Radio continues to be a crucial tool for strengthening communities worldwide. Celebrate this uniquely powerful and uniting form of communication on World Radio Day, February 13th.
According to the UNDRIP, Indigenous People have the right to establish their own media in their own languages, and to have access to to all forms of non-indigenous media without discrimination (Article 16). Radio plays an especially crucial role in Indigenous communication, due to its potential to cross borders and terrain, as well as economic and social barriers.
Avexnim Cotji brings us interviews from a preparatory meeting in Guatemala in April of 2016 for members of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. At the meeting, they discussed local media as a crucial element of cultural preservation and the protection of Indigenous community rights.