Human Rights Fund (DHRF) of the United States Embassy. In addition, MISA also trained members of Omaheke
Community Radio and Erongo Community Radio in their campaign for community mobilisation.
Access to the Internet and content that is relevant to Namibians was given a boost with the establishment of a community radio website supported by the Namibia Democracy Support Centre. The American Cultural Centre and the
DHRF provided capacity building for the use of the Internet. The NCRN secured funding to ensure regular updates of
audio material uploaded on the website.

South Africa
With support from the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA), MISA South Africa worked on a community television handbook with the anticipated date of completion being May 2007. Some delays included problems
regarding computer servicing, problems with data capturing and lack of transcriptions, accessing software for the
digital voice recorder, transcribing tapes from observation participants and incorporating new information.

Swaziland
With the support of the Netherlands Institute of Southern Africa (NIZA), MISA Swaziland conducted a critical analysis of the existing broadcasting laws and engaged with government on the broadcasting law review process. In early
2007, the government of Swaziland drafted two bills: the Broadcasting Bill and the Public Broadcasting Corporation
Bill. The first bill seeks to open the airwaves by establishing the three-tier system of broadcasting. The latter seeks
to transform the existing state broadcasters into public broadcasters; however, the bill focuses on television and not
radio. MISA Swaziland provided input on the two bills during the consultation process and was assured that this
input will be incorporated.
The chapter continued to support community radio initiatives. With financial support from MISA, Lubombo Community Radio (LCR) was able to broadcast for two days in April after being awarded a special license. LCR is one
of the three facilities of the Lubombo Community Multimedia Centre. The radio station was established by a group
of young people from Siteki and surrounding areas in February 1999 to enable the community to discuss issues
affecting them.

Tanzania
MISA Tanzania continued to raise awareness about the importance of community radio. During various seminars
and workshops organised by the chapter, participants were asked to mobilise communities and establish community radio stations. The issue of sustainability, which continued to hinder their establishment, was addressed in May
2006 at a meeting sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The
issue also came to the fore during a workshop organised by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in
Dar es Salaam in December 2006.
Another challenge is that the concept of community media is still not widely understood. There is, therefore, a need
to create awareness on what constitutes community radio according to the African Charter on Broadcasting. The
chapter also continued to lobby government to support community media initiatives.
Another activity implemented by the chapter in support of community media was the training of journalists in
filming for cultural journalism. A one-week training exercise took place in May 2006 in Dar-es-Salaam, and there
has been a noted improvement in video reporting skills as a result.

Annual Report 2007

33

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