Radio voix sans frontièrs/Voices Without Frontiers: 24 hours on 21st March

Wednesday, March 21 marks the 41st anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, when peaceful demonstrators against apartheid were killed in a town in South Africa. 2001 is also the year of the planned world conference against racism and xenophobia in September, in Durban. To commemorate this UN international Day against Racial Discrimination, community radios across five continents are going on air in a unique joint broadcast co-production campaign.

16.03.2001

For immediate release

Radio voix sans frontièrs/Voices Without Frontiers: 24 hours on 21st March

Wednesday, March 21 marks the 41st anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, when peaceful demonstrators against apartheid were killed in a town in South Africa. 2001 is also the year of the planned world conference against racism and xenophobia in September, in Durban. To commemorate this UN international Day against Racial Discrimination, community radios across five continents are going on air in a unique joint broadcast co-production campaign.

The broadcast Radio voix sans frontières is co-ordinated by AMARC, World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters and will be hosted by the Centre for Democratic Communications in Johannesburg, South Africa, with regional co-ordination points at Orange 94.0 in Vienna, Austria and Radio Centre Ville in Montreal, Canada. The broadcast will be streamed on the internet http://www.amarc.org/vsf and relayed via satellite services of World Radio Network and American Indian Radio on Satellite, which will be re-distributed by community radios locally. An international press conference is to take place in Vienna on Monday, 19th March, with representatives from AMARC Europe, community Radio Student in Ljubljana, Slovenia and European host radio Orange 94.0. The press conference will be streamed live on the Internet at http://staff.orange.or.at/rvsf/ from 10.00 am CET.

Radio voix sans frontières is a mosaic of programmes in over 25 languages, live and pre-recorded contributions from nearly 70 countries in Africa, Europe, North and Latin America, Australia, Asia and the middle East. The continuity will be provided by a team of international journalists and presenters from diverse lingual and cultural backgrounds, linking the broadcast from studios in Johannesburg, Montreal and Vienna. Unique features of the broadcast include:

* Co-production of broadcasters from Southern Africa (South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Swaziland, Lesotho)
* the Link Lusofono, a collaboration between Portuguese speakers from community radios in 12 countries, on the different experiences of racial discrimination in their specific contexts;
* a live feed from the United Nations Headquarters in New York, where a special conference on the empowerment of youth is being held, with statements from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson and from the organisers of the world conference in Durban.
* Interview by FIRE, Feminist International Radio Endeavour in Costa Rica, with Gabriela Rodriguez, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations for Human Rights and Migration, who talks about women in armed conflict and the need for education about their rights.
* Programme on Roma rights in Europe, with testimonials from Roma activists in five Central and Eastern European countries.
* Kurdish New Year Nawroz special: dedicated to Kurdish prisoners worldwide

Full programme and satellite details and updates are available on the broadcast website http://www.amarc.org/vsf

For interviews and further information, contact:

for Asia and North America - Gabriela Mayorquin, AMARC-International
Tel. +514-982-0351; e-mail: gabriela.mayorquin@amarc.org

for Europe
Sruti Bala, AMARC Europe
Tel. +44-114-2210592 or +43-1-31909991, e-mail: srutib@amarc.org

for Africa
Michelle Ntab, AMARC Africa
Tel. +27-11 403 7962/7913, e-mail: regc@global.co.za

for Latin America
Arturo Bregaglio, FM Trinidad (Paraguay)
Tel. +595-21 297806, e-mail: trinid@quanta.com.py