The Community Participation and Communication Support Programme, funded
by the Oxfam Novib, will construct two more community radio stations in
Laos’ northern Oudomsay province this year.

Director
of the Mass Media Department, Ministry of Information, Culture and
Tourism, Pinprathana Phanthamaly unveiled the information at an annual
review meeting on the programme on March 26.

The two community radio stations are due for the target districts of Houn and Namoh in Oudomsay.

The Community Participation and Communication Support Programme aims to
support civil society in a wider manner through supporting community
organisations and helping scale up community media, strengthening
understanding of gender equity, enhancing a positive and
nondiscriminatory portrayal of women.

It has been
designed to develop local capacity to sustain community media in the
longer term to help communities enjoy better access to information and
bottom-up communication channels, allowing them to take informed
decisions, express their views, share knowledge and validate their
cultures and traditions.

Furthermore, the Programme will support
the sustainability of community organisations especially community media
organisations.

The coverage of the community radios
has doubles since 2012. Four community radios are now broadcasting in
eight different ethnic dialects of the community reaching out to more
than 110,000 people across these districts namely Laoloum, Hmong, Khmou,
Ta-Oy, Triang, Katu, and Phong.

There are plans to launch the
next radio station in Nonghed district of Xiengkhouang province by May
this year and two additional stations in Houn and Namor later this
year.-VNA