This project will put in place a “community radio caravan” that will visit locations with existing or potential community media outlets in the Kyrgyz Republic. The caravan's team will consist of representatives from existing community radios, who will share their experience with the host communities. This 10-day activity will help to foster the network of community media initiatives and build capacity for peer-to-peer assistance. Exchanging and comparing best-practice experience will strengthen the commitment for cooperation and dialogue among the community radio initiatives and minimize the risk of localism. These joint efforts shall further their sustainability, which as a consequence will increase the diversity of media in Kyrgyz Republic.
 
Five years ago Mediamost introduced the community radio station “Radiomost” to the remote Talas region which, at the time, suffered from informational isolation. Over the years Radiomost was able to demonstrate its usefulness as an instrument for promoting social change and providing access to information to all members of the various communities. Its experiences and best-practices allow Radiomost now to guide other community radio initiatives. Community radios in Chong Kemin and Suusamyr that struggled to be launched for more than five years are now operating under Radiomost’s guidance. The Radiomost experience also caught the attention of NGOs in other remote regions. In the meantime, a CR in Batken was launched within 12 months. This happened within a considerably shorter time span, thanks to the proper advice and communications means which were made available. These results were achieved by workshops, during and after which community media representatives responsible for these initiatives gave advice to each other. If such peer-to-peer assistance became institutionalized it would benefit communities that suffer of informational isolation in remote areas. This project will implement such assistance at inter-regional level by delivering training courses to interested community members during the caravan stopovers, therefore fulfilling not only the functions of collecting information and ensuring information exchanges, but also a consultative and educational function aimed at eliminating the “media illiteracy” of the visited communities.