Radio promoted by UNESCO

Radio promoted by UNESCO

YOGYAKARTA (JP): An executive of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said
here on Tuesday that Indonesian people must try to establish more
small-scale community radio stations as an alternative way to
prevent the country's disintegration.

Wijayanda Jayaweera, UNESCO's Regional Communication Adviser
for Asia, said that Indonesia, as a plural and populous country,
faced big challenges in solving many national and local problems
in relation with plurality and the democratization process.

"As a big country with a pluralistic character, Indonesia
needs such kinds of mass media to help solve problems at the
grass roots," he said.

He was speaking to journalists at the sidelines of a national
seminar titled "Community Radio: For National Democracy and
Unity".

The seminar was organized by UNESCO's Jakarta Office in
cooperation with the Yogyakarta Citizens' Association (Pawarta).
Some 70 nongovernmental organization (NGO) activists and
journalists attended the seminar.

Jayaweera urged local communities in Indonesia to consider the
possibility of establishing community radio stations. "The radio
stations will function as a channel for members of the public to
discuss issues with each other. For the sake of the country's
unity and diversity, community radio must be able to accommodate
the interests of the neglected and marginalized people," he said.
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