhara in central Nepal, and Dharan and Biratnagar in eastern Nepal (see appendix 3 for a map of Nepal where the field research sites are shown). Hence major cities for media training in all the five development regions of the country were covered in this study. To assess the quality and availability of the media trainings, our research team visited most of the institutions involved in media training in Nepal and interviewed 166 persons in total (see appendices 1 and 2 for lists of the institutions and individuals) between September and November 2009." (Preface, page vi-vii)
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"Nepal's community radio sector has flourished since it liberalized the airwaves for the first time in 1997. Drawing on an established tradition in other areas of the developing world, Nepal embraced community radio for its potential to overcome propagandistic and exclusive national media systems, t
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o bring news and information to remote areas, and to educate people about human rights, equality, health, family planning and sustainable agricultural practices. This thesis has two major objectives: first, to explore how marginalized social groups use radio as a tool of empowerment. It focuses upon the case of Radio Jagaran, a community-based radio station in Butwal, Nepal that uses participatory media to advocate for social justice on behalf of those who are otherwise excluded and discriminated against. Second, it problematizes the ways in which the funding requirements established by the international NGO donor community appear to be re-focusing the programming agendas of grassroots media organizations such as Radio Jagaran. It attempts to highlight the potential implications of donor-led community media projects by drawing attention to the ways 'truths' and 'realities' of poverty, human rights violations and related issues are constructed by CR stations through negotiating what they perceive to be INGO priorities and objectives." (Abstract)
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"The biennial Digital Review of Asia Pacific is a comprehensive guide to the state-of-practice and trends in information and communication technologies for development (ICTD) in Asia Pacific. This fourth edition (2009-2010) features 30 economies and four subregional groupings. The chapters provide u
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pdated information on ICT infrastructure, industries, content and services, key initiatives, enabling policies, regulation, education and capacity building, open source and R&D initiatives, as well as key ICTD challenges in each of the economies covered." (Publisher description)
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"This book is based on conclusion that ethics are nothing but a series of moral qualities. The first chapter, apart from tracing the history of ethics and throwing some light on the concept as such, tries to define ethics. The second chapter outlines the efforts surrounding enforcement of ethics in
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Nepalese journalism apart from reviewing the implementation them. Apart from defining community radio, the third chapter deals in detail with issues related to ethics in community mass media and related areas. In the fourth chapter, since ethics is not a basic or relative law, effort has been made to point out that ethics can undergo changes with time. Fifth chapter tries to incorporate laws which are attracted in the course of information dissemination. The sixth chapter carries differing ethics rendered into Nepali. That will contribute to the task of carrying out comparative analyses. Together with this, a compilation of the ethics enforced in Nepal until now have been carried as annexures." (Foreword)
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"This report investigates the impact media and ICTs can have on the lives of the poor, based on the experiences of nine donors and NGOs forming part of the "Building Communication Opportunities (BCO)" alliance. It suggests that radio will have the most influence on social and political change where
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it is widely accessible, trusted by listeners, and open to inclusive participation. ICTs can help make markets work for the poor, but the surrounding circumstances are highly influential in determining in how far they make a difference. Communication networks appear to be particularly effective in building communities of activists where they enable the pooling of resources and expertise and leverage wider influence on decision-makers. However, the report concludes that evidence of the impact of ICTs is still weak. More debate is needed about how ICTs are best deployed. This requires learning how people really use the tools, as well as a more effective assessment of past and current experiences." (CAMECO Update 1-2009)
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"This is an introduction to the collective marketing strategy with a regional and thematic emphasis on Nepalese community radio stations. In this publication, airtime is viewed as the "product" that all community radio stations sell, and which builds a link between them, as well as their mutual aim
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to contribute to the social progress of their communities. Hence, this publication suggests building partnerships to support each other in various contexts, eg, by sharing programmes on topics like immunisation, which are relevant for many radio stations, or by assisting each other in finding sponsorships or advertisers. The term "collective" refers to partnerships of Nepalese community radio stations amongst each other, either on a national or a regional level, or amongst those who have something else in common, although partnerships can also be built by community radio stations and commercial radio stations. The text includes an explanation of the principles of social marketing, and considers its specific features in relation to community radio. The desired structure and the underlying principles that follow this strategy are also discussed. All in all, the publication can inspire radio activists who wish to improve the programmes and the promotion of their radio stations by building a network with others." (commbox)
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"This is an overview of strategic planning tools designed for Nepalese community radios. In plane language, it introduces to the basics of strategic planning, situation and stakeholder analysis, long-term vision and guiding principles, identification of risk factors, definition of indicators and the
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implementation of strategic planning. Many graphs and tables illustrate and facilitate the use of the different concepts, as well as the concrete example of a strategic plan in the annex. Every issue is treated quite briefly, so maybe reading this manual will not be enough to really start a strategic planning process. Nevertheless, it serves the purpose of an introduction quite well." (CAMECO Update 3-2009)
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