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An article by Radios Comunitarias para la Paz (translated by CPNN)
With the presence of the Ambassador in Colombia of the European Union, the High Commissioner for Peace, the Minister of Culture and the Vice-Minister of ICT, an ambitious project of support for community radio is being launched on Thursday 9 February. It seeks to strengthen community radio as a relevant actor in the construction of peace and coexistence.
The project “Community Radios for Peace and Coexistence”, is funded by the Delegation of the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Cooperative Network Of Community Media of Santander, Resander. The project has the support of the Presidency of the Republic through the Conversación más Grande del Mundo, the Office of the High Commissioner for Peace (OACP), the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies .
This project is in addition to other initiatives that recognize the community radios as protagonists of peace building in the territories, and who have confidence in the potential that this sector has. This has been expressed by the European Union Delegation in Colombia, whose Ambassador Ana Paula Zacarías is convinced of the fundamental role that community radio plays in building a stable and lasting peace: “Peace is in the regions and it is there The community broadcasters have their goals, their broadcasts and their audiences. They contribute to strengthening the social fabric and reconciliation, “said the diplomat.
In order to strengthen community radio broadcasters as relevant actors in the construction of a territorial peace and, taking advantage of the celebration of Journalist’s Day, it will open with the program: “This is how peace sounds in the territories”, which will support 50 community stations, granting them more than 600 million pesos for the production and broadcast of radio programs with contents on a culture of peace and coexistence. This figure is in addition to the more than one billion pesos that the project will deliver to the community radio sector during 2017.
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(Click here for the original Spanish version of this article
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The launch will coincide with the National Meeting of Regional Networks of Community Radios that will gather in Bogota, about 70 percent of the representatives of more than 600 community stations in the country.
This launch is also the opening of the 5th Workshop: Building Peace and Culture of Coexistence from the Community Radio in which radio broadcasters from the center of the country and six journalists from stations located in Transitional Zonal Transitional Areas (ZVTN) will participate. Representatives of community stations in Anorí, Ituango, Remedios (Antioquia), San José del Guaviare, El Retorno (Guaviare) and Policarpa (Nariño) will be present, whose communication work is vital not only for the implementation of the Final Peace Agreement, but also to achieve the reconstruction of the social fabric of territories and to emerge from the conflict.
Community Radio is an actor and agent of local change. Its journalists know the region in which they live and understand it in all its dynamics. It is also a first-hand amplifier of the concerns, needs, visions and dreams of the communities on this path that Colombia has begun towards reconciliation and peace building. This is evidenced by the 90 second micro-pedagogical messages that have produced about 140 community radio broadcasters throughout the country in the IV workshops that this project has done so far.
“The philosophy and the missionary aspects of community radio, as an actor of development close to the communities from the communication in the territories, constitutes great potential in this post-conflict era in Colombia,” says Fernando Tibaduiza, Manager of the project.
it is very important to have the assistance of the European Union, Resander and the Colombian Government as allies, in launching and making visible this joint work, which strengthens communication from the local level for the construction of a peaceful Colombia.
For more information contact Luisa Fernanda López, luisalopez@radioscomunitariasparalapaz.co, 3003077819
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