9 March 2015 / By The Hindu

The South Asia Network for Community Media (SANCOM), the idea for which was mooted last year at a Roundtable on ‘Towards a South Asia Network for Community Media’ at the University of Hyderabad was formally inaugurated at the World Radio Day event in New Delhi, organised jointly by UNESCO and the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre in Asia (CEMCA).

A statement said the virtual network of SANCOM http://www.sancomonline.netwas launched by Shigeru Aoyagi, the Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Mr. Aoyagi expressed satisfaction over the formation of the regional network and emphasised the importance of such groupings to promote media pluralism and diversity in South Asia.

Vinod Pavarala of University of Hyderabad, UNESCO Chair on Community Media and Member-Convener of SANCOM, explained the broad objectives of the network during his presentation. Currently, the eight SAARC countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, The Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) would be involved with the SANCOM initiative.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/community-media-network-launched/article6973307.ece