Message from Ms. Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Radio Day
Document taken by AlterPresse
On this World Day, we celebrate the history of radio, but also its central role in our societies, today and in the years to come.
This year 2024 marks a milestone in the history of this medium: this year we are celebrating 100 years since the first broadcast, live on the radio, of the Olympic Games, at the dawn of their new edition in Paris.
This milestone reminds us that since its creation at the end of the 19th century, radio has continued to accompany us, uniting us around strong moments and shared emotions. And so for more than a century, it has informed us, entertained us, but also educated us, as highlighted by this year’s theme.
This observation is all the more true today: because despite the growing weight of the Internet and social networks, radio continues to be a first-rate source of information and entertainment – it is estimated that more than 4 billion of people the number of listeners.
Radio is also the medium that goes where others do not go: while almost a third of the population does not have access to decent Internet in 2023, proportions that rise to half of the populations in areas rural areas, radio is thus establishing itself as a more inclusive and accessible medium, particularly in crisis situations.
For example, in Afghanistan, following the decision – which UNESCO immediately and strongly condemned – to deprive Afghan women of their fundamental right to learn and teach, our Organization implemented a real pedagogy of the waves , particularly supporting Radio Begum. This radio, run by Afghan women, for Afghan women, provides them with literacy lessons and gives them a voice.
Because radio can also be the voice of the voiceless, by allowing all people and communities to express themselves, and also to bring the diversity of their cultures to life. This is why UNESCO supports and encourages community radios all over the world.
We see it this way, radio is more than a means of technical broadcasting: it carries with it a certain idea of information, of cultural diversity, of the education of all; let us dare to say it: radio can and must be a humanist medium.
On this February 13, may we once again salute the path traveled by radio, and the strength of its waves to build – to “transmit” – the possibility of a better world.
Paris,
February 13, 2024
