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style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">AMARC
Asia Pacific Welcomes Approval of Community Radio Licenses in
Bangladesh<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></P>
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style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Kathmandu,
April 27, 2010. Asia Pacific Region of the World Association of Community Radio
Broadcasters, AMARC-Asia Pacific has welcomed the recent decision of the
Government of Bangladesh to approve 12 community radio licenses. This is the
first time in the history of Bangladesh that community radio licenses have been
approved. The approval follows the community radio policy introduced in
Bangladesh in March 2008. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
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style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Welcoming
the decision of the Government of Bangladesh Ashish Sen, Vice President for
AMARC Asia Pacific has congratulated BNNRC and other civil society based actors,
and policy & state level supporters for their unrelenting efforts for making
this happen. “I am greatly encouraged by this latest development in the
community radio sector of Bangladesh. This would augur well for the rest of
South Asia as more skies could be expected to open up for community based
airwaves”, he said. Likewise, Raghu Mainali, Vice President for AMARC South Asia
has said that the approval of licenses in Bangladesh was long awaited and hoped
for more licenses to be approved in near future. “We have been looking forward
to this and would like to reiterate </SPAN><SPAN lang=EN-GB
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">AMARC’s
continued support to members and partners in Bangladesh for the development of
community radio in that country”, he said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">Out
of the 12 licenses approved on April 21<SUP>st</SUP>, 11 will be operated by
civil society based organizations and one will be operated by a government
agency. Earlier, AMARC International saluted the decision of the Government of
Bangladesh for approval of the licenses. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">-Ends-<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'"><FONT
face="Times New Roman">About AMARC:<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; LINE-HEIGHT: normal; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">AMARC is an
international non-governmental organization serving the community radio movement
in over 115 countries, and advocating for the right to communicate at the
international, national, local and neighborhood levels. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">Through
service to members, networking and project implementation, AMARC brings together
a network of more than 4,000 community radios, federations and community media
stakeholders in more than 115 countries. Since its creation in 1983, AMARC has
supported the establishment of a worldwide community radio sector that has
democratized the global media landscape. AMARC advocates for the right to
communicate at the international, national, local and neighborhood levels and
defends and promotes the interests of the community radio movement through
solidarity, networking and cooperation. </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'">AMARC has an
International Secretariat in Montreal. It has regional sections in Africa, Latin
America and Asia Pacific and offices in Johannesburg, Buenos Aires, Brussels,
and Kathmandu. For more information, please visit <A
href="http://www.asiapacific.amarc.org/">www.asiapacific.amarc.org</A> or
contact <A
href="mailto:suman_basnet@asiapacifc.amarc.org">suman_basnet@asiapacifc.amarc.org</A></SPAN></FONT></P></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4>Bazlu<BR>_______________________<BR>AHM. Bazlur Rahman-S21BR<BR>Chief
Executive Officer<BR>Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and
Communication(BNNRC)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4>House: 13/1, Road:2, Shaymoli,
Dhaka-1207 <BR>Post Box: 5095, Dhaka 1205 Bangladesh<BR> <BR>Phone:
88-02-9130750, 88-02-9138501<BR>01711881647 Fax:
88-02-9138501-105<BR> <BR>E-mail: </FONT><A
href="mailto:ceo@bnnrc.net"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4>ceo@bnnrc.net</FONT></A><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4>, </FONT><A
href="mailto:bnnrc@bd.drik.net"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4>bnnrc@bd.drik.net</FONT></A><BR><A href="http://www.bnnrc.net"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=4>www.bnnrc.net</FONT></A></DIV>
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