As the country celebrates the Fifth World Radio Day along with the rest of the world today, the significance of community radio in the rural, remote areas of the country in terms of development and raising awareness is being recognised by all stakeholders.
Community media are widely recognised by governments, international development agencies, and civil society organisations alike as key agents of participatory development. Their reach and practices are a unique way of reaching and involving people.
This is particularly true of community radio, the most prevalent of all community media, which is a vital alternative both to state-owned and commercial private radio. Community radio's affordability and reach make it a powerful agent of social change.
Recognising this huge potential, the government has been a patronage to the development of community radio in the rural areas and taken several initiatives in this regard, according to a press release issued by Bangaldesh NGO Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) on the occasion of World Radio Day.
There are currently 16 community radio stations on air in the country, aiming to ensure empowerment and right to information for the rural community. They are broadcasting altogether 125 hours of programmes every day on information, education, local entertainment and development motivation activities. Around 100 youth, including women, are working with those stations throughout the country as rural broadcasters.
These programmes are supportive to the activities reflected in the 7th five-year plan of the government, UN's World Summit on the Information Society Action Plan, and UN's Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs), said the press release.
The community radio programmes have already been widely accepted among the local community. The existing community radio stations presently cover more than 5.6 million listeners. The Ministry of Information have approved 16 more community radios, which are likely to go on air by the end of this year, the press statement added.
The success of community radio has garnered appreciation from all levels of society. Its role in alerting locals during the cyclones Mahasen and Komen, when all other modes of communication were ineffective, was especially applauded, according to the statement.
Community radios are becoming an active ground for organising dialogues at the rural level. These dialogues will help the rural mass to find out their own voice and ensure leverage for their free opinion in social, economic, political, cultural and environmental issues, the press statement concluded.
