Two hundred fifty participants from around thirty countries participated at the week-long 8th AMARC (World Association of Community Broadcasters) Conference in Kathmandu, the first to be held in Asia.

In tackling the development of communbity radio, a major thrust of AMARC-8 is the special emphasis is given to advancing the role of Asian women in community media.

The AMARC world conference is the only forum that allows community radio broadcasters to develop and adopt strategies at an international level. Its motto is "Voices for A Better World: Community Media and Social Justice.

The main objectives of the conference are:

To strengthen the international community broadcasting movement as a progressive force for social change and as a crucial mean of democratic empowerment through peoples access to mass communications.

To build a grassroots, South-centered platform for participation in global strategies for the information society.

To affirm a Kathmandu Declaration placing human rights and social justice at the heart of the global communications policy agenda in preparation for and beyond the World Summit on the Information Society.

To establish AMARC Asia as a new regional network of community broadcasters and develop an Asian plan of action.

To reinforce community radio development in Nepal as a model for the South Asian region.

To provide a venue for grassroots radio practitioners to share experiences, develop networks, acquire new skills, and set the action plan for AMARC International for the next four years.