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7703: Press release - Panos and Plan International Haiti (fwd)
From: Tttnhm@aol.com
Key words: media, children, Internet
PRESS RELEASE
"OUR OWN VOICE!" - A WEB SITE FOR CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE MEDIA
Port-au-Prince, Haiti - 5 March 2001. PLAN INTERNATIONAL Haiti and the Panos
Institute announced today that they have launched a web site URL -
www.panosinst.org/radio - to promote the participation of children in the
mass media. The 4-lingual web site (English, French, Spanish and Haitian
Creole) starts off with articles and features from Haiti, derived from a PLAN
sponsored children's radio programme in North-East Haiti. Child journalists
from other countries are invited to post their media productions as well.
The Country Director of PLAN Haiti, Bruno Oudmayer, said that the main
purpose of the site is to facilitate the wide national and international
dissemination of information produced by child reporters, in particular those
from Central America and the Caribbean. Additionally, it gives them a forum
for collaboration and exchange of opinions and information.
"We work to help children to be agents of change and fully participate in the
development process. Children have fresh views and often hold different
perspectives from adults. They can be experts on those issues which affect
them directly, such as education, violence or entertainment. We believe that
communities would benefit from adding children's own voice to the development
debate," Bruno Oudmayer said.
The web site features press articles, photos, information on the home towns
of child journalists, and a discussion forum. Some media materials by adult
journalists, which relate to children's rights and their participation in
development, have also been included.
"The web site is a communication and information tool for children and
communities who never before had such a tool. Although the power of the media
varies enormously from place to place, it is clear that its influence on
human behaviour is growing. We believe that the media is a major resource to
help social and economic development in communities," Jan Voordouw said, who
is Panos' Regional Director for the Caribbean and Central America.
PLAN Haiti and the Panos Institute have set up this site within the scope of
a project which aims to give voice to children, their opinions and their
rights by promoting their effective participation in the media. At present,
child journalists from El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti and Nicaragua
participate. They regularly produce radio magazines which are being broadcast
through local radio. Radio Nederland Training Centre (RNTC), based in Costa
Rica, is another partner in this initiative.
PLAN INTERNATIONAL is an international, humanitarian, child-focused
development organization without religious, political or governmental
affiliation. Child sponsorship is the basic foundation of the organization.
Its vision is of a world in which all children realize their full potential
in societies which respect people's rights and dignities.
The Panos Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit international organization
that works to strengthen civil society in the Caribbean and Central America,
as well as other parts of the world, by helping grass roots journalists to
cover under-reported and misreported issues responsibly and in depth. Its aim
is to broaden participation of all sectors of society in public debate on
sustainable development.
For more information contact:
- Stefanie Conrad or Jean Claude Louis, PLAN INTERNATIONAL Haiti, Impasse
Lily No. 3, Rue Stephen, Delmas 60, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Tel: (509)
510-9471. E-mail: comhti@planinternational-ht.org
- Jan Voordouw, Panos Institute, Rue Malval No. 16, Turgeau, Port-au-Prince,
Haiti. Tel: (509) 511-1460. E-mail: panos@mediacom-ht.com
_____________________________________________________________This email is
forwarded to you as a service of the Haiti Support Group.
SEE THE HAITI SUPPORT GROUP WEB SITE: <A
HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport">http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport
</A>
The Haiti Support Group - solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for
justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
______________________________________________________