For immediate release:

Field Mission to Pakistan by AMARC and PPF has begun

October 1, 2010, Kathmandu. The field mission to Pakistan by the World 
Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) and the Pakistan Press
Foundation (PPF) to assess information and communication needs of areas
affected by floods has commenced with mission members arriving in Karachi
on the 30th of September 2010.

In addition to assessing immediate communication gaps in the affected
areas including the assessment of information & communication needs of the
internally displaced people and Aid Providers, the mission will explore
possibilities of integrating functioning independent radios into the
humanitarian information network along with guidance on humanitarian
relief reporting. Technical experts from the mission will carry out  basic
repairs of the stations. The mission will also assess the possibility of
setting up emergency radios in the worst affected areas and the immediate,
short term and longer term needs of the radios and their personnel.

The beginning of the mission will be marked by  a round table discussion
to be held in Karachi on the 2nd of October 2010 with government
authorities, policy makers, representatives of the Pakistan Electronic
Media Regulatory Authority, and other stakeholders such as independent
broadcasters, humanitarian organizations and donors to present case for
community radio and its role in helping in relief and rehabilitation
efforts for the flood affected.

The mission is led by Steve Buckley, President of AMARC International.
Other mission members include  Imam Prakoso, member of AMARC Asia Pacific
Regional Board from Indonesia, Junichi Hibino, Director of  community
radio FMYY of Japan, and engineers Toru Sato and Sadao Ito from BHN,
Japan. Owais Aslam Ali, Secretary General of PPF is cop-heading the
mission along with a team of experts from PPF.

Please visit http://asiapacific.amarc.org/pakistan_floods/ for the latest
mission news.

-END-

AMARC is an international non-governmental organization serving the
community radio movement in over 110 countries, and advocating for the
right to communicate at the international, national, local and
neighborhood levels. AMARC has an International Secretariat in Montreal.
It has regional sections in Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific and
offices in Johannesburg, Buenos Aires, Brussels, and Kathmandu. For more
information, please contact Suman Basnet, Regional Coordinator for
Asia-Pacific, [log in to unmask] or visit
www.asiapacific.amarc.org.


-- 
Suman Basnet
Regional Coordinator
AMARC Asia Pacific
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: +977 1 5554811
Fax: +977 1 5521714
http://asiapacific.amarc.org