Inter Press Service (IPS) has signed a new partnership agreement with AMARC, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. IPS and AMARC share common values related to freedom of expression, media diversity and communication for development. The global agreement foresees strengthened co-operation in terms of expertise, content and distribution.

AMARC is an international NGO serving the community radio movement, with almost 3,000 members and associates in 106 countries. Mario Lubetkin, IPS Director General and Marcelo Solervicens, AMARC Secretary General signed the partnership on the occasion of the AMARC Europe Conference in Bucharest, Romania.

IPS and AMARC are already working together on different local initiatives. AMARC-Pulsar works with IPS Latin America to produce audio material in indigenous languages (Quechua, Kaqchiquel, Aymara and K’iche’) as part of the Voices of the Earth: Indigenous People and Rural Poverty initiative. At the World Social Forum in Belem in January 2009 IPS and AMARC will share print, web and audio reporting with their respective networks and audiences.