[commedia] R a d i o v o i x s a n s f r o n t i è r e s

[Michelle McGuire]

Community radio goes global!

R a d i o  v o i x  s a n s  f r o n t i è r e s
(Radio Voices Without Frontiers)
An international broadcast against racial discrimination
March 21, 2002

Thursday, March 21 marks the 41st anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre,
when peaceful demonstrators against apartheid were killed by police in a
town in South Africa. To commemorate this UN International Day Against
Racial Discrimination, community radio stations across five continents will
go on air in a unique joint broadcast co-production.

The broadcast Radio voix sans frontières is co-ordinated by the AMARC, World
Association of Community Radio Broadcasters and will be hosted by National
Community Radio Forum (NCRF) and the Institute for the Advancement of
Journalism in Johannesburg, South Africa, with regional co-ordination points
at Radio Robinhood in Turku, Finland, KCSB-FM in Santa Barbara, California,
and FIRE in Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica. The broadcast will be streamed on the
Internet (http://www.amarc.org/vsf) and relayed via satellite services of
Worldspace (for Africa), ALER (for Latin America), which will be
re-distributed by community radio stations locally.

Radio voix sans frontières is a mosaic of programmes in various languages,
with live and pre-recorded contributions from countries in Africa, Europe,
North and Latin America. Continuity for the live broadcast in Johannesburg
will be provided by an international team of community radio workers from
South Africa, Somalia, Mozambique, Rwanda, The Gambia, India, The
Netherlands and Canada. Unique programme features of the broadcast include:

+ A six-hour co-production by African broadcasters from South Africa,
Somalia, Mozambique, Rwanda, The Gambia.
+ African programming on Human Rights, with a look back at the 2001 World
Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban, and Socioeconomic Rights with a
look at privatisation/trade/debt issues and the upcoming World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg, August-September 2002.
+ a three-hour web cast by FIRE, Feminist International Radio Endeavour in
Costa Rica
+ highlights from the 2002 World Social Forum in Brazil
+ North American programming about the impact of September 11, issues
relating to migrants, women, people trafficking, reparations, and
anti-racist practice.

Full programme and satellite details and updates are available on the
broadcast Web site http://www.amarc.org/vsf

For interviews and further information, contact:

International ­ Elvira Truglia, AMARC-International
Tel. +514-982-0351; e-mail: elvira.truglia at amarc.org

for Europe
Sixbert Musangamfura, Radio Robinhood (Turku, Finland)
Tel. 02-2773 666, E-mail: info at radiorobinhood.fi sixbert at radiorobinhood.fi

for Africa
Mabalane Mfundisi, NCRF
Tel. 011 403 4336 or 083 558 7649 E-mail: mabalane at ncrf.org.za

for Latin America
Maria Suarez, FIRE (Costa Rica)
Tel. +506 249 1319 fuegocr at racsa.co.cr  mujeralc at yahoo.com

Visit our website @ http://www.amarc.org/vsf


--
AMARC is the French acronym for Association mondiale des radiodiffuseurs
communautaires, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. AMARC
is a world wide grassroots network operating for social purposes and is
independent of governments and large media corporations. AMARC aims to
support, defend and promote the interests of community broadcasters through
solidarity and international co-operation.