The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) joins the world in celebrating Press Freedom Day.
This year’s theme, Access to Information and Empowerment of People, is a goal IAWRT upholds deeply, with the principles interwoven in all our programs and activities. At our most recent Biennial Conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, media women from around the globe told stories of empowerment and increased participation in the decision-making processes.
Women are increasingly asserting their rights and getting women’s issues on the agenda and as recently as March this year in New York IAWRT organized a forum at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women on ‘Mapping Women’s Empowerment through Targeted Media’.
At both events, IAWRT showcased radio and television documentaries produced by women about women as both entries to the IAWRT Awards for Excellence and as part of a production grant scheme funded by the Norwegian women’s organization FOKUS. Documentaries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe showed how women from all over the world can bring about change in their respective communities.
The principles defined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights upholding everyone’s right to freedom of opinion and expression has been the core values for IAWRT since its inception in 1951.
The challenge continues today in empowering women – especially in the Global South - by providing means to access information and making their voices heard through international conferences, capacity building and skills enhancement.
IAWRT also pays tribute today (3 May) to those people who paved the way in achieving freedom of expression and democracy and those many journalists who have lost their lives in the struggle to maintain integrity in their reporting while providing vital information to the public.
Olya Booyar
President, IAWRT
3 May 2010
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For more information, please contact secretariat@iawrt.org
