[E-rundbrief] Info 1708 - February 13 is World Radio Day - Community radios

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 1708 - Cultural Survival (USA): February 13 is 
World Radio Day - the importance of community radio for the world's 
Indigenous Peoples.

Bad Ischl, 13.2.2018

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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February 13 is World Radio Day

Did you know? February 13 is the 7th annual celebration of World Radio 
Day as proclaimed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and 
Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

On the first celebration of World Radio Day in 2012, former UN Special 
Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples James Anaya emphasized 
the importance of community radio for the world's Indigenous Peoples: 
"Radio has been a fundamental means for Indigenous Peoples to maintain 
their languages and to exercise and defend their rights. As recognized 
by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 
Article 16, 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to establish their 
own media in their own languages and access to all other 
non-Indigenous media without discrimination. 2. States shall take 
effective measures to ensure that the media duly reflect indigenous 
cultural diversity. States, without prejudice to ensuring full freedom 
of expression, should encourage privately owned media to adequately 
reflect indigenous cultural diversity."

Cultural Survival is working hard to make Article 16 a reality and 
promoting Indigenous women's and youth leadership in radio. In 2017, 
we funded 18 community radio projects in Guatemala, Honduras, 
Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Nepal, and Kenya totaling over $166,000 
through our Community Media Grants Project. These grants provided 
opportunities for Indigenous radio stations to strengthen their 
broadcast infrastructure, and offer training in journalism, 
broadcasting, audio editing, and technical skills to community radio 
journalists around the world. Also in 2017, 167 Indigenous women from 
Central America and Nepal took part in trainings in radio production 
and radio journalism organized by Cultural Survival.

We continue to support the approval of Bill 4087 in Guatemala.  The 
Community Media Law being considered by the Guatemalan Congress 
revises the current telecommunications law to allow licenses for 
non-profit community radio stations. The progress of this bill has 
been slow, despite promises made by the Guatemalan Constitution and 
the 1996 Peace Accords. This lack of access to non-profit community 
radio broadcast licenses is in direct opposition to citizens' rights 
to freedom of expression and Indigenous Peoples' right to operate 
their own media in their own languages. Numerous recommendations from 
the United Nations, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and 
the Guatemalan Constitutional Court have urged the passage of revised 
legislation to provide access to broadcast licenses for non-profit, 
community radio stations.

In many parts of the world, despite the the risk of police raids, jail 
time, threats and even death for community journalists, community 
radio stations serve a vital function by distributing information 
about important news and educational programming like emergency 
disaster relief, voter registration, and public health campaigns. The 
power of radio reaches even the most rural areas, providing Indigenous 
communities with access to programming in their own languages and 
serves as a voice that promotes their cultures, traditions, and belief 
systems.
Because Knowledge is POWER

Cultural Survival continues to celebrate the power of radio by 
representing diverse voices and perspectives in the Indigenous world 
through our ever-expanding Indigenous Rights Radio audio program library.

1. New Directions in Indigenous Philanthropy - An Interview with Peter 
Buffett

Peter Buffett is a co-president of the NoVo Foundation, which works to 
foster a transformation from a world of domination and exploitation to 
one of collaboration and partnership. As part of this work, NoVo 
supports work in Indigenous communities across North America, 
including community-led programs that focus on Indigenous girls and 
women. Suzanne Benally (Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa) is the executive 
director of Cultural Survival. Suzanne and Peter share a conversation 
on reshaping and decolonizing the context of philanthropy to respond 
to the traditions of giving in Indigenous communities.


  2. The Power of a Walk - Seeking Recognition Through Resistance

Indigenous South Africans go on a yearly 400 mile pilgrimage to bring 
awareness to ongoing violations of basic human rights of South 
Africans, the withholding of remains and sacred items belonging to 
Indigenous communities by museums, as well as to reconnect to the 
earth and environment through the rigorous journey from coast to 
coast. We spoke to two South African Indigenous rights activists to 
hear their takes on how this tradition has shaped their activism.


3. World Radio Day - Radio Is Still The Voice of the Voiceless

February 13th is World Radio Day. Radio has contributed to the 
resilience of Indigenous communities all over the world-- hear some of 
these stories in this program commemorating the 6th annual World Radio 
Day. Dev Kumar Sunuwar (Kumar/Sunuwar) and Suman Basnet, advocates of 
community radio, bring us this retrospective from Nepal.

Through Cultural Survival's Indigenous Rights Radio program, our 
Indigenous radio producers bring you the latest information on 
Indigenous Peoples' rights and how they are being implemented around 
the world.

Browse our full program library, featuring radio content in over 30 
languages, at rights.culturalsurvival.org

Remember, our radio content is always free for you to download, 
broadcast, modify, and distribute!...

Cultural Survival advocates for Indigenous Peoples' rights and 
supports Indigenous communities’ self-determination, cultures and 
political resilience since 1972. We envision a future that respects 
and honors Indigenous Peoples' inherent rights and dynamic cultures, 
deeply and richly interwoven in lands, languages, spiritual 
traditions, and artistic expression, rooted in self-determination and 
self-governance...

Advancing Indigenous Peoples' Rights and Cultures Worldwide, since 1972

Cultural Survival
2067 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 441-5400
www.cs.org

-- 

     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at