ALIN announced as co-winners of the UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication
A woman reading a Baobab magazine outside the Kyuso Maarifa center in Kyuso, Kenya on May 27, 2011. Photo: Gates Foundation
The Kenyan Arid Lands Information Network and the Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists have both been awarded this prize in recognition of their innovative and commendable efforts in developing rural communication.
The UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication was established in 1985 to reward pioneering activities which contribute to improving communication in rural communities, in particular in developing countries.
The award ceremony is taking place on 22 March 2012 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris during the 28th session of the IPDC Council.
The two laureates will share a prize of 20,000 US Dollars for their worthy contributions to rural communication. James Nguo Impwi, Regional Director of ALIN and Raghu Mainali, director of NEFEJ, will attend the ceremony to receive the prize.
The ALIN is an NGO with a mission to improve the livelihoods of arid lands communities in East Africa by promoting and facilitating access to information and knowledge exchange between communities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
This is achieved through community-based Maarifa centres (knowledge community centres) via a range of channels that include: Web portals, mobile phone platforms, workshops, exchange visits and regular publications. ALIN’s activities focus on small-scale sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resource management and other community livelihood issues.
The Nepal Forum of Environmental Journalists (NEFEJ) is an NGO established in 1986 in order to promote environmental journalism in Nepal. The organisations overarching goal as stated by Raghu Mainali, director of NEFEJ is “To create a vibrant and sustainable community media sector in Nepal." Throughout its 25-year long journey, NEFEJ has been actively engaged in raising public awareness of sustainable development through the use of various forms of media, in particular community radio. In 1997 NEFEJ created the first community radio in Nepal, Radio Sagarmatha, marking a breakthrough in NEFEJ's struggle to promote community radio in the country. Its efforts included providing assistance to other community radio stations which were later established in the country. With this aim, it launched the Community Radio Support Centre (CRSC).
More information:
- Video: An introduction to the Maarifa centres
- Article: The many possibilities of ICTs in African agriculture [Farming Matters | March 2011]
Text: Ellen Naughton
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