Close on the heels of the heartening news from Balzu that 12 community radio stations have been given clearances in Bangladesh, comes this report of what's apparently a United Nations-run 'community radio' station in Barguna.
Why am I not surprised? India, which sets these very high standards in South Asia, has cleared several KVK (Agriculture Ministry) run 'community radio' stations. The Barguna station, as Bazlu has noted, is a 'Rural Radio' station "established by Agriculture Information Service of the Agriculture Department of Ministry of Agriculture." A KVK by another name. It's just that one doesn't expect the UN to be involved in these bait-and-switch manoeuvres. The FAO rep in Bangladesh should have known better. Sajan --------- *Govt signs deal with FAO for community radio* Apr 25, 2010 - http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=159269&cid=2 Dhaka, Apr 25 (bdnews24.com) – The government on Sunday signed an agreement with the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to install a community radio station in Barguna. An FAO press statement said that the radio station would be set up at Amtoli in the southern coastal district to disseminate knowledge and information on food security while it would also focus on climate change adaptation. The project will be set up under a project, 'Enhancing Rural Communication Services for Agricultural Development through Community Rural Radio', jointly organised by the FAO and the Agricultural Information Services (AIS) of the Ministry of Agriculture. Officials hopes that the radio station will play a key role in encouraging the sharing of experiences and participation of the rural people in the decision-making process. They also hope that it will help harness locally available indigenous knowledge and socially validated innovations. "We are very happy to initiate the Community Rural Radio with the AIS as it will strengthen the rural communication services for agriculture and food security", Ad Spijkers, the FAO Representative to Bangladesh, told reporters during the signing of the agreement.
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