Evaluation of UNESCO’s Community Multimedia Centres

The evaluation concludes that the CMC hybrid model—combining community radio and telecentre services—is an outstanding success in promoting social inclusion, cultural resilience, and poverty alleviation. Key achievements include the integration of CMCs into local communities and the creation of new livelihood opportunities. However, the report identifies significant challenges, including a lack of internal intersectoral cooperation within UNESCO, inconsistent field office support, and the financial instability of centres relying on volunteers and limited revenue. The evaluation recommends that UNESCO establish a clearer strategic interest in the initiative, develop a more structured Results Based Management (RBM) framework for scaling up, and advocate for enabling national policy environments regarding ICT connectivity and broadcast licensing.

• The hybrid model of combining community radio with telecentre services effectively supports community development by strengthening economic opportunities and social inclusion.
• CMCs contribute to poverty alleviation by providing access to knowledge on health, agriculture, and resource management, and by fostering microcredit self-help groups.
• The initiative has successfully fostered cultural resilience, allowing communities to maintain traditional values while adapting to external pressures.
• Financial sustainability is a major challenge, as CMCs cannot cover full operating costs solely through user fees and often rely on unpaid volunteer labour, which can create conflicts with family income needs.
• UNESCO's internal coordination is lacking, with insufficient sharing of management lessons between different models of community centres across its sectors.
• Many CMCs are hindered by restrictive national policy environments, specifically regarding broadcast licensing, press freedoms, and unstable connectivity charges.
• The 'Rapid Results' approach used in the pilot phase—treating CMCs as small-scale, results-oriented mini-projects—was effective for initial implementation but lacks a long-term strategic timeframe.
• There is a risk in the scale-up phase of treating CMCs as 'turnkey' installations rather than leveraging existing community institutions, which could lead to higher failure rates.

APA

Creech, H., Berthe, O., Assubuji, A. P., Mansingh, I., & Anjelkovic, M. (n.d.). Evaluation of UNESCO’s Community Multimedia Centres. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cmc_evaluation_2006.pdf

Chicago

Creech, Heather, Ousmane Berthe, Ana Paula Assubuji, Indira Mansingh, and Maja Anjelkovic. Evaluation of UNESCO’s Community Multimedia Centres. International Institute for Sustainable Development, n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cmc_evaluation_2006.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Creech |first1=Heather |last2=Berthe |first2=Ousmane |last3=Assubuji |first3=Ana Paula |last4=Mansingh |first4=Indira |last5=Anjelkovic |first5=Maja |title=Evaluation of UNESCO’s Community Multimedia Centres |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cmc_evaluation_2006.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{creechndevaluation, author = {Creech, Heather and Berthe, Ousmane and Assubuji, Ana Paula and Mansingh, Indira and Anjelkovic, Maja}, title = {{Evaluation of UNESCO’s Community Multimedia Centres}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cmc_evaluation_2006.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }