Report on IAWRT Seminar on Community Radio & Democracy in South Asia

The IAWRT Seminar on Community Radio and Democracy in South Asia was part of IAWRT India’s annual festival marking International Women’s Day. It offered a platform for community radio practitioners, activists, legal experts, grassroots level programmers and those involved in campaigning for policy level changes to come together, share and understand whether communities really have a say in running their radio stations: How democratic have community radio initiatives in South Asia been? What has worked and what has not? What is the way forward? Experts from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan presented their respective country’s experiences and the obstacles they encounter both from governments, the reigning commercial interests, and the emergence and increasing popularity of new media.