UNESCO's Community Multimedia Centre Initiative praised by independent study 

29 May 2006: UNESCO’s global Community Multimedia Centre initiative is contributing to improving quality of life through access to information, according to an independent evaluation report carried out by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). UNESCO’s CMC initiative promotes sustainable local development through community-based facilities that combine traditional media like radio, television and print with new information communication technologies (ICTs) such as computers, the Internet, and mobile devices.  

Since 2001, UNESCO has established more than 87 CMCs in over 22 developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, with major funding provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).   In Mozambique there are so far eight CMCs established with support from UNESCO Maputo and the CMC Initiative. Two of these, the CMCs in Namaacha and Manhica, were part of the IISD evaluation.  The evaluation describes the initiative’s main achievement: The CMCs are accepted by and fully integrated into the communities and can in many cases be sustained beyond the pilot phase without core operating grants. The effort and funding that UNESCO has channeled into this transformative initiative have been exceeded by the hard work and commitment of the  CMC staff and the communities where they are based.

Inauguration of Chokwe CMC in Gaza Province, May 2005. Photo: Moises Mucelo, UNESCO

Among other key findings, the evaluators clearly acknowledge the contribution of CMCs to local development, noting that longer term benefits are already being realized within individual communities, such as the gradual removal of barriers to social inclusion, the stimulation of poverty alleviation through access to knowledge of better health, resource management, agriculture practices and the creation of new livelihoods opportunities.  

CMCs are also recognized as critical tools for local communities to mediate changes brought on by globalization and the advent of new technologies: The CMC role in fostering cultural resilience - the capacity of a community to retain critical knowledge and at the same time adapt to external influences and pressures - is particularly remarkable.

The CMC Scale-up initiative in Mozambique is integrated into the Mozambican government’s national ICT strategy, which aims to use ICT tools in the fight against poverty – in line with the national anti poverty plan (PARPA II) and the Millennium Development Goals. Eight more Scale-up CMCs are in the pipeline for 2006, ensuring that each province in Mozambique is covered.  UNESCO Maputo is also encouraging other agencies and partners to participate in establishing new Community Multimedia Centres or similar ICT initiatives. The long term national goal is to establish an ICT access point in every district in the country.

For more information contact Polly Gaster, coordinator of CMC Scale-up Initiative in Mozambique or Nina Bull Jørgensen, Communications Officer, UNESCO Maputo