The 2002 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts

RESPONSE of Bharat Koirala

Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies
31 August 2002, Manila, Philippines

Madame President, Excellencies, President and Trustees of the Foundation, Distinguished Guests, Fellow Awardees, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honour and privilege for me to be this year's recipient of the prestigious Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. I have, thus become the second Nepalese to be conferred this honour after 25 years. Soon after the Awards were announced I had the privilege of speaking with Dr. Mahesh Chandra Regmi who received the Award in the same category in 1977. Even though Dr. Regmi suffers from Parkinson's disease, and partially paralysed, is confined to the wheel chair he expressed his deep appreciation of the honour conferred on him and his joy that another Nepali had received the award.

Even though I had some knowledge of the honour and prestige attached to the Ramon Magsaysay Award I could understand its full significance only when the awards were announced. The news arrived at a time when the country was looking for something positive in the midst of chaos and confusion. The Award was considered an honour not only to me or our journalist community but to the country itself.

Certainly, the Foundation deserves the appreciation of the Nepalese people for recognizing the positive achievements of a process started many
years ago that finally has begun to bear fruit. The Nepalese media which suffered for over a century under various forms of autocratic rule finally emerged as a free and independent entity following the restoration of democracy in 1990. The media became more institutionalized, received massive investment in new technology, training of journalists was undertaken at an unprecedented level and media institutions undertook many innovative approaches to increase the flow of information to and from the rural areas. Nepal is a country of villages, 80 % of the 23 million people live in over 40,000 villages some of which are located in difficult mountainous regions. Isolated by mountains and valleys these villages are cut off from the various media of communication largely located in urban centres.

Through these new approaches that include wall newspapers put up on walls of public buildings and tea shops, audio towers that inform villagers in their own homes and radio stations that are owned and operated by rural communities, and tiny newspapers that are prized by neo-literates in remote villages are beginning to change lives and improve living conditions. A number of dedicated journalists and media organizations are at the forefront of this enterprise to provide media access to people living in far-flung areas.

We are grateful to the Foundation for recognizing this silent revolution in a remote part of the world. I am sure the award will draw more attention of the government, civil society, the private sector and the international community to what is happening in Nepalese villages. We hope that these efforts will bring about positive changes in our villages that at the moment seem remote to many. The Award has raised the morale of a society that have fallen into despondency.

I wish once again to thank you for the Award and its impact on Nepalese society. It should also provide encouragement to the younger generation
of journalists to become involved in enterprises that encourage selfless devotion to the welfare of ordinary people.

Thank you.